Be Honest... how much did you suck and for how long when starting BJJ?

[Forceof1]

Here's the best metric for improvement that I can come up with, and helped me the most.

Imagine you roll against yourself from your first day in class. How would that you do vs you now? You'd kill him.

Thats progress, and thats all that really matters. Imagine what you would do to you right now vs you 6 months from now. Thats your motivation.

Go train.

 

[Evenflow80]

I don't think that it is a matter of 'sucking'. Jiu jitsu is an art with so much to learn that nobody can ever really master it. You can become proficient. You can become so well versed in it that you become the best in the world. You can understand it well enough to teach the concepts in great detail. And it takes years just to develop the basics well enough to be able to show even a bit of style.

I've been training for 4.5 years. It really takes a variety of good training partners to help to see where you personally are at. Rolling with brown belts who will let you 'try' and submit them while they calmly work on defense, big athletic spazzy white belts who require you to work hard to control them, or use more efficient technique to frustrate them and break them down without gassing, peers who started around the same time who push you while pushing themselves . . . etc.

There are a bunch of ways to grow, so it really depends on your goals. I don't know that anybody ever has that 'ah ha' moment where it all just clicks.

Sorry for the rant. To answer your question, I started when I was 31, but I was in solid shape at the time. I am/was 6' 1" 240. I'd played college football and had been lifting for a few solid years before dropping all that. I was probably deadlifting 450. So, I was pretty big and strong. I think my background in football helped with my overall balance and body awareness, but I was very average for a white belt. I always got my ass handed to me. And, as I got a bit better, I tried to apply what my instructors taught regarding using strength (which will cause you to gas). So, I would try and mentally tell myself that if I muscled out of a submission or had to use strength to gain a position/submission, that I didn't really do it right. This caused me to train differently, and I think it helped me to improve. I was also taught that I need to use my weight and that using weight to create pressure is jiu jitsu. That, I'm still struggling with.

Good luck

Thanks man.

I struggle a lot too with relying too much on strength and that doesn't work when I'm almost always the smallest guy in class. Damn though you sound like a big guy id have thought you would have smashed vast majority of people in your gym based on size alone

 

[Evenflow80]

Here's the best metric for improvement that I can come up with, and helped me the most.

Imagine you roll against yourself from your first day in class. How would that you do vs you now? You'd kill him.

Thats progress, and thats all that really matters. Imagine what you would do to you right now vs you 6 months from now. Thats your motivation.

Go train.

That does motivate me plus that also means that I'm already at a slight advantage in a real world fight if it hits the ground (unless the guy also trains). That also motivated me.

 

[Uchi Mata]

It takes a while to get a feel for grappling. BJJ I picked up pretty easily, but only because I had already done a lot of Judo. Judo, it took me probably 1-2 years to start to feel comfortable with one throw (it was osoto gari). I think one of the big hurdles with BJJ is that your first 6-12 months you're mostly just learning moves, and it's very hard to put anything together. That's partially because it's just a complex art, and partially because most coaches don't ever really talk about strategy and how to address common thing like starting a roll from your knees. In any case, you just have to make it through that early period and not worry about feeling incompetent, because that feeling is both accurate and universal. So don't let it get you down.

 

[mrblackcoffee]

been training for 2 months, i haven't been able to sub any blue belts but i can give them a run for their money (or they are just having an off day) and i can do pretty well against certain purple belts (if they are a lot smaller then me). against white belts i do very well(still get subbed at times) i struggle the most against anyone who significantly outweighs me
like a lot of people said find small victories for example 1 of the classes this week i learned a sweep into a americana from turtle guard i got the sweep off but couldn't finish the americana in rolling but thats ok cause i saw it so for me I'm basically happy for the rest of the week lol

 

[Lenny7]

I'm a blue and I still suck. I'm old and just a hobbiest and the only blues I do well or ok with are other old hobbiest. All it takes is that one good sub or that one good sweep once ever few weeks that keeps me coming back. Heck, i don't care if it's a 12 year old or a one stripe white belt girl, it's all I need, but I digress...

 

[HtomSirveaux]

That feeling never really goes away if you're training with good guys. You'll keep getting smashed by higher ranks, there will be younger/more athletic lower ranks that give you fits, and even when you are smashing guys you'll find a dozen things you missed or could've done better so you will really get very little satisfaction, even tho from their perspective they feel like they received an effortless, soul crushing beat down

 

[Thrawn33]

Checking in on the "I still suck" train. I suck at wrestling and I suck at Judo too.

I will say I got past the total helpless noob that sucks stage quick but that was the 10 years of mat time in Judo and Wrestling that helped me learn how not to be helpless.

Now I am just a noob.

 

[CHOKER28]

bjj is like anything worth doing .if you put the effort and hard work in you will reap the benefits ,ive been training eight years started training at forty four,five year Nogi under Braullio Estima.I decided to put a gi on three years ago and now i am a two stripe purple belt its been a hard journey

 

[Evenflow80]

bjj is like anything worth doing .if you put the effort and hard work in you will reap the benefits ,ive been training eight years started training at forty four,five year Nogi under Braullio Estima.I decided to put a gi on three years ago and now i am a two stripe purple belt its been a hard journey

Thats a really odd way to start. Why so long no gi?

 

[CHOKER28]

when i first started i did try the Gi ,but couldn't stand it ,but over the years i watched people who started same time as me getting promoted and i was crushing them ,Basically Braullio told me if i want to start getting belts then i need to put on the Gi ,but i still prefer nogi

 

[Evenflow80]

when i first started i did try the Gi ,but couldn't stand it ,but over the years i watched people who started same time as me getting promoted and i was crushing them ,Basically Braullio told me if i want to start getting belts then i need to put on the Gi ,but i still prefer nogi

Thanks. Why did you hate Nogi so much?

I don't know. My professor swears that anyone who says gi training isn't realistic for real world self defense is an idiot, but even as a white belt I sometimes feel I don't agree with that, and no gi is only way to go

 

[CHOKER28]

i love nogi it was the gi i hated, .because after years of nogi which was basically pushing away making space to work,Then going g to gi which at the time seemed to be the opposite people holding on to me i felt like a puppet being controlled.Then obliviously as time went on i learnt to break grips and use the Gi to my advantage in the long run wearing a Gi defiantly improves and tightens your nogi game
As for self defence im a big believer in staying on my feet at all costs ive been into boxing for 20 years plus and Thai so im quite confident in my ability to stand up,but if it did happened to go to the ground im confident there to obliviously from the bjj and judo,in the Uk we have a system called Real Combat Systems which is just what it says we train in real life fight situations which includes all the arts much like mma but originally we didn't wear gloves and basically it was just tear ups and shark tank training one in one out ,but now it has become more in line, with gloves and rules and we have a grading system here is a link http://www.realcombatsystem.co.uk/

 

[Karihtala]

I still suck. 3 years into BJJ. Some rounds feel like I've gotten considerably better than yesterday, then next round someone ragdolls me like I'm a 150 pound white belt.

I'm not a lifestylist, so I always compare myself to others and I want to progress faster than anyone else. I've been a purple for 3,5 months now

 

[Solidus Snake]

I started in the end of 2004. I'm a purple belt. I think I still suck pretty hard by now. Had a lot of injuries (some of them reeaally rough) and personal problems in all this time, was out with pauses of months to an year really often. The last one was for a shoulder injury (made little come backs here and there but I'm practically out of serious training since novembre 2015) but now I should be able to come back full time at the beginning of january to have my butt kicked once again by every kind of belt color

 

[Evenflow80]

I notice people.on here saying they train 3 times a week or so. I've been going 5 or 6 times a week since I started.

Yesterday and Monday I did horrible. On Monday noon class only one brown belt showed up so it was him and me. We rolled for about 30 minutes. He's about 20 pounds heavier than me and naturally I got smashed hard. No biggie

But then went to night class and there only 2 white belts there. Rolled with both and got subbed 3 times by both. They are 4 stripe white belts im 2. I felt so embarrassed.

Next day went to night class. Only black belt instructor and one 4 stripe blue belt who was back after 2 year lay off. He wrecked me within a minute.

I think my body is just sore and weak from going 5-6 times a week for last 3 months. Is that too much especially starting out ? Or should I keep it up?

I know there is a science to letting muscles heal etc....

 

[mrblackcoffee]

I notice people.on here saying they train 3 times a week or so. I've been going 5 or 6 times a week since I started.

Yesterday and Monday I did horrible. On Monday noon class only one brown belt showed up so it was him and me. We rolled for about 30 minutes. He's about 20 pounds heavier than me and naturally I got smashed hard. No biggie

But then went to night class and there only 2 white belts there. Rolled with both and got subbed 3 times by both. They are 4 stripe white belts im 2. I felt so embarrassed.

Next day went to night class. Only black belt instructor and one 4 stripe blue belt who was back after 2 year lay off. He wrecked me within a minute.

I think my body is just sore and weak from going 5-6 times a week for last 3 months. Is that too much especially starting out ? Or should I keep it up?

I know there is a science to letting muscles heal etc....

i train 7+ times a week, but the way my gym does it , its do able if you take care of your body and stuff. Id say its doable depending on how much emphasizes your gym puts on hard rolling... but its also ok to do 3-4 a week and slowly work your way up thats what i did, no need to rush anything take your time

 

[karma2burn]

But then went to night class and there only 2 white belts there. Rolled with both and got subbed 3 times by both. They are 4 stripe white belts im 2. I felt so embarrassed.

You felt really embarrassed when you were tapped by people who were the same belt as you?

If that's the case and you don't learn to stop thinking like that you're never going to make it past blue belt. Because let me tell you you're going to get your blue and still be tapping to white belts. It's going to happen. If you let the fear of being tapped get to you then you'll never progress and will end up quitting.

 

[mataleaos]

You felt really embarrassed when you were tapped by people who were the same belt as you?

If that's the case and you don't learn to stop thinking like that you're never going to make it past blue belt. Because let me tell you you're going to get your blue and still be tapping to white belts. It's going to happen. If you let the fear of being tapped get to you then you'll never progress and will end up quitting.

We got a white belt at our academy right now that slaps the floor and curses when he gets tapped out by brown and black belts.

He was a walk on college wrestler at an average school. Which is better wrestling than a lot of our guys.

But he rolled with a brown belt the other week. Got tapped out a few times.

After the roll said "what am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing man. You're doing good."

"If I was doing good I wouldn't be getting tapped out."

So a couple upper belts tried explaining to him that his logic was silly and he still didn't really get it.

 

[mattemate]

It was funny for me. My guard was bon existent, but I had done a couple grappling seminars with a legit guy (non BJJ), and had a friend that was a shoot fighter (this was a Hawaiian dude back in the day) that showed me some stuff. So I didn't know how to shrimp or elbow/hip escape, but I had a few ankle locks and a decent guillotine. I also looked online at forums and bought a couple BJJ books before I started. So my guard would get passed by everyone like it was nothing, but even from day one if I got in a scramble I would catch other white belts in ankle locks and maybe guillotines. But I'm leggy and my guard developed quickly. I'd say I was running through most white belts by abouth three months or so, and catching blues occasionally by five or six months. Also for the record I already had black belt level karate and pretty good kickboxing, which I actually think helps a lot, especially since I had good hip mobility from day one, and was in pretty good shape already.