The absolute worst feeling in BJJ is....

[Dogstarman]

And then you pass 40 and start to have a clue about what age actually feels like.

Yup. I'm 42 right now. Even when I hit 40 I was like this isn't so bad and it's not terrible now but I feel it. It's not just a tiredness. You feel it in your bones. I don't know how to explain it. I think it's the recovery that is harder. I should probably get on that horse meat diet Overweem went on when he jumped to heavyweight.

 

[EGDM]

It's been slow downhill slide since 29 for me. I recently had a temporary hearing loss issue for which I was prescribed a large course of prednisone (serious corticosteroid). I got to experience the systemic anti-inflammatory and recovery effects that steriod use can provide. I woke up the second morning feeling like a god. My back and knees didn't hurt, and there were dozens of missing minor aches and pains that I apparently just learned to filter out over the years. It literally rewound the clock to when I was 19. Every movement felt fluid and amazing.

Then I stopped taking it and all the nicks and dings came crashing back at once. Really demoralizing.

(No, I wouldn't take that stuff on a regular basis - it also gave me 'roid rage, significantly elevated heart rate and blood pressure, and I could barely sleep.)

 

[berimBOWLoh]

on the flip side one of the best feelings is people much better than you that stop training for awhile, come back and suddenly you are much better than them.

consistency is where its at.

 

[zeli_papa]

It's all about consistency and perseverance, also you training partners might be much younger/stronger/more athletic which plays a massive factor. Try not to worry about it, instead focus on the reasons why they beat you, maybe you're overtrained? Maybe you gas too quick? Or your guard is too easily passed? Employ a bit of analytical approach to it and then work on the areas that are lacking, it'll definitely pay off

 

[lechien]

.... 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.

I think you are not aggressive enough.

It is not a bad thing and you should not lose sleep over it.

You can't tap them out, no big deal.

 

[RJ Green]

i went through periods of training with less skilled/smaller people where i started playing a really complicit, almost lazy game. conceding shitty positions or working stupid counters so i didn't just fuckin' smash people.

problem is, after a while that'll become your game. i wasn't as sharp against the people who were hungry for the initiative and after a while i think it dragged down my game. i wasn't jumping at opportunities like i should have and wasn't fighting like hell to retain position.

at a certain point, you've gotta prioritize your improvement over that of others.

 

[JagRoss]

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.

When sweat drips in your mouth...

 

[Evenflow80]

Well things have been getting from bad to worse.

I'm losing to everyone now. Brown belts, blue belts , white belts at my level, white belts barely a couple of months in. Basically every day I get submitted 3 or 4 times and haven't subbed anyone in weeks.

I'm not sure why I'm doing so much worse than literally everyone. I often feel weak and people generally have zero respect for me and give me positions so they can escape out of it etc. It's so demoralizing.

Thinking of hitting the gym and putting on muscle. Maybe running too. Just not sure when I'll have the time on top of my daily BJJ training and full time job and family

 

[andrewm2211]

It's interesting that this sentiment is so pervasive in Jiu Jitsu. That if you train the same amount as someone else you should be just as good. But that's not true in virtually any other sport.

Like in high school basketball. Some kids were just plain better than others. And some kids had to work harder than t

I think because IBBJF rolled out these standards like "it take two years to get a blue belt" everyone gets disapointed when they don't meet it. But it's kind of whatever, some people are better than others.

I saw myself get lapped two times over already, and it's certainly not ideal, but at the end of the day I don't car. I'm way tougher than before I started. I lost 30lbs, I'm in way better shape so that's cool.

 

[Clinchster]

Worst feeling? Trying to get the cardio back after you've been gone a couple months....Shit is brutal.

 

[INTERL0PER]

Well things have been getting from bad to worse.

I'm losing to everyone now. Brown belts, blue belts , white belts at my level, white belts barely a couple of months in. Basically every day I get submitted 3 or 4 times and haven't subbed anyone in weeks.

I'm not sure why I'm doing so much worse than literally everyone. I often feel weak and people generally have zero respect for me and give me positions so they can escape out of it etc. It's so demoralizing.

Thinking of hitting the gym and putting on muscle. Maybe running too. Just not sure when I'll have the time on top of my daily BJJ training and full time job and family

It sounds like you're exhausted. Literally.

Try take it down to three times a week, while doing study on two other days. Research shows that thinking about something and mentally visualizing it is almost as good as the physical training that should go with it.

 

[Kaffe]

I have found that focusing on specific answers to specific problems is the way to go. You need to identify where and how you get beat, then try to change the parameters. Having a plan of attack will also help with motivation. Always have small goals that together build towards a greater one (to crush your enemies and hear the lamentations of their women, obviously).

Do you have any such situations where you consistently get beat? If you can give specific examples, then people can suggest specific solutions.

 

[Tchoker]

Well things have been getting from bad to worse.

I'm losing to everyone now. Brown belts, blue belts , white belts at my level, white belts barely a couple of months in. Basically every day I get submitted 3 or 4 times and haven't subbed anyone in weeks.

I'm not sure why I'm doing so much worse than literally everyone. I often feel weak and people generally have zero respect for me and give me positions so they can escape out of it etc. It's so demoralizing.

Thinking of hitting the gym and putting on muscle. Maybe running too. Just not sure when I'll have the time on top of my daily BJJ training and full time job and family

u

What's your diet like? How much alcohol do you drink? Have you had your hormone levels tested? Some of your symptoms suggest your testosterone may be low. How much sleep do you get?

Man, 5x per week is a lot of jits. Consider dropping a couple of classes and add in either strength training or perhaps yoga, depending on what you think will benefit you more.

 

[Knock Out Ned]

Well things have been getting from bad to worse.

I'm losing to everyone now. Brown belts, blue belts , white belts at my level, white belts barely a couple of months in. Basically every day I get submitted 3 or 4 times and haven't subbed anyone in weeks. It's so demoralizing.

You'r not you're not losing, you're training. Go have fun.

 

[andrewm2211]

Also I've had people clearly let me pass their guard, and I took it as a bit of an insult at first.
But now I just make it my mission to punish them for it and give them all the presh I can to make them regret it.

And if they still escape easily... Well I guess they were right, hah

 

[SummerStriker]

on the flip side one of the best feelings is people much better than you that stop training for awhile, come back and suddenly you are much better than them.

consistency is where its at.

There is also a threshold where fat bodies who don't want to compete get so good that it becomes practically impossible for tough guys to catch up before they get bored. Jujitsu is hard enough that you can get good, given enough effort over a long enough time, that the majority of people won't catch you.

 

[Evenflow80]

u

What's your diet like? How much alcohol do you drink? Have you had your hormone levels tested? Some of your symptoms suggest your testosterone may be low. How much sleep do you get?

Man, 5x per week is a lot of jits. Consider dropping a couple of classes and add in either strength training or perhaps yoga, depending on what you think will benefit you more.

You know despite getting tested for testosterone levels twice in last 5 years and being told I'm fine, I've always suspected I've had low testosterone. I still do but I'm told I don't.

My diet is ok I guess. I eat oatmeal in the morning and usually have some snacks for lunch, and a good dinner. My sleep could be better as I usually fall asleep like 1am and wake up by my 2 year old around 6am. Could that be it?

Bottom line is I just don't know and that's what's frustrating. Why am I falling behind everyone I started same time as ?

 

[ThatBJJGuy]

.... 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.

Its not enough to just turn up and go to class. I've seen your type....you come to every class thinking you will be good when really youre not putting in the effort to get good and yeah that involves drilling/sparring hard as well as being strong and fit. simply turning up to class is not enough.

 

[lechien]

You know despite getting tested for testosterone levels twice in last 5 years and being told I'm fine, I've always suspected I've had low testosterone. I still do but I'm told I don't.

My diet is ok I guess. I eat oatmeal in the morning and usually have some snacks for lunch, and a good dinner. My sleep could be better as I usually fall asleep like 1am and wake up by my 2 year old around 6am. Could that be it?

Bottom line is I just don't know and that's what's frustrating. Why am I falling behind everyone I started same time as ?

5 hours of sleep!!!

 

[sb413197]

I often feel weak and people generally have zero respect for me and give me positions so they can escape out of it etc. It's so demoralizing.

Your quote there got me thinking - I'm going to ASK YOU FOR ADVICE here! I do that when rolling with a truly massive size and experience discrepancy (I'm a 215 pound purple belt), to make it more challenging for both of us and give him the chance to attack. I assumed people liked that better but I wonder though if people would rather I just start in guard. What do you think - in that situation maybe practice blocking the guard pass and not attacking until awhile into the roll, but not start in a disadvantaged position - I don't want to demoralize anyone?

sleep could be better as I usually fall asleep like 1am and wake up by my 2 year old around 6am. Could that be it?

Yes, that could definitely be it. Sleep 8 hours a night. You'll enjoy BJJ and the rest of life more. I think that if you're only sleeping 5 hours per night so you can train more, you might be better off skipping that extra training in the evening and just do your lunch workout (which sounds very time efficient for you) given that you don't feel you are progressing, and just sleeping 8 hours. MAYBE even cut the training back to like 3-4 times per week, you sound kinda overtrained.

But some people will always progress faster than others. There are a couple guys in my gym who have progressed insanely fast and it's kinda annoying TBH but you gotta respect them for it. Every situation is different.