Have you ever came across someone who you think just cant get it?

I can't tell if I'm a slow learner, I need to train more days a week and with less gaps in the summer, or judo is really damn hard and it takes a,long time to advance after green belt.

I'm pretty sure it's the not training at one bjj one gym for more than 8 months which has kept more from progressing there.
 
Interesting you never learned to swim. I'm finishing my master's degree in speech pathology, and my older child had all sorts of physical difficulties (coordination) growing up, so I've done a lot of reading about the neuroscience behind it all. Rogan just had a good podcast with Nick Curson (back in May) who is a fantastic trainer. We can do a lot to change our bodies and performance.

A book that a friend that a neurosurgeon recommended to me is The Brain that Changes Itself. Really easy to find a free PDF. Fascinating stuff. I think people that feel stuck doon't know how much they can actually do.

Definitely-- learn to swim. Start by learning to float, feel your body, it is mostly water, and does not really want to sink or to swim, but just kind of chill and move with the current. Then, you just move yourself around! Good luck, man.

Thanks. I'm thinking swimming probably should be the first supplementary thing I go with, as I really should learn lol. People keep telling me that. I'm off to do some Google-Jitsu now and try find that pdf.
 
There's one guy I train with who struggles with everything, our instructor just gets frustrated and yells at him and then gives up and walks off, which I really don't think helps.

The guy has trouble with even basic movements, rolling, shrimping, you name it. I had to spend a good few minutes showing him how to gable grip and he still forgot it later in the session. Kudos to him though, he keeps coming back.
 
Interesting thread. I train with a guy who is about 50 and a blue belt. An average-sized guy with a few weeks' training could sub him easily. He doesn't seem to understand the techniques, but more than anything he's just not very coordinated at all. He's a nice guy, successful professionally, and really likes BJJ. He attends local tournaments as a spectator and supports our fighters/competitors.

He trains in the basic class, which is fine; he has no delusions about himself. But if I were the instructor, I wouldn't know what to do with him in terms of promotions. I honestly don't know how he could ever be awarded a purple belt. Determination and attitude count for a lot, but at some point some skill has to come along with it.
 
Bear with me on this one cause I may sound crazy. But when I was constantly doing bjj I made a note of the paterns and performances of my training. The days I ate junk I performed terrible and the days I ate clean I would perform a little better. One day I was feeling super insecure, depressed, and sad because I doubted myself. I have dreams I want to accomplish that involve bjj and I felt that I would never get them. I asked myself why am I trying and it'll never happen and all that negative shit. That day in class some new kid kicked my ass. He passed my guard, maintained positions, and even went and almost finished the armlock we learned that day. I was a two stripe white belt at the time and I almost quit that day. But the very next day I went in with a positive attitude, maybe even a little cocky. I told myself I was gonna be, if I'm not already the best bjj fighter in the world at my level. I convinced myself that I truly believed it. I performed very well that day. I swept like two blue belts, tapped out a 4 stripe white belt, and that kid who kicked my ass got tapped like 3 times. I truly believe your mindset mixed with a little bit of autogenic conditioning can you make you perform so much better.

Edit - also instead of learning particular techniques, try to learn and understand the conceptual part of it. That helped me a ton also. Good luck man and believe in yourself. "He who says he can, and he who says he can't, are both usually right."
 
I feel like that person is me I'm not coordinated or athletic.:(
 
This is an interesting thread. It's like an AA meeting combined with that "I'm Spartacus" movie scene.
 
When I originally started learning Karate I found it pretty tough going. I showed up in really good shape and with what I thought was a decent level of athleticism, but it was a really good dojo and some of the people I trained with seemed to be just a lot more flexible and coordinated and could kick higher and pick things up faster and since I'm a guy that just have to win, I found it very frustrating to go there. What I did was make sure I was there every time, keeping working out and running in my spare time and also show up for any extra classes with people from higher levels to get an edge. I took time and there were many really uncomfortable moments, but I did really improve. Now, many years later, I've started with my son in another Karate class where children and parents train together. We've been going for one year and some of he middle-aged people there have improved only very little because they physically just cannot perform the movements.
 
Bear with me on this one cause I may sound crazy. But when I was constantly doing bjj I made a note of the paterns and performances of my training. The days I ate junk I performed terrible and the days I ate clean I would perform a little better. One day I was feeling super insecure, depressed, and sad because I doubted myself. I have dreams I want to accomplish that involve bjj and I felt that I would never get them. I asked myself why am I trying and it'll never happen and all that negative shit. That day in class some new kid kicked my ass. He passed my guard, maintained positions, and even went and almost finished the armlock we learned that day. I was a two stripe white belt at the time and I almost quit that day. But the very next day I went in with a positive attitude, maybe even a little cocky. I told myself I was gonna be, if I'm not already the best bjj fighter in the world at my level. I convinced myself that I truly believed it. I performed very well that day. I swept like two blue belts, tapped out a 4 stripe white belt, and that kid who kicked my ass got tapped like 3 times. I truly believe your mindset mixed with a little bit of autogenic conditioning can you make you perform so much better.

Edit - also instead of learning particular techniques, try to learn and understand the conceptual part of it. That helped me a ton also. Good luck man and believe in yourself. "He who says he can, and he who says he can't, are both usually right."

I think you are completely right. I remember not being able to learn some new kick or movement in the Dojo because I was feeling embarassed of being incapable of doing well enough in front of other people. Then I went home, practised alone in front of the mirror where I felt calm and it was easy - and when I came back next time, I had no problems.
 
only ever met one guy who couldn't possibly learn anything, and i've seen a lot of people come and go. he had literally zero motor skills, and he couldn't retain anything you ever showed him.

if you think you're that guy, you very likely aren't. i think he was one in a couple of million.

however, i've had quite a few people who would consistently suck because i know for a fact they weren't paying attention. they'd show up, but just auto-pilot through the class. for instance, i'm teaching a class, showing a basic leg drag pass. i show it 10 fucking times, explain every detail i can think of. they start drilling, this one guy goes for something along the lines of a shitty torreando pass. like, just throwing legs aside and walking past them. like literally, not even the first grip he does is correct.

now i don't care how little talent or athletic ability you have, if you pay attention to what is being shown to you, you will be able to try the movement 10 seconds after it's been explained to you for 5 minutes straight. you will probably do it half-assed and with a ton of mistakes, but you'll still be somewhere in the ball park. there is absolutely no problem with that, and after some time, you'll learn.

but if you stand there with a blank look in your eyes, not paying any attention, then i just want to punch you in the face. because that guy is always the first to call me over to show him what to do, for the 20th time.

TL/DR: show up, pay attention. if you pay attention, you'll get good, no matter how fat, slow or stupid you think you are. if you don't pay attention, you'll never get good and you can fuck off.

/rant
 
My advice for this people was always to train a very small set of moves.

Most of the time they don't know how to learn, can't retain info and like randomg1t said, they just auto-pilot through the training until the rolling.

So when they repeat the same moves and try to use in fight day after day they start developing their foundation skills to learn.

Learning is making mistakes, is trial and error and is a big and exaustive process.

So, a student go to class and learn a different technique everyday but can't even understand a simple grip he'll have a hard time learning. He needs more time going through the small mistakes, then he can learn complete techniques, and after this combining techs and forming strategies and all this beautiful part of JJ we discuss everyday.
 
trying to get some people to use their legs and core is hilarious. its like everything below their pecs doesn't exist
 
I was certainly that guy. I think a lot of it had to do with not finding the proper way to learn at first. I would come in, learn two or three moves per class and roll. For about 6 months I did nothing but get smashed. I am not athletic and not all that coordinated and combined with my size and small back issues, I was certainly far from a potential competitor.

Eventually, I said screw it and competed and also got smashed.

But that showed a few guys in the gym that I wanted to get better and learn and one or two started to help me. It wasn't that they showed me anything magic but they would point out the basic flaws I was making and how to be tougher to deal with. Basically, I learned how to properly learn starting with the basics that I never did learn prior.

From that little bit of confidence, I was able to actually progress. I stopped getting crushed every roll at first which then allowed me to start getting some attacks in. I built a game around getting closed guard on bigger/strong opponents which was a great foundation for not getting smashed while drilling other positions and then implementing them.

I think everyone is capable of "getting it" on some level as long as they can get past the mental aspects of being too intense (and tensing up) and learn the fundamental concepts that prevent getting smashed.
 
My buddy is this guy. I spend so much time during drilling (with the instructor's permission) breaking it down and really trying to get him to understand it. If a weekend goes by, almost everything I repeat to him he acts like it is the very first time it has ever been said. I want to get frustrated at him, but he works harder than almost every dude in the gym and loves this sport. There is no way I can get mad at him for that.
 
I know people who are very slow learners but I can always recognise progress. I have endless patience for anyone that turns up regularly and rolls with reasonable intensity as I'm kind of suprised I didn't turn out to be that guy (I was hopeless at sport as a kid).

Its only wet noodle grapplers that piss me off.
 
I've trained with guys who it wasn't just a case of them 'not getting it', they straight up didn't get it. No technique, everything was 100%, all the strength they had. Not being an asshole but both of them were bodybuilders.

One of those guys quit after 6 months because he couldn't 'tap me' (I was a 250lb high level blue at the time). The other guy soldiered on longer, he didn't mind getting tapped by me but when lighter guys who had been training less than him started tapping him he gave up. Multiple times I tried to tell these guys to lose the ego and use technique instead of strength but they never listened.

I'd feel kind of sorry for them but they were both 'oh I'll roll with the lightest guy for one round then sit out the rest of the sparring' dudes so fuck em. Ego couldn't handle the hit.
 
I am one of those guys. It took me nine years to get my purple (after I got my blue). 11 years total to purple belt.
 
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This is me. I am a very slow learner. I don't think I made one single person tap my entire first year. No natural aptitude at all for grappling. On the positive side, when I make progress, I really appreciate it. Started BJJ 21 years ago. 53 years old now. I plan to still be doing it in my 60s.
 

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