Have you ever had a White Belt teacher in your BJJ gym? Someone who was fairly new and insisted on showing you how to do a technique even if it was wrong?
This is the situation our buddy Rich is in. Rich says that he is teaching classes but some of the White Belts go off on their own to do things differently.
As a newer Purple Belt coach he was curious what I would recommend for this situation in his Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gym.
In this video I sort of lay out my policy regarding coaching. In addition to this, I also discuss a situation that happened last year where one of the newer White Belts in our BJJ fundamentals class was trying to coach other White Belts.
Furthermore, I explain why it is so important to learn good Brazilian Jiujitsu technique; along with why as a BJJ coach you must maintain the culture of your gym.
If you’re someone dealing with a similar situation in your gym then I hope this video is useful to you with your Brazilian Jiujitsu training or coaching.
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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
https://www.chewjitsu.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/maxresdefault.jpg7201280Chewyhttps://www.chewjitsu.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ChewJitsu-Logo.pngChewy2019-07-16 08:16:402019-07-16 08:16:40Negative Effect of Higher Belts Not Smashing New BJJ White Belts
Yesterday I received a question from our friend who says he lacks the motivation to train Brazilian Jiu-jitsu some nights.
He says that a lot of times after a long day of work he struggles to get the energy together to workout and he’s wondering what I do to keep myself motivated.
In the video I share that I’ve never really needed motivation to workout. Whether it’s Brazilian Jiujitsu or lifting. I’ve never required motivation to train.
And this is because it makes me feel so good, and I don’t need to be motivated to feel good. We do all sorts of things in our life that make us feel good.
Eat, sleep, take pills, etc. And it requires little motivation most of the time to do them. With exercise it’s no different. It makes me feel amazing after I’m done. Even if I have a terrible training session or feel weaker than normal. I always feel good after the training is over.
Also, I share some details about a cool book I’m reading right now that explains all the chemicals that release in the brain and the physiological responses associated with exercise. The book I mention in the video and you can check it out here.
Spark : https://amzn.to/2GNBz5V * This is an affiliate link. So if you purchase the book it helps support the videos and Youtube channel. I hope you enjoy the book.
If you’re struggling with motivation. Discipline is helpful. But enjoying what you’re doing and knowing that it’s going to make you feel better is always helpful. Talk to you next time.
https://www.chewjitsu.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Screen-Shot-2019-04-15-at-9.57.38-PM.png468450akatbreeziiehttps://www.chewjitsu.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ChewJitsu-Logo.pngakatbreeziie2019-04-16 16:30:422019-04-15 21:59:21I Train BJJ for the "Feel-Good" Brain Chemicals
Recently our friend went to another BJJ gym for training recently and he’s been bummed ever since. During the training session at this other gym he felt like he didn’t know anything.
And he knows that he will be up for promotion soon at his gym. But he says he doesn’t want it now. Basically he says he is a BJJ White Belt who feels like he isn’t worthy of the Blue Belt.
In this video I share my thoughts on his struggle with his upcoming belt promotion and how he feels with his BJJ training in general.
The big idea I try to share in this one is that it’s a mistake to judge your whole experience and enjoyment in BJJ solely off having a tough set of rolls at another gym.
The patterns and styles are different. I was talking to my guys about this recently. Where I explained that most of my Purple Belts give me more trouble than the Black Belts I compete against.
Which isn’t about technical ability per say. If you’re having a similar situation regarding feeling worthy or ready for a Blue Belt promotion. Then I hope this video is helpful.
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What do you do if you don’t like the way your BJJ coach directs you at competitions or training?
This is our “Bob” question today from one of the viewers who is a Blue Belt in BJJ and dislike how their coach. . . coaches them.
They said that the coaching style is not preferable because it’s more of a barking demanding style. Meaning when competing they yell and scream to tell them to do certain things.
This disrupts “Bob” and causes them to perform worse.
This is demonstrated by the fact that when their coach isn’t there, Bob has done really well.
So in this video I talk about how to talk to your Brazilian Jiu-jitsu coach about difficult topics.
If you’re having a situation with your coach and need to bring up a difficult topic. I hope this helps.
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Sometimes I’ll jokingly ask my students, “Raise your hand if you want to be mediocre at this stuff?”
And you know what? Not a single person raises their hand. Because we are in western society. Individualism! Shoot for the stars and land somewhere along the way, right?
I both love it and hate it . . . more love it though.
Anyways, 2 days ago Eugene and I had a conversation with Tim Spriggs on the podcast. If you aren’t familiar with him he recently won the No Gi Worlds and if that wasn’t enough. . . he submitted yours truly in the semi finals of the ADCC Trials.
During our podcast chat he talked about almost quitting BJJ back last year then rallying back to a World Title and he even shared how he got into BJJ because he was getting bullied.
Which is fun listening and inspiring in itself.
But if you’re like Ole Chewy, you’re listening to podcasts to get little takeaways for yourself. And there were several. But there was BIG one in this podcast.
When he began training at Lloyd Irvin’s gym (love him or hate him, he’s turned out some really good grapplers) he said it took his game to the next level.
And the biggest physical training difference was the drilling.
For people looking to develop their own system of BJJ. This is how you do it! You drill till the technique sinks in and becomes almost automatic.
You’ll literally start doing the techniques in your sleep! No kidding, this happened once when I was practicing a collar choke. My girlfriend filmed me motioning the collar choke while sleeping.
It’s also how I became a good Half Guard player back in the day when my bottom game was garbage. I drilled it constantly, taught it to others and tried it during training.
And that’s where my Half Guard Sweeper Series came from. Years of blood sweat and effort.
So, if you have a trash bottom game like I did, you can change that by clicking below!
So go check out the podcast on Itunes, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. I hope you enjoy the talk!
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How do you judge your progress in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu when your gym doesn’t give stripes? This is the question I received from one of the viewers.
His BJJ gyms doesn’t give stripes out and he’s wondering how do you judge progress when stripes aren’t a part of the equation. In this video I first share that the belts and stripes in Brazilian Jiujitsu are simply symbols.
Like the word “Tree” which is a symbol to represent what we call a tree. Now a tree is a collection of cells. It’s an organism with leafs, bark, etc.
The word TREE is simply a representation of what it is. And the belts and stripes are simply symbols to represent progression and skill.
I also share how I personally didn’t even receive a stripe until I was a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Along with this idea I also share some helpful tips on how to judge your progress in BJJ. If you’re in a similar situation. I hope this video is useful.
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During training we talked about the flexibility myth regarding Rubber Guard.
I call it a myth because I felt like you had to be super bendy and flexible to make Rubber Guard work but Brandon assured me you don’t.
I was skeptical.
But after be showed me a few details I was so surprised about how easily you can hold the Rubber Guard, at least a basic version of it, by focusing on hip movement instead of knees.
So of course, we made a video of the details.
Now of course, if you’re more flexible, there are additional options for you.
But for those of us who are just a little tighter in the hips and knees. This is an option!
Hope you enjoy the video. Talk to you guys next time!
When I am passing the Guard of someone with long legs in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I typically begin to force Half Guard. By doing this I am able to get closer and make it harder to their leg length.
In this video I show my strategy against long legged BJJ practitioners. I also touch on the idea of how to deal with Knee Shields and Spider Lasso grips by avoiding tension.
Along with the positional elements I use to force and pass Half Guard in Brazilian Jiujitsu. I also talk about strong head positioning.
As I’ve shared before. Head positioning is often overlooked in BJJ, which is unfortunate, because it’s incredibly powerful.
Locking someones head position makes it very difficult for them to defend your offensive weapons. This video is more of a strategy or concept video rather than a hard technique video.
It’s just a few ideas for your to Chew On with your BJJ training or competitions. Get it. . . Chew On? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the video!
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Do you have any ridiculous traditions with your friends or family? Traditions that really don’t make sense but you do them anyway? Well, this is one of our traditions here at my BJJ gym in Louisville, KY.
It’s absolutely silly, ridiculous and a lot of fun. Despite being a little odd to look at, everyone is having a blast. And it’s something me and all of my Brazilian Jiu-jitsu students look forward to every year. Here’s how it works.
We all get old clothing we have in the closet or from a thrift store, wash it, and then we wear it during a giant rolling session. This BJJ training session turns into a clothing ripping fest.
And at the end of it, we’re left with shreds of clothing everywhere.
In this years BJJ Suit Rolling.
It was no different. I hope the video gives you a good laugh.
To traditionalists, you probably won’t like this, but to people who are a little silly, you’ll have fun with it. I’ve seen several other Brazilian Jiujitsu gyms doing this and having fun with it.
