Blue Belt promotion, What is expected.

B

BJJ Padawan

White Belt
Joined
Apr 9, 2008
Messages
22
Reaction score
0
I am a 8+ month white belt. In my school, everyone is bigger than me. They all have about 55 to 90 pounds on me. Not to mention with that weight comes strenght. Am I as a white belt expected to be able to beat these guys on a regular basis in order to get promoted? Before when we did have people my size. I would win a big majority of my sparring matches. Now that all the smaller students(like me) have quit. I am the smallest. I fall in the Light Weight division and all the other students fall in the Heavy Weitght division. Am I really expected to beat these Heavy Weights before I can advance? Our school does not give strips/rank within a belt. So, the only real way to show advancement is to get promoted to the next belt level.
Tonight, I almost passed out from one of the guys using his weight to pin me to the mat. when he weights 220 lbs and does the 100kg posture to keep advantage. I just couldn't breath with him on top of me.
I love Brazilian jiu-jitsu. But, I don't know how much more of this I can take. Nothing but loses in the past two months. How can I win? I practice harder that they do, I work out more, Starting running futher, eating right, and studying techniques on days off. I'll be a three or four year white belt at this rate. When we had students my size. The instructor sounded optimistic about promoting me next fall. Now, I don't think it even crosses his mind.
 
i would say stick with it bro....u will be setting a tone that u wont be pushed out and gain alot of respect imo. with the bigger guys there now u will need to most likely change your strategy in your offensive approach such as getting their backs.


also have them "flow" with you some moves and if anything chat with the instructor to see if he can give some inside tips on a game plan bro :)
 
also u have a speed advantage with lighter weight so that is a plus for u as well.. i highly doubt the teacher is basing all his promoting u on if u can tap all the guys in your class that are 50-90 lbs heavier...your time and dedication and understanding of the curriculuum is the way of promotion.
 
I train 4 days a week, for 3 years, and I'm still a white belt. Our teacher and his are notorious for being strict with promotions.
 
Don't worry about the belt some much. You will get much more pleasure tapping a blue belt as white belt anyway. So just keep working on your technique. When you roll with a blue similiar weight and destroy him you will feel quite happy.
 

The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. HAHA, just kidding. If you don't like your training partners or your environment, why don't you visit a few other schools? You shouldn't be paired up with people who would make you pass out. At least why don't you talk with your instructor and express your concerns.

You could try recruiting other smaller students, or wait a little bit for more to sign up. The spring term has already ended for most college students, and most high school students will be done for the summer soon too. So you might find an increase in enrollment in a month or two.

Good luck with your training, my young Padawan. Stick with it, it will help you.
 
VegasFighter said:
I train 4 days a week, for 3 years, and I'm still a white belt. Our teacher and his are notorious for being strict with promotions.
Click to expand...

Do you train in the gi much? Have you ever competed?


Do you train at Cobra Kai?
 
BJJ Padawan said:
I am a 8+ month white belt. In my school, everyone is bigger than me. They all have about 55 to 90 pounds on me. Not to mention with that weight comes strenght. Am I as a white belt expected to be able to beat these guys on a regular basis in order to get promoted? Before when we did have people my size. I would win a big majority of my sparring matches. Now that all the smaller students(like me) have quit. I am the smallest. I fall in the Light Weight division and all the other students fall in the Heavy Weitght division. Am I really expected to beat these Heavy Weights before I can advance? Our school does not give strips/rank within a belt. So, the only real way to show advancement is to get promoted to the next belt level.
Tonight, I almost passed out from one of the guys using his weight to pin me to the mat. when he weights 220 lbs and does the 100kg posture to keep advantage. I just couldn't breath with him on top of me.
I love Brazilian jiu-jitsu. But, I don't know how much more of this I can take. Nothing but loses in the past two months. How can I win? I practice harder that they do, I work out more, Starting running futher, eating right, and studying techniques on days off. I'll be a three or four year white belt at this rate. When we had students my size. The instructor sounded optimistic about promoting me next fall. Now, I don't think it even crosses his mind.
Click to expand...

First the fact that you still think of training of terms of wins and losses is a giveaway that you are looking at it all wrong.

Rolling with larger guys is tough . . . suck it up and stop being such a whiny bitch. You've been training for less than a year and thinking about a BLUE belt?? WTF is wrong with people???

Also YES you should be able to at least put up competitive matches with ANYONE your same skill level. Size and strength are important but in the first 3 years or so are overused and overemphasized and should not be and excuse for the small and weak (an example from my experience is that I routinely roll with other purple belts who have upwards of 60+ lbs on me, and yes most of the time I play defense but I can catch them often enough that it is good training for both)

A three or four years to get a blue belt is NORMAL. Get over it, if your in this so you can brag to your High school girlfriend about the color of your belt go take a TMA and get a Black belt in those three years it will take you to get your blue in BJJ.
 
SOrry about being such a dick. Your thread came off whiny and sounded like the classic:

"everyones bigger than me . . . .wah wah . . . . all my other friends who take TKD have their red belts already . . . . wah wah . . . . I want a colored belt . . . . wah wah .. . . It's Not Fair . . . wah wah wah"


Sorry,

good luck in your future BJJ endeavors,

Also Frodo gives great advice so listen to him, not my little rant :redface:
 
Frodo said:
You could try recruiting other smaller students, or wait a little bit for more to sign up. The spring term has already ended for most college students, and most high school students will be done for the summer soon too. So you might find an increase in enrollment in a month or two.
Click to expand...

Haha, exactly, in a couple of weeks there will be a new crop of jv wrestlers who "seen the ufc."
 
Although at the moment this must suck, this situation can be used to your advantage as it forces you to rely on technique which will be hugely beneficial to you in the long run. I'm the opposite, outweighing all of my training partners by at least 10-20kg, and for a while there I really had to concentrate on using technique alone.
 
A three or four years to get a blue belt is NORMAL. Get over it, if your in this so you can brag to your High school girlfriend about the color of your belt go take a TMA and get a Black belt in those three years it will take you to get your blue in BJJ.
Click to expand...

Where exactly is that even close to normal?
 
This kind of reminds me of my situation so I'll chime in. I'm 5'8 and only weigh 158, and by far am the smallest in the class. At first, I was getting worked, but as I continued to focus on technique, after about 6 months of focused determination I was beginning to hang with everyone else...

Promotions don't happen too much around my gym, but I'm proud to say that I recently got the blue a week ago after one year and 3 months of training...

Don't give up, I'm smaller than you are! lol. If you can practice at home on a grappling dummy or even pillows for the matter, do it! Watch videos to keep you motivated, and train with a bunch of willing friends on your off days

Size isn't an issue- I've tapped out people who outweigh me by 90 lbs... For the small guy like us, it's the ability to capitalize on our opponents mistakes and use leverage as a tool... Trust me, you'll get there eventually, so try your best to focus on and enjoy the ride.

Also- imagine going into competition with people your own size after years of training with giants!!
 
sounds like it's your attitude that's holding you back. "Winning" during training? please your win/loss record SHOULD be like 10/50000 if not you're prolly not learning anything.
 
ScottErie said:
Where exactly is that even close to normal?
Click to expand...

In my little world

Blue belt = advanced player and at least 3 years on the mat
Purple belt = assistant instructor and at least 7 years on the mat
Brown belt = straight bad ass, and can give anyone anywhere a run for their money. 10-12 years of training.
Black belt = master of the art. 12-15 years of mat time, and probably a lifer (i.e. owning their own school)


There are ONLY FOUR colored belts. This is not some TMA with seven or ten belt colors, so everyone can get promoted once or twice a year for showing up x number of times. IMHO if you want to have a nice colorful belt to show off because you memorized some form or kata this is not the sport for you, "Not that there is anything wrong with that" :redface:
 
whipyourasstyle said:
In my little world

Blue belt = advanced player and at least 3 years on the mat
Purple belt = assistant instructor at least 7 years on the mat
Brown belt = straight bad ass, and can give anyone anywhere a run for their money. 10-12 years of training.
Black belt = master of the art. 12-15 years of mat time, and probably a lifer (i.e. owning their own school)
Click to expand...

ok just so long as we all know its imaginary
 
Lets get one thing strait. Promotion for me is a personal achievement. Not some status symbol I can go around bragging that I am a blue belt. I don't like to brag and I don't like people who do. My father told me you can always tell who don't know shit. Because they are the ones talking/bragging about what they know.
We did get some new blood, after taking on the big guys, they never came back.
Cobra Kai, Nope. Not me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,237,083
Messages
55,466,561
Members
174,786
Latest member
plasterby

Share this page

Back
Top