Man.. I feel like BJJ might not be for me.

[ColorPurps]

Your school has taught rubber guard but not half guard?

i learned what i "know" about rubber guard from youtube lol.

 

[dudeguyman]

I feel like I've plateau for the last few months. I've been doing BJJ for about 8-9 months. for the first few months, I only did beginner's no gi for 2x a week. then, added a mixed level no gi on sundays. Eventually, I added another mixed-level no-gi then 2 more beginner's gi. Been doing beginner gi for like 12 classes. Feels like everyone is passing me.

I struggle with stronger opponents even when they have less technique and especially stronger bigger opponents. And I still have a weak guard, no half guard game, and don't know how to approach people who play half guard right away. (From what I've notice)

I think I am going to add more mixed-level gi classes since I can buy more gis soon and hopefully this will help me with improving. but I've been really discouraged due to guys whos more inexperience beating me.

Any advice? Also, I am 5'9ft and 209-212lbs.

maybe you are just not used to the leverage and power you can get from the gi, and that is putting you at a disadvantage? or maybe you were relying to much on your weight advantage and these guys know to control body mass better than those no gi guys? one things for sure you'll only get worse if you don't train.

 

[KenkaBancho]

I feel like I've plateau for the last few months. I've been doing BJJ for about 8-9 months. for the first few months, I only did beginner's no gi for 2x a week. then, added a mixed level no gi on sundays. Eventually, I added another mixed-level no-gi then 2 more beginner's gi. Been doing beginner gi for like 12 classes. Feels like everyone is passing me.

I struggle with stronger opponents even when they have less technique and especially stronger bigger opponents. And I still have a weak guard, no half guard game, and don't know how to approach people who play half guard right away. (From what I've notice)

I think I am going to add more mixed-level gi classes since I can buy more gis soon and hopefully this will help me with improving. but I've been really discouraged due to guys whos more inexperience beating me.

Any advice? Also, I am 5'9ft and 209-212lbs.

I've been training for awhile. Still a white belt but with avid interest in all forms of fighting - striking, wrestling etc.

I feel it helps not to see BJJ as an martial art in its own, but as an element of a larger concept of fighting and what makes one successful at it.

Your question is, in essence, how does one improve. For me, i have come to the conclusion that it's repetitions that makes the difference in martial arts.

For eg, landing a right straight in muay thai or boxing only works for me if I stepped right foot forward simultaneously and leaning my head off the centre. The result: I went from catching air 100% to landing clean in sparring at least 70% (and being able to see my punch actually land on my opponents face) of the time after hours of reptitive shadowboxing and head movement drilling work. In wrestling, drilling 3-4 shots/attacks with the right body posture, stance, timing and momentum gave me 3-4 high % takedowns in live wrestling.

With recent experimentation, I have found BJJ success to be no different in training methodology. My recent obsession is with Eddie Bravo's lockdown - electric chair - stoner control series. Hyperfocusing on these three moves and understanding what boxes must be ticked before I can get achieve flawless execution has brought me lots of success, so much so that it's a go to move for me now that I go for half guard right away. This had resulted in dominating higher belts (who might have general superioty in grappling as a whole but inferiority in that particular position) in 5min rounds, provided I can tick the said boxes. Whether you are a better grappler if you specialise in 1 position rather than generalise in say 5 is a conceptual question and not necessarily a practical one.

Now, IMO, BJJ as a system is essentially a collection of many boxes and being able to tick them in any position should result in your success as well. You mentioned a weak guard and no half guard game. The question you have to ask yourself is what boxes you have to tick in order to achieve a certain result (ie submissions or utter positional dominance). For half guard, look at the lockdown (Eddie has very good short clips explaining the VERY SPECIFIC AND PRECISE BOXES to whip down, electric chair and stoner controp on youtube). Same method of analysis for close guard, mount etc

EDIT: one thing that the above may not necessarily help you with is EMOTION. You FEEL crappy after losing, getting beat by whoever. Lower belt, higher belt is in a way irrelevant cos you're still losing either way. Chael Sonnen once had a quote on TUF - you can do a number of things to win a fight but how you FEEL does not change the outcome of your fight one iota - which IMO is true for martial arts as it is for life. Be cold, be calculative, be analytical and learn from each mistake.

EDIT2: “So many times we try to find the right emotion. What emotion is going to help you?” At this point Sonnen held up both his fists. “This is what helps you. Forward motion, getting your legs back, getting up off the bottom, working the whole time: Those are actions. Not one of those was an emotion. Anger, happiness, sad, fear, scared: Not one of those is going to get a judge to mark your name.” Sonnen lifted his fists again. “This is what marks your name. Actions.”

 

[Nooob]

It's wierd how people get bothered when they lose during free rolls as if they treat it as a competition.

I got ragdolled for the whole year straight because I never cared when they have the size advantage and always tried to improve my technique over strength. It's not a comp and don't want to risk getting myself or my partner injured. Not worth it for white belts.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Did BJJ, judo and wrestling before realising that BJJ was not for me.

Been focusing on judo. Fits me better. Wish I could find sambo, but so far the sambo I saw was technically inferior to judo.

Not trying to discourage TS but there are different grappling sports out there that one may try.

 

[smart.feller]

I'm going to give some hard love here, and I'm going to go against what everyone else has said about changing schools...unless you have a valid reason for questioning the quality of instruction, changing schools probably isn't the right answer. I mean, I get it. I've traveled a lot for work and done a lot of drop-ins at schools all over the USA...the 135 lbs. blackbelt who is showing flying armbar techniques probably isn't going to work for the person built like a tank...but if everyone else is improving and you aren't, the issue doesn't seem to be the instruction, it seems to be your internalizing it and applying it.

First thing: You said you need to lose some weight. Lose it. I'm willing to bet that if your weight is too high, it is negatively impacting your mat conditioning, performance, and ultimately your ability to improve. When we gas, our drilling gets sloppier, we start sitting out rounds to grab a breather (we all know the guy who volunteers to run the timer during open rolls)...whether you think gas is an issue or not, carrying around the extra body weight is forcing your system to expend more energy than it needs to, and that is inhibiting your performance and ability to improve.

Second: You've been doing this for 9 months. Every school is different, and there will always be the "one year to blue belt" guy, but at the school I spent the majority of my time training at, the average for a blue belt was anywhere from 2-4 years. I'd see a lot of folks leave for another school, get promoted, and then get absolutely smoked in competitions because they just weren't that good. I've always felt like the place where I was getting challenged hard by people less experienced than me and battered by the people more experienced than me was the place I needed to be training. Would you really want to train at a place where after 9 months you were putting a licking on people who had been training for years?

Third: Why are you doing this? Is it to defend yourself? Is it to chase a colored belt? Is it to be able to pretzel people up in the gym? To learn the art? If it's to chase a belt, you won't be happy until you are training at the wrong school.

Lastly: Drill more. Condition more. Everyone loves the rolling/sparring time, but it's the drills and the muscle memory that will make you a better martial artist. Take notes in class. If you can't remember the guard pass you learned three weeks ago, ask about it again. Ask your instructor if you can video the class so you can watch it at home to make sure you didn't miss any key steps. Most 5 step techniques in BJJ will work with 4 or even 3 steps, as long as your opponent doesn't know the steps you are missing, but all 5 steps will be necessary when going against another practiced artist. It's all in the details.

 

[Grassshoppa]

Stop comparing yourself to others. You have nothing to prove and no one to impress.

Stop worrying about being "good" at BJJ or anything else for that matter. Just enjoy and have fun.

Roll for fun, fitness, and health benefits. Roll with others that are looking for the same. Don't roll with young, immature, wanna be MMA fighters.

 

[mcgoatp4p#1]

Did BJJ, judo and wrestling before realising that BJJ was not for me.

Been focusing on judo. Fits me better. Wish I could find sambo, but so far the sambo I saw was technically inferior to judo.

Not trying to discourage TS but there are different grappling sports out there that one may try.

I agree with this. I did judo for a couple years and all it did was increase my anxiety cuz the whole structure was so intense. Didn't really enjoy it at all, but with bjj I could let loose and have fun.

If you hate every minute of bjj you shouldn't do it, but if you're just frustrated cuz you don't feel proficient enough, I'd advise to stick with it. Focus on one sweep and one guard pass and keep practicing. Once I figured out how to pass the guard something clicked and I really started having fun

 

[Amianto]

Stop comparing yourself to others. You have nothing to prove and no one to impress.

Stop worrying about being "good" at BJJ or anything else for that matter. Just enjoy and have fun.

Roll for fun, fitness, and health benefits. Roll with others that are looking for the same. Don't roll with young, immature, wanna be MMA fighters.

Participation Trophy Mentality.