Almost took my stripes off today

[Big Nasty Edison]

Lots of good advice in this thread on the first page.

My take on it is you are putting to much into your stripes. You are still a beginner and ranks count for less than you think.

Example, before my first comp, I worked out with a buddy at his club to get a feel for how I pair up with people outside my club. I mashed one of their heavyweight 2 stripe white belts, but their four stripe white took me down, got knee on belly and I could do nothing about it. I weighed more than the 2 stripe, and the four stripe was bigger than me (had to be a big foot ball player, tall, heavy, jacked up and could do cart wheels). Then at my first comp, I beat a 2 stripe white who was almost 300 lbs.

At my club, there is an Eddie Bravo blue belt who man handles me. It's not even a competition. And he is about 100 lbs. lighter.

So size and strength go a long way at white belt, and your stripes don't give you magic powers over other beginners. As others have said that size, strength and aggression can take someone a long way when it's two rookies going at it. It sounds like you were mentally defeated.

 

[Kingbedlam]

Martial Arts are a part of a whole array of strategy and tactics. The idea that overcoming someone in a one on one fight with your backs against the wall is the only fair way to win is wrong. It is a myth invented to sell heavy weight tickets.

Giving up any advantage you had of technique, speed or strategy, you squared off with a larger person directly in front of you. If it were a real fight, that would be stupid.

Even if he didn't know grappling, you don't know what kind of an aggressive mind he has or what sort of experiences brought him there. Not everyone is equal. Not all guys off the street are equal.

If it had been a real fight, you would have done ANYTHING not to end up on your knees in front of the big man. You could have punched him in the neck or arm dragged and jumped on his back or run away. Instead of any of that, you conceded the absolute maximum advantage to him that is possible.

The idea that martial arts or belts can make you invulnerable to any man outside of your group is the blatant egoistical lie that makes martial arts a joke.

Just because BJJ comes out on top more than Shotokan, doesn't mean that its practitioners aren't still full of shit when they think they can walk around unafraid of strong, dangerous men. There is no such thing as that level of skill.

You just learned something important about how the world works.

Yeah, I think too many folks get caught up in feeling invincible against any old opponent. No matter how trained you are, some untrained sociopath can mess you up.

Don't feel bad OP. It happens. Learn from it and get better.

 

[gorillajump]

It might hurt but I will tell you this: No 4 stripe white belt at my gym would tap to a belly on their face. That includes the women.

I have had a 300 lb ex-NFL DT turn from kesa gatame on me to go for a keylock on the far side. Imagine that size, speed and strength and add onto it this giant, malleable blob that removes any and all breathing space from your face, even if you turn your face to the side. There's no oxygen to be had and you're not moving for a while.

That kind of belly is insistent upon a tap. Doesn't mean I couldn't get out of it sometimes, but it means that belly smothers can be legit at times.

 

[hell wall]

Never concede the takedown... also speed will yield unto you a great advantage vs the behemoth... try a snap down to front headlock.. then back control... this big man will wilt under a solid stranglehold

 

[Calibur]

Am I the only person who thinks that mentioning how many stripes you have is silly?

 

[hell wall]

Am I the only person who thinks that mentioning how many stripes you have is silly?

Belts are a silly phenomenon....

 

[Spazzmaster]

Thread improvement!

 

[Spazzmaster]

Thread starter, why so much pressure on yourself? The guy was way bigger than you, and you're still a beginner.

Just keep training. Have fun. Enjoy jiu jitsu.

As long as you keep training, you're getting better. Sometimes it's a little, sometimes it's a lot. But it's impossible to keep training and get worse.

I have seen IDIOTS get good because they just kept coming for years.

I mean it! Total idiots who I wouldn't trust to start my car.

 

[segfault]

I'm a brownbelt and still have plenty of humbling days. I suspect if/when I'm a blackbelt it will still be true. Trust me, guys will come and go and some will have your number and make you feel like you suck.

Either they will stick around and become good training partners or they'll quit. It doesn't matter what happens to them as long as you keep training. Shrug it off and get back on the mats.

 

[FirstScratch]

As long as you've trained, you should know by now not to bullshit around with the big fellas, especially beginners. I just assume the big fuckers are going to try to bull rush their way to the top, especially if they don't know any technical passes. Being stuck under a big strong guy that has any type of base is a bitch to deal with at pretty much any rank. Sure you'll develop better escapes as you progress, but more importantly, you'll become much better at not getting in those bad positions to begin with.

 

[Thrawn33]

You're a white belt. Shut up and train.

Not to be a dick, but he's right.

Don't let it get you down, just keep training.

 

[redaxe]

Time to learn some defensive jiu-jitsu.

Pull guard and try to take his back. If he passes your guard, turtle up instead. Then pull guard again from turtle. Rinse and repeat.

You can frustrate bigger guys for a while with this. The trick is to get them to gas out first. Then give em hell.

 

[mat worm]

4 stripe white belt

 

[Dirty Holt]

I have had a 300 lb ex-NFL DT turn from kesa gatame on me to go for a keylock on the far side. Imagine that size, speed and strength and add onto it this giant, malleable blob that removes any and all breathing space from your face, even if you turn your face to the side. There's no oxygen to be had and you're not moving for a while.

That kind of belly is insistent upon a tap. Doesn't mean I couldn't get out of it sometimes, but it means that belly smothers can be legit at times.

No it doesnt. Because you panicked against an ex athlete who was big does not mean a belly smother is a legitimate technique. And since you are referring your story to me, no fucking way in hell am I tapping to to a belly on my face, whether it be a washed up lineman or ButterBean himself.

Side note, I am curious as to who the NFL guy was? Did the guy keep up with BJJ? I actually kind of wonder why more ex pro athletes dont turn to BJJ for competition.

 

[gorillajump]

No it doesnt. Because you panicked against an ex athlete who was big does not mean a belly smother is a legitimate technique. And since you are referring your story to me, no fucking way in hell am I tapping to to a belly on my face, whether it be a washed up lineman or ButterBean himself.

Side note, I am curious as to who the NFL guy was? Did the guy keep up with BJJ? I actually kind of wonder why more ex pro athletes dont turn to BJJ for competition.

You must be on some fuckin' David Blaine level shit if you're able to survive a minute plus under a real belly smother from a dude that big, strong or skilled.

This isn't about panicking or anything related to mental weakness. I could not get out of the position I was in with the amount of air/oxygen I had in my lungs. I ran out of air before I could manufacture an escape.

How does one get fresh oxygen into one's body when there is no breathing space possible due to said belly smother? The belly was draped fully around my face. Turning sideways didn't get me anything. I couldn't look towards my keylocked arm because his rib cage and pressure prevented me, so I tried to look towards his legs. Belly. Belly for days. So much belly, I thought I was seeing DMX and Nas. All belly.

If guy no can breathe, guy taps. Or goes to sleep. Some belly smothers are legit. Just like some guard cinches can let Geeza make Ray Elbe puke on Geeza's head and thus lose the match. Some crazy shit works, even if you're a tough guy.

 

[HomerPlata]

Tapping to a belly in the face is so three stripish.

Hahaha! :icon_lol:

 

[Dogstarman]

Lol, at a whitebelt crying about losing to another whitebelt.

Just fucking train and quit bitching. No, you know what just quit already. Stop being a fucking pussy. Tap, reset, bump fists, move forward, and keep training. If you are always looking backwards you fucked up a long time ago.

 

[Armwrap]

So you tapped in training, so what. I might tap if I have a hair in my mouth.

You will get more comfortable with being smothered/smashed when you practice more.

There was an interesting part in Marcelos book where Josh Waitzkin told that Marcelo experimented with a certain kind of mount where he would take the space away when his opponent exhaled, resulting in a tap. According to the BJJ folklore, Pe de Pano used to tap BBs with KOB pressure.

 

[Solidus Snake]

It's nothing particularly shameful, I have seen people tapping from side control or out of exhaustation.. shit just happens especially at beginner levels (and especially against big dudes). Keep on training and think on how to get better instead of depressing yourself

 

[BJJArsenal]

I've seen a pure white belt tap a high purple. The white belt was just a beast that had cardio for days.

That's really bad. Should not be happening to that extent.