What are the main reasons why white belts quit BJJ

eREAPER said:
I also bet a lot of people get frustrated because they aren't blue belts after 6 months....(entitlement, ego, etc) I've seen a few guys who have quit after seeing their classmates get promoted, and they are not. Just up and stop coming to class.
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Hahaha, man, in retrospect they really shouldn't be wanting that. I felt like that too before promotion - I was like "man, I think I'm ready for my blue belt" sometimes - and then I got it and discovered rolling had more pressure all of a sudden and was envying the carefree whitebelt days :icon_lol:
 
Vitamin C said:
One of the things that I have felt the most discouragement from is never doing any better against the guys who are better than me. That isn't a consistent feeling, but on those bad nights, this is generally the reason I feel down on myself.
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Yep, that can be tricky, I can think of quite a few recent cases where that was depressing. That's why going to fundamentals class sometimes is good though (among other reasons) - I was absolutely astonished how easily I was getting repeated sweeps/submissions against some big and strong newer guys. You don't realize that as you keep progressing with your training partners that you're both learning a ton - in order to keep my guard threatening (as one example) I've really been working on chains of submission attempts and getting better at breaking posture and THEY are getting better and better at countering stuff and keeping posture etc etc so it's kind of a back and forth; then you go with newer guys and WHAM all that progress suddenly is obvious and pretty darn unfair! Also you get to see that when guys take very long breaks for months and months - when they get back I often find that I've improved a lot...

At the same time it can be depressing when really serious guys who train constantly actually outpace your progress and pull further and further away, makes it seem like you're getting WORSE...just gotta keep in mind that maybe they'll burn out or have to take a break one day for some reason and then man watch out for the tortoise chasing the hare hahaha...
 
People quit for various reasons. I know I left I stopped training(and only recently could go back) because of personal and financial reasons. It's not like everyone that quits just couldn't hack it, it all depends on the person. There are so many reason for why people would quit, that there is no straight answer to a question like this. Many people do it for whatever, whether it's money, personal issues, ego, etc, just happens.
 
I feel much of it has to do with time commitment. I have heard people say before that if they go to a gym that they can go lift anytime at their convenience, bjj takes much more commitment because it is at a certain time. I also believe that some people don't realize how difficult it can be to become proficient at it.
 
Impatience - They realize they're not the next BJ Penn, they need instant gratification
Ego - They can't handle "losing"
Dedication - They did it for a year or so, thats enough for their sense of accomplishment
 
buhriyon said:
I feel much of it has to do with time commitment. I have heard people say before that if they go to a gym that they can go lift anytime at their convenience, bjj takes much more commitment because it is at a certain time. I also believe that some people don't realize how difficult it can be to become proficient at it.
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It's a double-edged sword. A lot of times that I don't want to go train, I do it anyway because people are expecting me. I probably wouldn't go to Cullman every week if not for my buddy that I car pool with.

OTOH, once you miss a few classes, some people actually get embarassed about going back. So they just don't come back because they don't want to get razzed about not training. I never understood that.
 
KGB313 said:
It's a double-edged sword. A lot of times that I don't want to go train, I do it anyway because people are expecting me. I probably wouldn't go to Cullman every week if not for my buddy that I car pool with.

OTOH, once you miss a few classes, some people actually get embarassed about going back. So they just don't come back because they don't want to get razzed about not training. I never understood that.
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Then they lacked the confidence to begin with. If you're going to worry about what people think about you for missing class what do you think those people think about themselves when they get tapped, pinned, thrown, pwnd?
 
Because a white belt is the highest ranking in bjj. There's no need to continue something you already mastered.
 
Wrestlers

Some people can't fathom as to why a guy with 4+ years of wrestling experience could possibly dominate a guy training BJJ for 3-4 months once a week. So they blame it on spazzing, using strength over technique, the phase of the moon, sandbagging...ect ect..

Hey Dumbass! Your noob skill level sweeps are going to be low percentage on a guy that spent the last 4 years learning to keep a top position, your TD attempts will fail, and don't be surprised if you get owned in a scramble....
 
I know money and time nearly got me, more than once I had to quit for a few months to pick up a 2nd or 3rd job to cover gym fees + gas and with 3 kids all doing sports and other after school shit my time is very strapped and effects how much I'm able to still make it to the gym even when I can afford to.
 
sb413197 said:
Hahaha, man, in retrospect they really shouldn't be wanting that. I felt like that too before promotion - I was like "man, I think I'm ready for my blue belt" sometimes - and then I got it and discovered rolling had more pressure all of a sudden and was envying the carefree whitebelt days :icon_lol:
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Yeah there are a few quick learners who got their blue belt in a little over a year. Thats the fastest. Most people are more like a year and a half or more.

I've been training about 9 months and I'm a 3 stripe. I can get the better of the other white belts that don't compete and challenge some of the blues when I'm on my game or they may be having a bad day, but I'm in no rush to get my blue belt.

As I said the other day I just want to get to the point (my initial goal for now) where I can roll evenly or competitively with most of the guys in the gym and not be stuck on the bottom as much.
The blue belt I just see comes with extra pressure. Hell right now when I roll with new guys I find myself subconsciously taking it easy on them and they make some progress on me sometimes because of it... If I were a blue belt I dont think I could let that fly anymore and I am guessing I would expect to beat white belts consistently just about every time.
 
i think one of the biggest reasons is lack of patience. most guys, when they start, will have to spend the first few months getting owned on a daily basis. often by guys who are other white belts and smaller than they are. getting owned all the time and having no idea why can be really frustrating and not a lot of people can handle that. its very damaging to the ego and a mans ego is so very fragile.
 
1) Lazy
2) Ego
3) Financial
4) Not their thing


I seriously thought when I was first starting BJJ I can be like BJ Penn and be a prodigy and earn a BB in 3 years and have world class BJJ skills. Boy was I wrong...
 
Cost kills most people. It's hard to find BJJ under a hundred bucks a month. If not for my coach being an awesome guy and letting me train in exchange for being my school's janitor I would of had to quit.
 
It comes down to one thing and one thing only... They don't have a passion for it, Plain and simple. No matter all of the reasons people have listed, if they have a true passion for our sport then they find a way to make it work, no matter what. All I think about is BJJ, when I am in the shower, sitting on the train, hanging with a chick, before I go to sleep, at work... All of my closest friends train, except my best friend from high school, and even my boy from high school loves watching the highlight videos I send him, and could name most submissons that he sees on tv. Shit, even 3 guys I became friends with from my last job are all blue belts under shaolin now, because I made them come take a free trial class. They are now 3 of my best friends, and also never shut the fuck up about Grappling. I even broke up with my ex who i had dated for 5 years, because she told me to choose between training less and being with her. Without even 10 seconds passing I told her, and I quote "I guess you made your decision then" and I walked out the door, and headed straight for the gym. Two years later I am still heart broken, because of that woman. Serious fucking Johnny Cash song heartbroken over her, developed a nice little pill addiction/drinking problem over that woman. But I beat that nasty shit part of my life too, she still won't take me back, but my mats/training partners/coaches are always there with open arms. So, like I said, it all comes down to how much do you really love getting you ass kicked 6 days out of the week.
 
BComm14 said:
well when a purp goes to a new gym pretending to be a white and tapping out people, lot of egos get hurt.
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Yeah but that doesnt really happen unless the purp is REALLY trying to hide it, and even then they would instinctually do things while rolling that a white belt wouldent do.

I rolled with an unfamiliar guy last week who I thought was new to the gym and BJJ. We started from neutral and I just started doing some grip fighting and within 20 seconds I even said outloud, "you are deff not new to this".

turns out hes a purple from another local school.
 
LS1Rx7 said:
Yeah but that doesnt really happen unless the purp is REALLY trying to hide it, and even then they would instinctually do things while rolling that a white belt wouldent do.

I rolled with an unfamiliar guy last week who I thought was new to the gym and BJJ. We started from neutral and I just started doing some grip fighting and within 20 seconds I even said outloud, "you are deff not new to this".

turns out hes a purple from another local school.
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Did you get a reason for why he strapped on a white belt? It's not respectful, it's a lie. Or was it nogi...
 
Damn it. Do I have to start ranting about the cost of entry to BJJ and why keeping it high hurts the popularity of the sport again?

Bottom line. The cost is too high.

You may argue that the if there's no passion, everything is expensive. Yes, that's true.

However, how many of you know somebody (or yourself) that have membership to 24hour Fitness or Balley's or other gyms but NEVER go to gym? You have to ask yourself, why don't they just cancel it? The reason is because it relatively cheap or affordable to keep the membership current. He/she knows that if there's an itch to go workout, it's available.

Whereas BJJ, the monthly cost is significantly higher, we're talking about $20-$30/month to $150-$200 a month, there's not an lot of incentive to keep the membership current if you want to take a break. And if you have that itch, you're more likely to find an alternative than going back to BJJ.

BJJ is one of those things where you'll like it the more you do it. Again, by keeping the barriers to entry high, it really eliminates people's desires to even want to try it out for a year.
 
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