Thinking about quitting bjj

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thaifighter541

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hi , I have been training bjj now for 12 years and still a brown belt. I started out my bjj training under an instructor who rarely ever promoted people to new belts and took two years to reach blue then another 4 to reach purple and this was training 4-6 days a week and competing actively. It then took me another 4 years to reach brown after moving and training under a new coach and now I’ve been brown for the last two years.

I feel like I’m not progressing and sandbagging against many people. Additionally, I really find it frustrating going to some classes and learning from guys who are not as experienced as me. Not sure how many people are in the same boat as me but its hard to keep going at bjj when my goals can never be achieved.
 
Do you regularly win tournaments?
Why are the other guys instructors, but youre not?
Ask your instructor and think if there are anything youre not doing, that other promoted to black belt are.
Two years at brown sounds normal, I think you might be closer than you think to black belt. Its usually when you feel low that youre the closest to a break through.
Hang in there man, ask your instructor and find enjoyment in training again.
 
Man! Change instructor if you have, but do not quit at this point! I agree with the above, you are probably much closer to black belt than you think.. I understand the frustration but you still have many options before just call it a day..

p.s. purple belt after like 13 years (many injuries, stops etc.) here, no idea if I'll ever get to my BB at all.. pretty sure I can kinda relate..
 
Been training on and off for 10 years and I'm a 3 stripe blue belt. Dude, you are so close to that black belt, just keep up with it!
 
So getting your black belt will make you stay and/or enjoy it more? What Bout after that when there are no more belts?

If you enjoy the process stay. If you don’t, leave and find something you do enjoy
 
If you genuinely aren't enjoying Jiu Jitsu itself take a break or quit. Seems dumb to get a black belt in something you don't like. I personally find it hard to believe that you can do something for 12 years with very little or minimal reward and not like it ( unless you talk to my wife, waka waka).

You said your current gym isn't meeting your needs or helping you meet your goals, so the obvious question would be why don't you change gyms?
 
Yeah my last three tournaments I won including submissions. I guess I have never really cared about the belts, but given I have done bjj for so long and gained a lot of insight from 40+ tournaments and mma fights, countless training partners and instructions and overall development of a heightened sense of human movement and grappling insight-I feel right now that the only way I can grow further is by the promotion since it will allow me to coach which has been very instrumental in my current bjj learning and psychologically feel more confident rolling against higher level guys.
 
My lack of promotion with belts really has just come from the system which entails going under instructors who have subjective views on belt promotion. Perhaps as stated before it would be helpful to go to a new school such as no gi where belts are not of focus and rather skill is
 
It may sound shallow, but at this point I believe you would likely deeply regret if you quit without making black belt.

I would 100% ask your instructor what he thinks you need to do to achieve that level. Then think over what he says. Then you might have to make some decisions.
 
"Some people are just destined to die a brown belt"

Try to enjoy training because (least in my view) there's no point stressing about it. For about 95% of the population, this is a hobby and hobbies are to be enjoyed
 
black belts aren't a finish line. there will always be more medals to win/lose. there's always going to be another world champion.

i think you're just plateauing. it really sucks the fun out of training if you're solely focused on improvement. try to find a way to get out of your head. you don't have to x->y->z every single roll. you don't have to win every roll. you don't have to have an epiphany every practice.

when was the last time you just fucked around during a roll? like just had fun and tried stupid shit for the hell of it?
 
don't quit, just enjoy the mat times with your friends :)
 
thaifighter541 said:
I feel like I’m not progressing and sandbagging against many people. Additionally, I really find it frustrating going to some classes and learning from guys who are not as experienced as me. Not sure how many people are in the same boat as me but its hard to keep going at bjj when my goals can never be achieved.
Click to expand...

You haven't said what your goals are, so its hard to understand what the issue is and why being a brown belt is somehow stopping you from achieving said goals.

I started training BJJ 11 years ago and have been a Brown belt for about two and a half years - in that time, I've seen training partners I used to beat go and get their black belts, kids I used to help learn how to shrimp turn into monster competitors, and I'm here still plodding along as regular old brown belt - If you allow this stuff to get to you, then you're letting your ego get the best of you.

Ultimately, all that matters (in my opinion) is that you are getting better - if you don't feel like you're improving, then you need to find a new place to train, either because there is a lack of instruction or lack of training partners to get you to where you need to be (this assumes the problem isn't your own commitment) - quitting won't make you better.

That said, if you don't enjoy it anymore, then leave the sport, life is too short to spend time doing stuff you're no longer interested in, 12 years is a long time to commit to anything - you can leave with your head held high.
 
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thaifighter541 said:
hi , I have been training bjj now for 12 years and still a brown belt. I started out my bjj training under an instructor who rarely ever promoted people to new belts and took two years to reach blue then another 4 to reach purple and this was training 4-6 days a week and competing actively. It then took me another 4 years to reach brown after moving and training under a new coach and now I’ve been brown for the last two years.

I feel like I’m not progressing and sandbagging against many people. Additionally, I really find it frustrating going to some classes and learning from guys who are not as experienced as me. Not sure how many people are in the same boat as me but its hard to keep going at bjj when my goals can never be achieved.
Click to expand...

Well.
It is quiet refreshing to read about old school standards being kept .
While I write that. Yeah it sucks ..
But you are close to the black belt.
 
You could try signing up for a big comp if you feel the level at brown isn't high enough when you compete.
Some of they top tier browns (at adult) are good as hell. Jonatha Alves is a brown and he is at top tier elite black belt skill level.
 
sounds like you love bjj, you've done it for 12 years, but are just feeling overlooked and under appreciated and perhaps just venting on the internet to air out your grievances. You know in your heart you're not going to quit.
 
Go ahead and quit. What are you going to do when you start getting fat though?
 
thaifighter541 said:
My lack of promotion with belts really has just come from the system which entails going under instructors who have subjective views on belt promotion. Perhaps as stated before it would be helpful to go to a new school such as no gi where belts are not of focus and rather skill is
Click to expand...

From reading your posts it looks like you're saying that you're stuck at Brown and can't get better without getting Black. I don't understand that. A door to understanding is going to magically open up for you? You're complaining about not being promoted to Black belt but are considering changing to a more NoGi centric academy because "belts are not of focus and rather skill is". It seem that you are more focused on the belt. Increased Skill comes with more training regardless of the Belt.

Remember that the Belt is loosely an outward expression of your skill level. Loosely
 
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