Hit a Grappling Wall

[Alphamale1906]

well, IMO this happens to everyone, I dont know if that pronouced in higher belts as in blue becuase, well im just a blue, but here is my take on the subject...

while its true that we all plateau once every x amount of time, and nothing seems to be going right, and nothing seems to work, its depressing, after a while, one day, everything clips and you make a big jump in progression, is like, o shit im kicking ass again! well, what happened is that you have been working a lot on different things, because things that used to work well, are not doing it anymore, then you started to look for solutions, and after a while, you are able to implement those solutions. For example, I used to triangle people left and right (white and new blues) in the gym after a while, I wasnt hitting as much triangles as I used to, later on I wouldnt hit 1 in class, that wouldve been unacceptable for me back in my triangles day, what happened? I stopped paying that much attention to the triangles, was working on arm drags and back attacks, when one day I said, ok time to go for triangles again, I was getting a freaking hard time getting them on people I used to triangle at will.. what happend? did my technique went to hell? nop, my class mates evolved, they learned how to counter it (the old set ups), so I had to start working on new set ups, I did find some more success, but not the same I was having before? why? well, white belts that used to be total noobs were not that noobs anymore, and the rest just kept progressing, learned what not to do, where NOT to place their arms and where NOT let me place my legs... White belts evolve pretty fast up to one point, blue belts get stuck a lot to turn to purple, that means that if your progress will be slower as you get more training time, unless you are constantly working on new things and constantly drilling all those new things. With some strong basics, seasoned white belt should be able to defend pretty well (this means not get tap 5 times in 5 minutes) by a good blue, still he would get owned by most blues (im talking in general, of course there are white killers and the skill level differs a lot from school to school)... so you would think that its solely your fault that you are not tapping left and right guys who you used to tap a while ago, when in reality, its a mix of the 2, him getting better and you not getting better as fast as he is... remember this, you are not the only one training, and you are not the only one who will progress with training...

dont worry, it will pass, what I do when I get in times like this? work on some new stuff and always, always try to have fun...

Yeah I definitely got too comfortable going for the same subs that I was use to catching people with and they realized how to counter it. You also make a good point on how people progress at different rates and alot of training partners caught up, while I really wasn't advancing. Now I'm going to focus on better positions and sweeps where I can put myself in a position to try different things. Most of my subs before came in closed guard (kimura, omoplata, etc.)

For the next few weeks, I'm going to try and improve my top game and put myself in positions I'm normally not in to get more comfortable working in that area.

 

[35andOver]

One thing to consider is that it is much easier to go from 1-5 than it is to go from 5-10, if that makes sense. So as you improve from this point, the types of improvements will typically come in the form of filling gaps in your game, then refining technique, and so on. Guys catching up to you who you once easily handled is pretty common in my experience, as their game was likely very weak and they have now developed ways to deal with the techniques you once imposed on them (which also explains why they no longer seemingly work). Their development was reactive to a specific stimuli (techniques that were giving them trouble), but now you are at a point where identifying the things giving you trouble is more difficult since they are technique chains rather than a single technique most likely.

When I started hitting this point, I found that learning how to view your game as a system really helped (almost like Boolean logic, for the nerds out there). When you start getting to levels where guys can defend the techniques you use, you need at least one or several options to quickly transition to in order to maintain pressure.

As you employ a multi-pronged attack, you buy yourself more time to refine the specifics of each technique, which is why those types of improvements are generally seen at higher belt levels. You can try troubleshooting with the people who are clearly a higher level, filming some of your rolls to see what techniques are giving you trouble, and once you've identified specific techniques to look for, consulting instructional material or private lessons if that's available or more your thing.

This is a brilliant post and this is where I'm at. I'm a purple so my progression is coming at a slower rate than the new and middle blue belts in my school. Maybe purple or at least middle purple belt is 5 on this scale. Their (newish folks) progress comes in leaps and bounds....."wow, I just hit a sweep I have been working on for weeks" where as my progression is more like "I've been hitting this sweep for years but I just figured out a way to make it 20% easier to do". Standing 10 feet back, my progression is not as visable.

1/3rd of BJJ is theoretical knowlege of technique and the other 2/3rds is creating the opportunities to apply that technique. As a purple, most of the things I do day in and day out are pretty much the same as the things I did as a fresh blue belt only they are done more efficiently and strung together in a more organized and logical fashion.

it's funny because you spend so much time/sweat/pain to get to a point where you know most of the "moves" in jiu jitsu only to figure out that the "moves" aren't the important part but rather how you handle the moments between the moves that count.

 

[Shizzx]

Normal but hard to diagnose what the issues are without rolling against you. You might want to talk to your coach. A lot of times blue belts get caught in a "success trap" where they obsess about beating the other guy, as opposed to working on developing a cohesive, powerful game from different positions. The comparatively boring posture, grip, detail, and drilling work.

Its normal.. as someone else said its happens to the best of us. Start working on new stuff.. not your regular old stuff.. change your game up... do something completely out of ordinary for you game.. Than you will see you go back into your original state...
You maybe seeing people adjusting to what you do on the regular so now it seems normal to them and not as successful to you...

I change my game up everyday (offense one day, and defense another day)... but i don't do that move at all. spider, Xguard, DLR, keep it on rotation dont be telegraphed by your opponent

Hope you get out your slum... Good luck..

 

[jtmb]

This is a brilliant post and this is where I'm at. I'm a purple so my progression is coming at a slower rate than the new and middle blue belts in my school. Maybe purple or at least middle purple belt is 5 on this scale. Their (newish folks) progress comes in leaps and bounds....."wow, I just hit a sweep I have been working on for weeks" where as my progression is more like "I've been hitting this sweep for years but I just figured out a way to make it 20% easier to do". Standing 10 feet back, my progression is not as visable.

1/3rd of BJJ is theoretical knowlege of technique and the other 2/3rds is creating the opportunities to apply that technique. As a purple, most of the things I do day in and day out are pretty much the same as the things I did as a fresh blue belt only they are done more efficiently and strung together in a more organized and logical fashion.

it's funny because you spend so much time/sweat/pain to get to a point where you know most of the "moves" in jiu jitsu only to figure out that the "moves" aren't the important part but rather how you handle the moments between the moves that count.

That's a good point. A lot of beginners tend to think of jiujitsu as "moves" or individual techniques. Once they become more advanced they see things more in series or as whole concepts. How one handles those moments between moves becomes more automatic when these series are established, whereas a beginner is thinking about what to do next rather than acting.

If you've ever read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink or Outliers, he does a good job illustrating how people process things and make split second judgements and become experts in a given field. I think it is applicable here because often people attribute plateaus or "hitting a wall" to things out of their control or an inevitability. In this case, progress is still likely happening, it's just not as clear as the progress you seen in the case where a beginner is acquiring techniques. The development is shifting to conceptual, so it is harder to notice.

 

[35andOver]

That's a good point. A lot of beginners tend to think of jiujitsu as "moves" or individual techniques. Once they become more advanced they see things more in series or as whole concepts. How one handles those moments between moves becomes more automatic when these series are established, whereas a beginner is thinking about what to do next rather than acting.

If you've ever read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink or Outliers, he does a good job illustrating how people process things and make split second judgements and become experts in a given field. I think it is applicable here because often people attribute plateaus or "hitting a wall" to things out of their control or an inevitability. In this case, progress is still likely happening, it's just not as clear as the progress you seen in the case where a beginner is acquiring techniques. The development is shifting to conceptual, so it is harder to notice.

Right. Embracing the concept of what is happening rather than pre-occupying your mind with this thing or that thing.

The other funny thing is that you can't make people understand. Every white belt I help out with I talk to as though I am talking to myself when I was in their shoes. I try and try to get them to relax and see things. I point out a situation where they should have swept me because I was short on a side and they had my arm tied up and I hear "but to do that sweep you have to have this sleeve in this hand and then have your foot on this side blah blah".........and I just shake my head.

You can't teach them to see the concepts or see the moments in-between faster than they can hear it. They have to go through all the same development and they have to try and fail while figuring out just like you did....until it clicks.