HappyJackSlade said:
Ok.Let me get this right.
1/Your say your a blue,Right.
2/has anyone given you the belt?
3/You say you rolled with Royce.Did he give you a blue belt?
4/Or are you a self proclaimed blue belt?
tudor_bjj,Im just trying to get things strait thats all.
I take my hat off to you for trying to go it on your own.
But bjj is more than just 95% no gi.
Gi and no gi go hand in hand and compliment each other.
You have to understand that you get new blues and experience blues.
And people who train by themselves often feel that they are at a higher level than they realy are.
And the guys you taped at the seminar were more than likely just trying to work the new techniques they just learnt than trying to go a hundered miles an hour and tap you.
Its not hard to tap a person when they are trying to work a new technique and your trying to smash the crap out of them an prove yourself as a blue.
Did you try to use any of the techniques you learnt at he seminar when you rolled with the blue belts you tapped,Or did you just go there to test yourself against the others at the seminar
You say you rolled with Royce and other belts "students".
Where was the seminar held and did you have to travel far to get there.
If there were other Bjj students there, there should be a school for you to train at.If you can at least get there once a week,The coach should be able to get a feel of where your are with your grappling
Just my 2 cents worth
1. Royce awarded me the blue.
2. I train no gi for a reason. I'm trying to promote BJJ in Romania. But here people are not in touch with MMA, ADCC and the likes. They are, the vast majority, into striking arts (esp. TMA: kyokushin, ashihara, aikido etc.). They say that only kids fight on the ground. So I gathered a bunch of guys that I train (no charge). It was so hard make them believe me in BJJ that telling them to buy a gi (a third of the monthly income in Romania, BTW - cheap judo gi I mean) could have been a turn off for them. Plus, three of them train for MMA competition. Actually one of my "students" will have his first MMA fight in nov. and he is only 18.
3. Boy, nobody that I rolled with was trying to exercise any god damn technique. You see, although I'm 6'0 and 180 lbs, I'm not strong at all (and have some very bad back problems), not even flexible or fast. I'm just normal (that's why I like better rolling with gi). Those guys were trying to smash me. I don't want to sound cocky but check this out: rolled with one blue (no stripe) - armbar, toehold; another blue (2 stripes, trained a month at Gracie Barra) - RNC; another blue (3 stripes, brother of the instructor of the gym) - swept him from x-guard and side-m., spent 3 min. in his side-m going for subs; one judo brown - RNC in less than 1 min., got his back from pulling half-gurad on him; another blue (3 stripes from gracie Barcelona) - ambarred me (damn!); tapped like 4 or 5 times the only two white belts that I've sparred with; I played a lot of spider and butterfly.
One more thing, I can't go hard on anybody, cause it's not anything hard or strong in my game.
4. I didn't try the techniques Royce showed because: a) except for one, I knew all of them; b) you probably know that in Europe Royce's seminars are very basic oriented and esp. self-defense.
5. The seminar was in Falze di Piave (Treviso, Italy), 2 hrs. by plane from my country.
6. I didn't really want the blue belt (itself), but it was strange to come to a BJJ class where your "instructor" was a white belt. I went to Royce seminar, first cause I have been to another and it was an awesome experience to hang around with him and second cause he's the most recognizable figure from BJJ in Romania. I don't want the purple, either. My initial question was strictly about the level of being purple, not testing and actually getting it.
BTW, at this seminar was a guy who has been doing BJJ for 10 years and was a white belt. He was not interested at all in promotion. Royce gave him the blue, he accepted it (not handing him a belt, but telling him), but after Royce left he said he will not wear it, cause he loved too much his white one
.