Purple to Brown - bjj?

[mataleaos]

It's not necessary, but it's very useful. Only because dealing with someone who knows how to strike from the top while maintaining position and mixing in passing is very different than dealing with your gym buddies who don't know how to strike on the ground at all. Generally speaking I think training with MMA fighters is good for anyone's BJJ, because they tend to be in great shape, they don't consent to play the normal BJJ meta-game (you have to spend a lot of energy just keeping them down), their games tend to be wrestling heavy, and they won't tap unless you really, really catch them. It tightens everything up to train with guys like that.

Yeah about 6 months into brown belt I had to switch gyms to a gym where the head coach was a pro MMA fighter and ADCC vet and it leveled up my game so much. He had all of those attributes that you mention and also had a culture of that instilled in even his lowest belts, and even his newer guys made you feel like you were in much more of a "fight" than every other "BJJ academy" I had ever been in. This was an MMA gym through and through that just happened to have jiu-jitsu classes.

Just rolling with people that will never concede a sweep to play guard and actually force you to hold them down effectively after sweeping them? Or needing to finish a sweep by coming onto the feet and getting a takedown? Or taking a month to not play guard but stand up anytime you get taken down or swept? Those 3 things alone improved my overall jiu-jitsu so fucking much.

 

[TheGZA]

I am particularly concerned about the bottom player in situations where I do not have upper body control (butterfly or closed guard w/ overhook).

 

[Striderxdj]

This isnt a question that can be answered easily. Each gym is different, each lineage/instructor has different criteria for promotions. Some expect performance in tournaments, some include self defense in their criteria, some have class attendance requirements, some have testing for promotions after you have at least 2 stripes.

 

[KikoJones]

This isnt a question that can be answered easily. Each gym is different, each lineage/instructor has different criteria for promotions. Some expect performance in tournaments, some include self defense in their criteria, some have class attendance requirements, some have testing for promotions after you have at least 2 stripes.

I understand all that. As I said when I resurrected this thread. (helps to read for context) I was hoping for each person's personal experience. Especially those that posted in the original thread now that they've made the transition to Brown and even Black. Did their strategies pay off? Knowing what they know now, what would they have done differently.

 

[winterbike]

The real perk is now your skill is high enough that you can treat rolls like active drilling whereas before you were just trying to survive. I had to wait til brown to do what I wanted bc i had to build all this foundation to get there. Also it's easier to line up bc there's usually not many brown belts.

This is the real interesting part for me. I'm mid-purple and I feel like I'm learning as fast (maybe faster) than ever because I have things I'm working on in every roll from every position.

 

[Forceof1]

As a fresh brown, (nearly 40 year old hobbyist) - I took a different approach. White belt was surviving. Blue belt was a period of crazy expansion. I tried every guard, every sweep, every sub, etc. Purple belt was narrowing down the scope, assembly my game, and really getting better a couple of things (developed my guard passing system - 3 moves) my go to submissions, sweeps (deep half is life) etc. By the end of Purple belt, my A game was solid, and I was familiar with lots of other positions, but they all routed back to my A game.

Now as a brown belt, my goal is again expansion. I'm purposefully studying more, experimenting more with new positions / sweeps / combinations, etc. I don't care if I miss a sweep, because no white or blue belt is going to hold me down to prevent me from recovering guard and trying it again. I'm avoiding my A game moves. (Again, as a hobbyist, I can do this. This would be 100% wrong if I was a competitor).

Then I figure, as a black belt, I can continue the trend of expand / contract / improve, expand - contract - improve indefinitely. I have enough of a striking / takedown background from many years of other martial arts that I do not need to spend a ton of time there. I do mix in leg locks into the knowledge base.

Just my approach- works for me and should keep it fun far into the future.

 

[mataleaos]

As a fresh brown, (nearly 40 year old hobbyist) - I took a different approach. White belt was surviving. Blue belt was a period of crazy expansion. I tried every guard, every sweep, every sub, etc. Purple belt was narrowing down the scope, assembly my game, and really getting better a couple of things (developed my guard passing system - 3 moves) my go to submissions, sweeps (deep half is life) etc. By the end of Purple belt, my A game was solid, and I was familiar with lots of other positions, but they all routed back to my A game.

Now as a brown belt, my goal is again expansion. I'm purposefully studying more, experimenting more with new positions / sweeps / combinations, etc. I don't care if I miss a sweep, because no white or blue belt is going to hold me down to prevent me from recovering guard and trying it again. I'm avoiding my A game moves. (Again, as a hobbyist, I can do this. This would be 100% wrong if I was a competitor).

Then I figure, as a black belt, I can continue the trend of expand / contract / improve, expand - contract - improve indefinitely. I have enough of a striking / takedown background from many years of other martial arts that I do not need to spend a ton of time there. I do mix in leg locks into the knowledge base.

Just my approach- works for me and should keep it fun far into the future.

We could be clones. This is down to the letter how it was for me. Even down to the deep half is life part.

 

[Forceof1]

 

[asian-glow]

This is the real interesting part for me. I'm mid-purple and I feel like I'm learning as fast (maybe faster) than ever because I have things I'm working on in every roll from every position.

Anytime I get burnt out with this approach I just roll with no goals - just for fun. Eventually I want to make more progress so I'll go back to the previous mindset when I'm ready.

Shifting between these two mindsets has really saved me from burning out and has been one of the most important things I learned about myself and what I need to learn optimally and more importantly, consistently.

I also have low expectations of myself. In the past I would get emotional about how I did. Now I'll hang onto ONE cool thing I did or take away ONE thing I learned in an hour long roll and carry that feeling. It helps throw a little stick in that fire - just enough to keep me coming back one more day. I do it enough times and I'll be a black belt.

Above all, sometimes I have to take a step back and remind myself it's just a game. I've rolled with people, even higher belts, who get really emotional when they perform poorly at open mats.

While I think it's a sign that they expect a lot of themselves, which is not a bad thing, at some point it's annoying to roll with people like this for me. To me it's like flipping the board when you're losing at chess.

Tinfoil Time
Its cheesy, but these people are purple belts in bjj with a white belt mentality. Many of us are smart and will probably never use our actual skills. The mentality and mental skills, however, can come in handy everyday.

 

[mataleaos]

Anytime I get burnt out with this approach I just roll with no goals - just for fun. Eventually I want to make more progress so I'll go back to the previous mindset when I'm ready.

Shifting between these two mindsets has really saved me from burning out and has been one of the most important things I learned about myself and what I need to learn optimally and more importantly, consistently.

I also have low expectations of myself. In the past I would get emotional about how I did. Now I'll hang onto ONE cool thing I did or take away ONE thing I learned in an hour long roll and carry that feeling. It helps throw a little stick in that fire - just enough to keep me coming back one more day. I do it enough times and I'll be a black belt.

Above all, sometimes I have to take a step back and remind myself it's just a game. I've rolled with people, even higher belts, who get really emotional when they perform poorly at open mats.

While I think it's a sign that they expect a lot of themselves, which is not a bad thing, at some point it's annoying to roll with people like this for me. To me it's like flipping the board when you're losing at chess.

Tinfoil Time
Its cheesy, but these people are purple belts in bjj with a white belt mentality. Many of us are smart and will probably never use our actual skills. The mentality and mental skills, however, can come in handy everyday.

I like this. The most improvements I’ve made were when I was rolling to have fun and not pressuring myself. It does seem cheesy but I think it’s real.

 

[Uchi Mata]

We could be clones. This is down to the letter how it was for me. Even down to the deep half is life part.

Deep half was my go-to for blue and early purple, and it's still one of the main ways I get out of trouble. You can get to deep half from almost anywhere. Transitions to deep half are my primary escapes from mount and back.

 

[Quebec Nick]

Deep half was my go-to for blue and early purple, and it's still one of the main ways I get out of trouble. You can get to deep half from almost anywhere. Transitions to deep half are my primary escapes from mount and back.

In class we were always drilling to go and get the deep half guard, I thought it was pointless, because I have good sweeping options from half guard and knee shield.

But getting out of trouble with the deep half guard is amazing, I do it mostly during knee slide and knee drop passing attempts or when I'm getting smashed in half guard. It's so effective that it seems stupid to do anything else. I'm now working on the back and mount escapes.

We have a couple of guys doing it all the time so pretty much everybody knows how to defend the sweeps. But even if you don't manage to get all the way to the sweep, you're still in a much better position than you were before going for it.