how would you describe your WHITE BELT experience?

[Justwork1983]

Man great stuff in this thread. I have been in a slump before and it sucks you think you can't do anything right and you will always suck. Truth is everyday you get better because you are working til that next thing clicks in your head and even when stuff doesnt click during techniques the overall fundamentals start to take hold everyday. Here are my tips after being a white belt no stripe for a year.

1. take pride in the little things: dont worry about winning, worry about surviving. Chances are you roll with alot of the same people. Everyone has a favorite move. Learn to defend their favorite moves make the roll last longer the look on their frustrated face should be motivation.

2. Your toolbox get bigger everyday: To me BJJ class seems like everything is getting thrown to me in a fast pace it takes awhile to realize but the game slows way down the longer you do it. Eventually you will realize how to chain stuff together and how not freak out in bad positions

3. Beat up on crappy people and get your ass beat by the best people: Most people disagree with this but when I need a confidence boost I just go up against a new guy. I have had really shitty days once i was tapped out by a 16 year old who had only been going for a month once i had the same move pulled on me by 3 different guys. Sometime just starting from scratch and working a slow game on a new guy helps you build confidence. Just dont be an asshole and take pride in dodging blue belts while whooping up on the guy who just signed the gym waiver.

My 2 cents

 

[Gambolls]

I'm having my White Belt experience right now and it is heel hook city. Heel hooks by small guys, heel hooks by big guys, heel hooks by.... medium guys. I need to learn how to not get caught into that shit.

 

[bora y]

got a metaphor for bjj white belts: amish teen on rumspringa
yeee i watch movies

 

[namdogg59]

you should probably quit

Lol Dude don't listen to this guy. It sucks at first, just keep going and eventually the moves you learn will start to click. It takes time man. I lift and train sometimes on the same day also, just gotta deal with the fatigue and keep trying.

 

[Bmurph]

EGO, just let it go....... I finally started learning once I did...

You can call it whatever you want, but my point is that I don't have a desire to be a badass or the toughest guy in the gym. I have no problem tapping. I actually like tapping at this point since I don't know how to properly execute many subs. The sooner I tap the sooner I'll get to ask the guy what the fuck just happened. I was just trying to make a point that I am hard on myself about all things athletic. I do agree though that the sooner I can get over that, the better.

 

[rjthakid]

I'll be starting next week, so this thread has been very informative.

 

[Ninja This]

I think the most important thing is...you are not enjoying it. If you don't absolutely love being there....why be there?

Because it is cool or other people will think it is? Fuck that.

I wouldn't suffer through BJJ without having love for it, that would be insane.

This

Good. If the the awesome times outweigh the shitty ones, you might consider staying. IF not, you should find something you do love and put your time and money there IMO.

and that.

 

[CyberFreq]

Still in progress. Get at me next year when I start to know what the fuck I'm doing.

 

[Pahlavan**]

My white belt experience was losing the 3rd place match at the 2010 pan ams :icon_cry2

 

[Chalito]

Mine was great. I got to train with some of the best grapplers in the world, and got to compete at the worlds.

 

[Shizzx]

Just the fact that you made this thread and still going to practice, your heart tells you that you dont to stop..

You know that everything cant be Great.. You know you have to take you licks and keep going... Same with the weight lifting.. You werent able to just go in there and bench the amount you doing now. You had to work at it RIGHT??

My white belt experience wasnt actually that bad but my was kinda controversial. I had my white belt for 2 years and was tapping out blue belts on the regular, winning tournaments, etc. but I came to realization that i would rather ride that white belt out to the fullest extent becuase i iknow that when i go up to the next level im going to be back at the bottom of the pile fighting my way up...

When i finally received my blue belt, as i thought i did get a little tougher but i took my licks once again and have worked my way back up to the top winning tournaments, etc. now Im teaching classes at my school and right now am the only student that actively competes in tournaments.

I have had a wrestling background so starting off wasnt that hard but it wasnt easy either. The transition is complicated but very rewarding...

Keep it up...

 

[BWC]

I often wish I could maintain the white belt experience over the long haul in BJJ. Just starting out you don't give a damn about anything but learning. You can get tapped 100 times in a row, but who cares? Most guys learn 90% of what they will ever learn in the first six months because as you get closer and into blue everything becomes an ego game. Guys don't want to risk "looking bad" so they only roll with guys they know they can beat easily or guys that are so far ahead of them it doesn't really matter what the outcome is. They stop experimenting and always go for the same stuff. The best learning happens when you're rolling with guys about 1 belt above you IMHO. That usually means they're not so good they smash you in 5 seconds but still good enough to challenge and force you to break through walls.

The best mindset is to always keep your mind in white belt mode, which is open and excited about learning..

 

[KaosX]

Had a bad whitebelt experience tonight...some random guy shows up and completely goes full blast on me and another guy tonight...can openers, armbars with full speed and cranking it as hard as possible as fast as possible.

He was going for an armbar after he had already cranked me and was told to relax, and I was defending pretty well against it and I guess he got frustrated so he heel kicks me in the face and is then able to pull it off (obviously) because I wasn't expecting to be kicked in BJJ practice.

He either stopped sparring at that point or was told to stop.

The students kind of thought he was taking some steroids or some kind of performance stuff because he was all twitchy and stuff too.

My elbow is in a lot of pain right now.

 

[Nights1515]

I loved it for me it was a learning experience I know I was going to get owned. I never had wrestling background nor was I big and at the time I was very light but I stuck with it.

 

[Drew Foster]

There are a couple things that stand out. One is that it seemed to take forever! A lot of this is because I did nogi grappling for at least 18 months or two years before putting on the gi. Then it was like I had to learn all over again. Putting on the gi was very frustrating, and it took me a long time to feel comfortable with all the gi chokes, slowed down game, etc.

The real biggest difficult though was also what I ended up being the most proud of. I am still very proud of it. That's the fact that I even put the white belt on. I was at a school where I had been a black belt for 5 years, was well established, yet I knew I wanted to start BJJ. It is very humbling to take off the black belt and put the white belt on. It isn't easy, and it's a big reason I spent so much time procrastinating with just nogi grappling. I think a big part of me was not comfortable "starting over" and I felt like my previous 10 years meant nothing.

After getting used to it, it became pretty rewarding. I was proud of being able to let my ego go like that, and eventually enjoyed having any pressure on myself. As a white belt I felt very free to make mistakes, because I can be hard on myself.

Now that I'm a blue belt it's great because I still don't feel a ton of pressure, and it's nice to have some color back on my waist. I honestly feel like I put more hard work into my blue belt than when I got my previous black belt, and I was certainly just as, if not more proud of it. I'm definitely in BJJ for the long haul (life)...

 

[TheIronGiraffe]

when i was a white belt i felt like i sucked when i rolled with blue belts. now that im a blue belt i feel like i suck when i roll with purple belts. im hoping to soon only feel like i suck when i roll with and blackbelts. and maybe one day only feel like i suck when i roll with really good blackbelts. TS there will ALWAYS be someone who is better than you.

 

[Thrawn33]

Either shut up and train, and 4 years from now you'll look back on this and ask why you would ever even consider quitting.

or

Be a quitter and know deep down in places you won't talk about that you don't have what it takes

The choice is yours.

 

[cenix]

i think most responses are insightful and helpful, but you should really just change your point of view. no one steps into anything as a bona fide expert. we all start somewhere. getting owned is part of learning and it helps you to grow. in the least, make sure you give it another shot before just quitting, that way you won't have any regrets after you walk away from the sport.

good luck.

 

[silvasurfer5253]

I have personally hated my and considered giving it up...i know dont complain.

its just its not enjoyable going to jits, knowing im going to get owned.

yes i could stick with it and eventually get better, but i feel that training jiu jitsu has been counter productive.

prior i was a workoutaholic...lifitng would make me feel good about myself and i would look to be in great shape...

now due to jiu jitsu...i cant lift because when i lifted and trained the same day, i performed horribly from going hard in weight room.

and my confidence has been down from getting owned on the mat.

tough situation...also paying 120 a month compared to free gym membership

How long have you been training ? The first few months are the hardest. It sounds like you're going against some higher level guys. You should have some other white belts to roll with, or atleast some guys your own size (not sure if that's the problem) . It might be your gym. If you're at an mma gym, it's going to be a more aggressive style of jits, as oppossed to a bjj gym that focuses on the art. Go check out another gym before you give it up, and give it more time. All those purple belts and brown belts got tapped out when they started, too. It takes time to get good.

 

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