The absolute worst feeling in BJJ is....

E

Evenflow80

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.... when you are a group of other guys start almost exactly the same time, roll for 6 or 7 months together and be very equally matched in your incompetence.... then all of a sudden, seemingly overnight, they pull far ahead of you and the memory of you subbing them or when not getting subbed by them every time you roll becomes nothing but a distant memory.

It's almost like they're gone. My training partners I was growing alongside with all those months. They're gone and replaced by these new strangers.

Worst part is I am far and away the most consistent student at our gym. I'm there 5 days a week sometimes two times a day. Yet they all.pulled ahead of me all of a sudden.

Right now I also noticed my professor pairing me up when we roll with the brand new white belts or the few women we have. It's demoralizing and the only way I can roll with my previous partners is after class on open mat.

It's just so demoralizing and depressing and I don't want to fall into this mental trap and BJJ is 90% mental confidence.
 
Did you ever think that maybe because you are the senior student he's putting you in a leadership role. he trusts you to help new students who are nervous to come back to class. look at it as a great honor. Ive been going for about 2 years now and my professor pairs me with new people to try and help them feel comfortable.
 
Curve goes up and down. You have plenty of time to catch up.

For me, the absolute worse is getting steam rolled at a tournament in front of your coach and teammates.
 
Evenflow80 said:
Right now I also noticed my professor pairing me up when we roll with the brand new white belts or the few women we have. It's demoralizing and the only way I can roll with my previous partners is after class on open mat.
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Probably he trusts you to be methodical and not smash them.
Listen, if you're having troubles, push through. Not everyone is a natural. BJ Penn and Caio Terra types are very rare. But Keenan by his own words sucked for a long time. He had an intellectual, not naturally athletic, approach that takes more time to develop. I would say at this point he's better and more innovative than either of the naturals I mentioned earlier.

Push through, enjoy yourself though.
 
The absolute worst feeling in BJJ is....

Being physically/medically unable to get on the mat.
 
The guys you workout with every day are not your competition. You should be happy that your training partners are improving. This will make you better in the long run too. Try not to get discouraged. Everyone is on their own path and who know what things will look like years from now.
 
Coati858 said:
The absolute worst feeling in BJJ is....

Being physically/medically unable to get on the mat.
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Going to the kids class because your kid trains but the adults are right after that and you see all your buddies in their gi warming up. You shake hands with everyone and leave when your children do because you are in a cast with a broken wrist.
 
I think the worst feeling is rolling badly, and knowing you could do much better
 
Coati858 said:
The absolute worst feeling in BJJ is....

Being physically/medically unable to get on the mat.
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This. I fractured my L1 vertebrae in December and haven't been able to step on the mat yet. Still in physical therapy and won't be cleared for a while. I still talk to partners regularly and it's depressing knowing that they're still rolling and progressing and I'm on bed rest. I missed pans and Chicago open. But I know even when I'm back it'll still be a long road to getting my game back.
 
Man, I'm super sorry for all the guys who get injured and can't train. That must be extemely demoralizing and hard to come back from. But from what I'm told everyone will get hurt training eventually. Like it happens to EVERYONE.

I really panic though when something hurts....
 
Evenflow80 said:
Man, I'm super sorry for all the guys who get injured and can't train. That must be extemely demoralizing and hard to come back from. But from what I'm told everyone will get hurt training eventually. Like it happens to EVERYONE.

I really panic though when something hurts....
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When you train consistantly in any sport you get injured at some points, it's tough but that's life.
Have sufered far less injuries in last 7y training MT and BJJ than when I was doing handball and judo...
 
The worst feeling is being a 25 year old but trapped in a 51 year old Purple belt's body, knowing that you're only getting older and slower and those White Belts today will be wrecking your shit tomorrow.

Getting old sucks.
 
Chazz Reinhold said:
Did you ever think that maybe because you are the senior student he's putting you in a leadership role. he trusts you to help new students who are nervous to come back to class. look at it as a great honor. Ive been going for about 2 years now and my professor pairs me with new people to try and help them feel comfortable.
Click to expand...
Let's be honest. He's sending the weakest link to match up with the new fish because it's as even a match-up as he can make.
 
KikoJones said:
The worst feeling is being a 25 year old but trapped in a 51 year old Purple belt's body, knowing that you're only getting older and slower and those White Belts today will be wrecking your shit tomorrow.

Getting old sucks.
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And then you pass 40 and start to have a clue about what age actually feels like.
 
Yeah that's not the worst feeling in BJJ. It might be the worst experience you've had so far in BJJ, but you've only been doing it for a few months, so try to keep some perspective.

People learn differently; through different means, at different rates of progression, from different teachers. Some teachers are very visual but don't articulate well. Students who are also very visual will flourish in that environment more than a student who is a much stronger auditory learner. It's not crazy to look around the room and say, "hey everyone here started at the same time and they all smash me." and then a month or two later you fix holes in your game that are being exploited, and add big missing pieces (and at six months in you're missing some gigantic pieces, make no mistake), and suddenly it's competitive again or you're smashing them. You'll find that progression isn't a straight line from bad to good; there's plateaus, regressions, and the ever-coveted sudden jumps in ability. Don't be surprised when you have a great day where you feel like a beast, followed by a day where your guard is so shitty it feels like you don't have legs at all. Just keep training.

However, at six months, going five times a week and a couple of times a day might be overdoing it. For some, taking a step back and focusing on digestable chunks at a time instead of trying to absorb the whole thing at once is the way to go.
 
Matsukaze said:
Dang how old are you? Do you have a life outside of bjj?
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I'm 35. I go MW during lunch break at work and then night classes. Rest of week I go to the night classes. I skip Saturday class to spend time with my family.

Going at my lunch break is easy as I have nothing to do at lunch anyways. Night classes are only 1.5 hours so not too bad.

Overall it doesn't feel like it takes too much of my time to be honest. What bugs me is guys that go 3 times a week are smashing me easily now
 
ultimateriley-o said:
Yeah that's not the worst feeling in BJJ. It might be the worst experience you've had so far in BJJ, but you've only been doing it for a few months, so try to keep some perspective.

People learn differently; through different means, at different rates of progression, from different teachers. Some teachers are very visual but don't articulate well. Students who are also very visual will flourish in that environment more than a student who is a much stronger auditory learner. It's not crazy to look around the room and say, "hey everyone here started at the same time and they all smash me." and then a month or two later you fix holes in your game that are being exploited, and add big missing pieces (and at six months in you're missing some gigantic pieces, make no mistake), and suddenly it's competitive again or you're smashing them. You'll find that progression isn't a straight line from bad to good; there's plateaus, regressions, and the ever-coveted sudden jumps in ability. Don't be surprised when you have a great day where you feel like a beast, followed by a day where your guard is so shitty it feels like you don't have legs at all. Just keep training.

However, at six months, going five times a week and a couple of times a day might be overdoing it. For some, taking a step back and focusing on digestable chunks at a time instead of trying to absorb the whole thing at once is the way to go.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking of cutting down to 4 days a week. Maybe skip Wednesday to get a break n between. I don't know. My body does feel weak a lot now. I've started eating more as people here have suggested and that helped for a bit.

Thanks man
 
Trying to get the unidentified hair that's in your mouth out while in mid roll and you can't. That's a pretty bad feeling.
 
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