Dilemmas of A White Belt (Part 1)
Grappling between concepts, techniques and strategy, the White Belt is one of the hardest belt ranks everyone goes through as they embark on this beautiful journey called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ).
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is different compared to other martial arts like boxing, kickboxing or Muay Thai, as you probably already knew the basic concepts individually. Many who are new to the sport would have questions or dilemmas once they have started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
At Clube de Lutas, we hope to share some tips to make your Jiu Jitsu journey more enjoyable!
If you have been training for less than a year, you could be experiencing one of these dilemmas:
1. When will I get my first stripe?
“Am I close to getting my first stripe?”
“I wonder how long I have to train to get my first stripe?”
“Omg, I tapped my partner out yesterday and she was a blue belt! I hope to get my first stripe soon!”
..to name a few common questions new students ask themselves after starting their Jiu Jitsu journey.
The first stripe is one of the most exciting achievements in your BJJ journey and it is a big deal!
Normally the first stripe is awarded within 3-6 months of training. However, the length of time you have been training isn’t the only factor that the coaches consider when deciding the number of stripes you will get on your belt.
Developing a strong foundation in Jiu Jitsu is essential to progressing further. Only when you understand the basics, then you can improvise the movement in a way that is advantageous to your physical attributes. Consequently, this will help develop a game that is uniquely yours.
A strong foundation includes the understanding and application of a certain position, techniques or escapes, this includes, but is not limited to:
Basic movements in warm-ups, such as forward and backward rolls and hip escapes
Understanding the basic defence strategies like frames, distance creation
Ability to hold the position in full mount, side control, back control and guard
Ability to escape from self-defence positions
2. My partner is way more advanced than I am, am I actually helping them when I’m partnered with them?
Most times, higher belts learn differently when partnered with newcomers or white belts. You are actually helping them when you roll with them. Higher belts may seem like they’re seamlessly defending what you’re throwing at them (not punches, elbows, knees or kicks we hope!), but they could be practising a new technique that they’re learning.
Aside from that, when it comes to drilling, if they already know the technique, you will become their best teacher as they will need to learn how to guide you as you drill the technique to achieve the right results.
We believe the best way to learn is to teach others, then you will realise what you really know or don’t know.
3. I don’t want to tap to any submissions!
This is especially common for grapplers who are new to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
The truth is everybody taps. The earlier you learn to tap, the earlier you realise the efficiency of learning. Sounds contradicting but it’s not.
The earlier you tap, the least likely you will get injured. When you’re not slowed down by an injury, you get to spend more time on the mats.
To paint the picture:
An injury caused by a submission because you refuse to tap could easily cost you 3-6 months off training. By then, your peers would have progressed further into their journey whilst you feel like you are lacking behind. At this point, you may feel less motivated to train because you started to feel like you’re unable to catch up with your peers and eventually you may (or may not) lose interest in the sport because you could’ve lost the community you started with.
We’ve seen this happen too many times and it is one of the saddest things to witness because some of these grapplers who dropped out have so much potential in them.
It is simply not the best price to pay when all of these could have been avoided by just tapping early.
4. How do I become a better partner?
Being a good partner is crucial to any BJJ practitioner and it all starts from the beginning.
It takes a bit of time to become a good partner. Understanding the mechanics of Jiu Jitsu – leverage, angle, pressure, momentum et cetera, is the core to becoming a better partner.
Sometimes we’d see partner A putting 200% into defending the technique, majority of the time the drill will not work as partner B is just learning the technique on the same day as Partner A is.
When drilling, let your partner drill the technique by giving the right amount of pressure and the right amount of reaction. This way both of you have the opportunity to learn the movement from both positions which are advantageous for both in the long run.
No one we know has started Jiu Jitsu became instantly good at the sport. The knowledge behind every technique is incredibly vast, we hope you find this blog starting point to help you navigate through the seas of White Belt Dilemmas you may have.
Last tip from us:
The best way to get better at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is to keep turning up to training.
Everyone’s journey is different and your journey is uniquely yours.