Negative Effect of Higher Belts Not Smashing New BJJ White Belts

If you know me, and you know the way I treat new BJJ White Belts as they begin training and rolling. Then you know I like to ease people into hard training and help them out.

That said, there are times when you need to put the smash on newer White Belts as they begin training. I’ll explain with a quick story!

White Belt Submits A Brown Belt

Years ago there was a woman who began training at my gym. She was tough and gritty! And very quickly she was winning competitions and doing well for herself.

During rolling in the gym. Many of us that were higher belts would take it easy on her. I mean, even though she’s winning tournaments, she was still one of the new White Belts. And anyone that has trained knows that there are levels to BJJ.

All of that seems on the up and up right? Well here’s where it went wrong. 

One day she mentioned how she submitted one of our Brown Belts Tony. Tony was a skilled Brown Belt who I jokingly called the BJJ Encyclopedia because he was always cooking up some new moves he saw in an instructional or something.  And he was a tough roll for me.

So if he wanted to shut things down during a roll. . . he could.

At first I thought she was joking. But after talking for a bit I realized she was dead serious. She truly believed she had submitted someone with 6-7 years more experienced than her.

Brown Belt Gave Her Contrast

I told Tony about what was said and told him to give her contrast so that she knew what reality was. He wasn’t angry or mean of course. But with the finesse that comes after years of training he submitted her several times during a roll.

Then he went back to playing down in skill and giving her room to work.

Doing this gave her contrast as to where her skill truly was and gave her a better view of reality.

BJJ White Belts Still Need Contrast

Many of us who started BJJ “back in the day” were immediately thrown to the meat grinder of full rolling.

I mean on my 1st day of BJJ I got put in Kneebars and was full rolling. Luckily I had some Wrestling experience to help me.

But now in many gyms these days, including mine, more experienced people try to help the new people along. We know the rough road that lies ahead and so we reach out and extend a hand to those just getting started on the path.

But the newer practitioners still need contrast. . .

New White Belts still need to know “Just how good or bad am I?”

And this is where I will roll closer to full speed with a student or allow them to come to some of the more advanced classes where they can then test themselves. It gives them a sense of realness and reminds them to the depth of skill that can be attained.

I know that for me early on, feeling how helpless I was during training was motivating! I thought, “If someone else had achieved this, then surely with a lot of work I could too!”

It also gives the new White Belts a sense of how you’re helping them.

I talk more about this subject in the video below which was based on a question about a New White Belt who I believe mistakenly thinks they legitimately submitted a Black Belt.

 

But I will just throw this out there.

If you’re one of the many BJJ White Belts in training. If you submit a Black belt. I can almost guarantee you that the Black Belt is taking it easy on you. They’re trying to help you along the way.

Don’t mistake their help for weakness or lack of skill.

-Chewy