Thoughts on my recent promotion to BJJ brown belt

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TapOut64

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I very recently received my BJJ brown belt from Pedro Sauer after nearly 8 years of training. Whats odd is that while others are asking me if I am excited and happy I find myself only feeling cautiously happy. I guess I feel pressure to know an aweful lot about BJJ and to be able to represent the art respectfully. More than that however I know that I am now a bigger target for the blue and purple belts to come after. What's sweeter than tapping out a senior belt? I do take some pride in knowing that after spending three and a half years as a purple belt I was only taped out twice by blue belts, one of which was Brandon Vera and the other received his purple belt a short time later. I have not competed recently as I have many other interest outside of BJJ (weekends are for fishing and golfing) but roll fairly well (at times) against the 4 black belts that I train with. I know that we all learn a lot from taping out even at the expense of a lesser belt. At the same time I know that there are plenty of purple and even blue belts out there that if I'm not at the top of my game can catch me, I just feel pressure to make sure that this does not happen. I'm just curious if others have felt this same pressure after a belt promotion.
 
TapOut64 said:
I very recently received my BJJ brown belt from Pedro Sauer after nearly 8 years of training. Whats odd is that while others are asking me if I am excited and happy I find myself only feeling cautiously happy. I guess I feel pressure to know an aweful lot about BJJ and to be able to represent the art respectfully. More than that however I know that I am now a bigger target for the blue and purple belts to come after. What's sweeter than tapping out a senior belt? I do take some pride in knowing that after spending three and a half years as a purple belt I was only taped out twice by blue belts, one of which was Brandon Vera and the other received his purple belt a short time later. I have not competed recently as I have many other interest outside of BJJ (weekends are for fishing and golfing) but roll fairly well (at times) against the 4 black belts that I train with. I know that we all learn a lot from taping out even at the expense of a lesser belt. At the same time I know that there are plenty of purple and even blue belts out there that if I'm not at the top of my game can catch me, I just feel pressure to make sure that this does not happen. I'm just curious if others have felt this same pressure after a belt promotion.
Click to expand...

Good job man, Congrats !
 
Awesome! I hope one day to make a similar post.
 
Congratulations, brown belt is a huge accomplishment. You got that belt because I'm assuming you earned it through skill and understanding of the art, if you keep up with conditioning you should do just fine. And there is no shame in getting tapped out by a lower belt every now and then, stuff happens, if it does don't let it get to you just make it want to push you harder and to be better,you learn alot more from losses than wins usually.
 
Man, you have a brown belt from Pedro...and he doesn't just hand belts out. A lot of people stop train with Pedro because he promotes slowly. So, if you have the belt, you've earned it. There's nothing more to prove. Know what I'm saying?
 
I felt that way at first, but there is no humiliation to tapping out with someone holding a lower belt. You can always have an off day and someone else could have the best day of their life. I subbed a brown belt when I was just a white belt (part luck and part skill as I had only practiced this one move over and over and over). It happens, but this is a journey not a destination. Each day you have to take something away from your training. I realized today that I am slowing down more, so I must compensate with more technique...it will come in time where you will find the balance between the quest for greatness and pressure of humility.
 
Don't worry, bro. I'm a purple belt, who get tapped by a white belt once. I learned from that loss, to never undestimate due to belt colour, but be aware of everything all the time.

Congrats on your promotion and I think your coach does know what he was doing, so you'll be fine.
 
TapOut64 said:
I very recently received my BJJ brown belt from Pedro Sauer after nearly 8 years of training. Whats odd is that while others are asking me if I am excited and happy I find myself only feeling cautiously happy. I guess I feel pressure to know an aweful lot about BJJ and to be able to represent the art respectfully.
Click to expand...

Although I am no brown belt (congratulations, by the way), I have felt the same pressure. Maybe the following will help:
1) Time and effort should be rewarded with promotions - this process shows BJJ's strength.
2) A belt ranking is relative. I don
 
Coach Couzo said:
Although I am no brown belt (congratulations, by the way), I have felt the same pressure. Maybe the following will help:
1) Time and effort should be rewarded with promotions - this process shows BJJ's strength.
2) A belt ranking is relative. I don
Click to expand...
 
Congrats on your promotion.

With Lobo and Stoic1 also around, you should form the Brown Belt Top Team.
 
Stoic is STILL only a purple. With a long way to go.
 
.... Mkay.

....

Who was that guy about 4 months ago kicking up a stink about being a brown belt in LA to a noob then?

*scratches head, makes a few monkeyesque expressions*

So many names on this forum... I can't keep track. I think I need a beer.
 
I am a brown belt in Judo. And I might have been kicking up stinks. If I find a stink I will usually kick it whenever possible. But I will never misrepresent myself and will always be quite clear about my rank. I'm a substandard Judo brown belt since I haven't actively competed there in many years. I am mediocre purple belt nowhere near ready for brown in BJJ.
 
Ah. That explains it all, it was probably a judo thread.
 
congrats, stay on your toes, we are comming straight for ya! LOL
 
Congrats on your promotion, yeah it does seem like you have extra pressure to always do good constantly and perform new techniques well after a promotion. Happens to me, after a while it just kinda goes away though for me anyway.
 
Tapout,
You train with FOUR Pedro Black Belts!?! Where the hell are you? My gym has one black, one brown and a handful of purples, which is way more than anything else around here.
 
Congratulations bro. Getting promoted to brown belt is a huge achievement. I was promoted to brown belt back in late July. I was a purple for roughly 3 years and only competed a couple of times as a purple. Life gets in the way sometimes (buying a house, injuries, work, you know, the usual suspects). For that reason I felt that maybe I was undeserving of the brown belt. But then I thought to myself you know, I busted my ass for damn near 8 years and if Fabio says I deserve it, then I deserve it.

I competed 2 weeks later at the IGJJF Tournament (you know, the 30 minute time limit tourney). I took 3rd losing to Chris Lisciandro on points and beating out Jaime Walsh on points (after a 30 minute match). After that the confidence in my belt increased. Then in September I had a Superfight against Joe Camacho and beat him on points (7-0).

There's always gonna be guys coming up and trying to take you out especially since you've got the brown. Just train as you usually do and don't worry about getting tapped or not. Just continue to grow and realize that you're there to learn. I'd rather have the brown on with huge expectations of me, than the white with aspirations of being where I'm at today (brown).



I know what you mean with the feeling of having to represent your belt and the art of bjj. I can be a little stressful but you just g
 
congrats
brown belt is a very big accomplishment, it shows your skills and dedication to the bjj world.
i understand ythe part of doingother activities and training very well, it can distarct you a little, but you have to vave a life outside of training, good luck as you continue training and dont worry about anything
"tudo bem" everythings fine
its great to see sherdoggers progress like this
 
Congratulations. But if you are a brown belt, you SHOULDN'T get tapped by let's say, blue belts.

If it happens for some reason (you being injured or slipping or being extremely tired) that's okay.
But if you were promoted to brown belt, you HAVE the technique and you are obviously better than white belts, blue belts and purple belts. You are BETTER then them. That's WHY you got promoted.

So don't worry about it. I can understand that you don't wanna get tapped by someone who isn't as good as you are. Especially now that you recently revcieved your brown belt. But don't worry about it.
Just continue sparring as usual. It's no different from yesterday, except now you are a brown belt.
The skills were there yesterday aswell. Only difference is that you wear a belt with another colour.

Again, congratulations. And have fun!
 
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