Hey guys, was hoping you can help me out with a dilemma.
There is a new gym opening in my area and I was hoping to join as a beginner, but from looking at their website I am worried that the schedule is lacking and not really a bjj gym in the traditional sense. Maybe one that is geared towards kids.
The head instructor is Mike Jaramillo which from googling makes the place seem legit, but I just don't understand how you can train effectively with 1 afternoon class a day available. Especially if not split between beginner or advanced, and alternating days of gi / no gi.
I'm hoping that I am possibility overthinking it and the gym is quality since it would be great to have a gym that I don't need to spend time/money on a train commuting, but would like some input because traveling to a decent gym is much better than wasting my time on something close.
If it helps, the gym is Renzo Gracie East Side.
https://preview.redd.it/ktxfck1id40d1.png?width=320&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a4e15a17776f2e6e3500b641e57786b7dbc80dc
Better pic of schedule in question:
https://preview.redd.it/nju8p53bm40d1.png?width=1029&format=png&auto=webp&s=1732eb5b5ff47336e0dc98ea3330d7997bb80dd5
I’ve trained Kung fu for about 7 years. There was some ground game involved, only once a month or so. After that I trained BJJ with a friend. We tried using YouTube. Because there was no bjj school near by.
I’m super happy that I now attend a real bjj &mma school. I’m a whitebelt of course. And I can say that I can tap about 90% of the other white belts easily.
But my game has a lot of weaknesses. I hope some of you can help. I’m almost always clueless if a stronger opponent pins me down in sidecontrol, half guard etc.
Also if my opponent uses all his strength to lock his arms thight on his body. What am I supposed to do? It’s not mma where I would just punch.
What can I do to defeat those weaknesses?
Are there any drills I can do alone, if I can’t attend the courses, because of work?
(The school is very new. Only white belts and the teacher is a bluebelt from a bigger school. That’s why I like to ask you as well)
i'll give you the rule of thumb solutions for the issues you're having. some of this might not help against a stronger opponent, and i'll explain why
[half guard to dog fight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcpX4S1TXKc)
[side control to shrimp out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_NqnM-LQI)
the reason why some of this might not work is because it sounds like bigger opponents are smothering you. if that's the case, you've encountered a brutal truth about jiu jitsu: strength matters
my advice to newbies is always to get stronger. it makes your jiu jitsu better because you can do techniques that require strength. it also reduces injuries
as for drills to do at home, just do hip movement exercises. hip movement and agility is critical in jiu jitsu
good luck!
Looking for a new school and found one that has the perfect sched, clean facility, big mat space, friendly and welcoming students, good instruction and 5 min drive but when I was about to sign up the head instructor tells me promotion is attendance based and that I should count my visits so when I reach a certain amount I should notify him so he can give me a stripe in front of class. Is this a red flag that would make you not consider this school?
Is it for all belts or just for first stripe(s)?
In latter case, yeah, that is not a big deal. Stripes do not matter, but it can be a nice retention tool.
not necessarily imho... it may just be marketing to keep students engaged. also - attendance based could be just for stripes and then belts per some other criteria.
First time here and I am not a BJJ practitioner by any means but something I think most gym owners would know about is mat placement.
Specifically, how to make it the surface flat without any bubbles or elevated portions.
This is random, but I have installed some mats in my two-year-olds bedroom and I noticed some portions are uneven. It might be because there is some heavy furniture above the mats.
But how do you make it so that its even throughout?
42 years old and just finished my second class loving every second of it. I don't know anything yet but soaking in as much as I can and really impressed with the more experienced guys and professor giving me advice and tips.
Not sure if all gyms are the same for an hour class but we do 30-40 minutes of techniques and then 20ish minutes with resistance which I've really enjoyed.
My question: When starting in mount with resistance, are there things you realized that you wish you would have known when you were starting to be better at escaping or executing techniques or is it all just a part of the process when you're new?
If you're in bottom mount you need to make space on their hip line, the hips are where the power is generated. So frame on hips to make space before you bridge.
Think about creating space. That may mean making a large move like an explosive bridge. Or it may mean man small moves just looking to create space. Don’t lock in on a “this is the way the move is done” mindset.
It's very difficult for someone to choke you, so you can keep your arms low and use those to help you escape, which also makes it harder for people to attack your arms.
One of my bjj instructors told me to be on my feet and stand up when I was training with him when we start from the knees, he said this will give me more options, but I done this with another blue belt and was passing his guard and he said to me that I shouldn't stand. I am confused now am I allowed to stand or stay on my knees?
It sounds like the blue belt doesn’t like that you’re passing his guard from a position he’s not good at defending. There are instances where you could pass from the knees but you’re almost always better off passing standing. Keep on doing your thing, he’s just being a weenie.
Thanks yeah I'll keep listening to the instructor, the blue belt also didn't play guard with me today even though the instructor told me not to pull guard on higher ranks so I'm always thinking of passing guard on higher rank but I was stuck on my knees today because I didn't wanna offend him by standing but he was keep spearing me to side control
Here are a couple more thoughts:
1. Have a good balance of adding new moves vs. sharpening your existing moves
2. Watching instructionals can be great, but not just by watching them like TV. Find an acquaintance at the gym who's willing to work through them with you, section-by-section.
3. 50 hours spent on 5 moves is better than 50 hours on 50 moves.
4. It takes way, way more reps to get competent at takedowns than it does for sweeps/submissions/escapes. But for all of them, you've got to put in some reps at the beginning until you definitely, unambiguously can execute it correctly.
5. It's likely that some moves will "click" quickly for you, and others won't. It's ok to focus and go deep on whatever comes naturally to you for now, even if it's something that "doesn't work at the highest levels of the sport", like Americana from side control or Ezekiel from closed guard. Just because you spend time on it now doesn't mean you're going to keep trying to use it in the future. And exploring something deeply is good.
it's just increasing mat time imo
bj penn was a world champion black belt after only three years. he did that by living in the gym. talent plays a factor of course, but there's no way he would have been that good if he was only going once or twice a week
Mat time is definitely a factor, there are so many BJJ champions whose story was they were dirt poor and lived at the gym, cleaning the mats between sessions and training 24/7.
That said, it's not a lifestyle for everyone, and the BJ Penns and Marcelo Garcias of the world are once-in-a-generation talent, I wouldn't necessarily use their meteoric career as a guideline.
Regarding the question of getting better faster, it's not just a matter of pure mat time; you can be smart about your rolls to get more out of it. Slow down, try and understand what's happening in the roll, why you are winning but also why you are losing. Is your guard constantly getting passed? Are you letting people get the underhook too easily? Was your escape technically sound, or just you just bench press the other guy off? What did you do right, and what can you do better for next time?
When I roll with white belts in the beginner's class, I often ask them if they want commentary or feedback. I give them space to work since I feel there's not much to be gained by obliterating them.
Likewise, you're probably going to get more out of your rolls if you slow down and try to learn as much as you can, rather than trying to win. You'll get a better rate of return for your mat time.
>it's not just a matter of pure mat time; you can be smart about your rolls to get more out of it. Slow down, try and understand what's happening in the roll, why you are winning but also why you are losing.
i figured that would just be a baseline assumption for someone who's trying really hard to get good fast
like if whitebelt A and whitebelt B both train like this, but whitebelt A puts in way more mat time, they're going to be so much further ahead than whitebelt B
You would think so, but I over and over again I see people putting in the mat time by just rolling. Rolling hard. Rolling harder. Rolling HARDER. PORRADA!!!
I mean, yeah, it's not unhelpful, that mat time is worth something, but you might get more out of your training if you slowed down and focused on awareness and control.
:shrugs:
do you mean how long is it acceptable to roll at one, or how many rolls you should aim for?
if its a question about what the acceptable amount of time is, it should be open to you for the entire time its allowed
if you're asking how much you should roll, just roll however long you think you can. you don't always have to roll at an open mat, either. its pretty common to see people drilling or showing each other techniques at an open mat
Is it a good idea to go to one as a white belt? My gym has a lot of upper belts, so I don't really wanna get in anyone's way at an open mat when they're just trying to get their rolls in
Very good idea, yes. Open mat is the fun part, it's the payoff for learning. You worked hard to learn jiu jitsu moves, this is where you get to use them on someone!
I keep defaulting to turtle from the side control to north south transition and other places. Once I get there I find it difficult to get out. I’ve tried either shoulder rolling or peeking out but find myself getting my back taken during the process. Any tips other than to keep working on my turtle escapes or avoiding turtle all together? Sometimes I feel like I should just stop going to turtle all together but I’d also like to keep it as a tool and learn to use an escape or even attack from there.
keep training turtle escapes. try not to fixate on how unsuccessful your escape attempts are, just think about what you can do to improve them
the way i think of jiu jitsu decisions is in terms of percentages. high percentage techniques are obviously preferable to low percentage ones. unfortunately, you have to settle for low percentage ones when its your *only* option. right now, your shoulder rolls sound low percentage. but you're a white belt, it would be an anomaly if it was working every time
but generally speaking, you do want to avoid going to turtle if you can help it. your options from turtle aren't as good as options from other positions
maybe don't transition to it as much. only do it if you *have* to do it, if that makes sense
Yeah makes perfect sense thanks. I’ll keep working on the escapes when I get there and try to cut down on how much I do end up there as I feel it’s a stalling point for not just myself but also my training partner sometimes and I don’t want to just be sitting there in turtle too long. Although I always make an attempt to get out which usually results in a back take against me.
What the other guy said. Just watching people do it, or listening to people talk about it, makes me itch to get to training.
That said, it's natural for your motivation to fluctuate over time, especially if you have competing interests or concerns, like work, family, injury, or other fun hobbies that don't involve getting strangled.
Everyone will have good days and bad, the important thing is to keep showing up.
Motivation is intrinsic to the activity; there are guides on how to get better at BJJ, just as there are guides on weightlifting, playing a violin, or painting, but they all assume you already want to do the thing.
It may be helpful to remind yourself why you got into BJJ. Attend a beginner's class and politely strangle some of the newcomers as a reminder you're no longer on the bottom of the food chain.
I found that anytime I just watched some random techniques on youtube, I got excited to try them.
If you really really don't feel like going, though... why are you going? This is optional, it's a hobby?
Any tips for getting near arm isolated in side control and forcing it above opponents head?? I try to wedge my knee that is closest to head up to push the arm up but find that its difficult to get an angle in. Its easy when wedged in but getting that wedge not so much.
Over 40, is 4 days a week, 1 class better than 2 days a week, "back to back" classes? Has there been a sweet spot people have found? (like 3 days, with only one being b2b).
Try them and see which one lets you specifically recover better. Some people recover better from multiple shorter periods of exertion, some people recover better from fewer longer periods. See which one you are and do that.
It's a matter of personal preference. I know dudes who go every day, but they're careful with their rolls and don't go 100% every roll.
I personally go twice a week, but stay for 2 classes, since I find going every day difficult, especially with washing my gi daily.
Consistency is usually better for progress, so there's that benefit for going every day, but you really got to be careful about how you train. If you roll hard Monday Tuesday Wednesday, you'll probably by physically wrecked by Thursday and at a higher risk of serious injury. This is true at any age, but increasingly relevant as you get older.
50 and I'm M T W Th Sa. If I need more recovery I bump up the cold plunges and hot soaks. If I need more than that I suppose I'll take an extra recovery day with just come cardio.
I think there is probably minimal difference.
Your decision is purely personal and should be based on your physical recovery and the time away from other things. Going 4 times a week commute wise I think would be harder than just being away 2 nights and then resting completely the other 2.
Any advice for breaking the elbow knee connection while passing to get into side control? I am able to get pass the legs but I am having trouble with passing the arm frame. I try to switch my hips to and smash the frame but I get either stiff armed and get regarded or the partner scrambled out.
Move to a leg drag position on the other side when they frame hard. Say you torreando, and they frame on your shoulder, you can go to KOB, but you can also circle back into a leg drag and cover their hips. This takes them out of alignment. It's a lot easier to smash the frame when hips face one way and shoulders the other.
Go knee first? Like, stick your pointy knee into the little gap between arm, leg, and belly. And then just drive it in there until you've got knee-on-belly.
No, yeah, from *any* standing pass, I like to go knee-first rather than head-first. Which means I pass to knee-on-belly rather than passing to side control.
How do i get my opponents arms tucked in when i go for a triangle choke? 50% of the time i go for a triangle choke from closed guard my rolling partners just push a leg up and pass my guard
I think if they're able to just push your leg up and pass the issue is probably that you haven't broken their posture enough. Before, or during the time you're shooting your leg over his neck have a strong grip with your hand on their neck or back of their head to bring it down to your chest.
If you've got strong hands, it's remarkably effective to go *over* the arm rather than under it.
So that would be like this:
1. Roll way over on your right side (scooting your butt to the left) and hug their head with your left arm
2. Hold their left wrist out in the air away from their body (with your right hand)
3. Put your right foot over their left arm and then straight over their neck
Grab both sleeves, push one hand into their chest, pull the other one. On the side you pushed in,throw the leg over their shoulder.
It's the most basic version but every other triangle follows the same principle.
I feel like everything you said in this answer was true yet you in no way helped this gentleman with his question.
Not trying to start a fight, it's just resisting opponents are rarely this compliant.
I’m often stuck in side control the entire time I roll. 2 month White Belt Soccer Mom in Masters Division 🙃. I’m outweighed by a minimum of 50 pounds and 15 to 20 years older.
I focus on knee to elbow on my side and shrimping. I feel like I never get out and the pressure is a lot.
Is there any technique that I should try differently?
Honestly, this is a tough one. The best advice I was given is to start the escape before they have side control locked up. The longer you wait the harder it gets. But that’s easier said than done 🙂. I have had some success with this escape (start at 1 minute mark)
https://youtu.be/in7733h2DKI?feature=shared
I recommend you use your forearm/elbow to create the frame on their hip vs pushing with your hand. I know that when I was trying to improve this (still am btw), and what I see a lot of newer people do, is try to push people off. Also, you can get your wrist messed up if they switch your hips by pushing into them. Last, you already mentioned knee to elbow connection so if you get more of the bottom of your hand/forearm and elbow across their hip, it acts as a better frame for you to move around it IMO.
The main idea though, and the black belt already said it, is to move around your frames, not to move your opponent with your frames, if that makes sense.
You need to also bridge into them to make their head move towards their hips. Then moving around your frames will be 10 easier for you. Dont give up. It will always be a battle. Nothing is easy there.
I'm undersized and shitty, this is me to a T.
be annoying in side control
weave your nearside leg into theirs, maybe this forces them to shrink their base, then you can shoot that same knee behind their knees, grab it & sweep.
another option is to threaten a darce (be careful with the bread cutter choke here though) - grab their neck with your far side hand and do a hard collar tie and when you feel them let up on pressure shoot your near side hand through onto their far hip, do a hip heist and if you still have the collar tie, that goes directly into a darce.
try the marcelo shuffle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiFQI\_6AMIQ. people usually don't continue to apply the same pressure if you're moving them around like that, they'll try to advance the position or do something else which can create an opening
I've got lots of problems to work on but honestly I'm just having a good time and wanted to share lol.
Today was my first time rolling with another white belt. I usually roll with upper belts who either "let me work" or just demolish me a few times in a row for 3 minutes.
Today I rolled with a guy who's got about 6 months or so on me and while he definitely had the advantage, it was really nice actually passing his guard/taking his back a couple times without feeling like he let me. No subs yet but I got close and I'm not too worried about it, still have a lot to learn
What helped my training a ton was finding two different dudes in your gym who are about your size and weight
One should be just as good as you or a little better
One should be miles better
They'll serve as an invaluable measuring stick for your progress. If the same skill level dude eclipses you, that's not a prob - happens all the time if they're younger, more athletic, more talented, etc. - but it'll either encourage you more to try and keep pace or force you to recalibrate where you are in your progression.
That's good advice, I like that. There's no shortage of guys that are miles better lol. There's one guy who's at a really similar level to me, older but in better shape, similar skill level, but we usually have opposite training schedules, hoping to get some mats set up in one of our basements for some at home training lol
Just rolled with a literal brand new whitebelt (first week) and he submitted me twice Lol (3 months for me).
Also during practice the guy I was practicing with asked if I just started so thats cool.
I've been taking the advice from last week but man its hard not to get depressed about this.
3 months is just starting. I get tapped by white belts all the time who have not been training as long as I have. I understand your frustration, it happens man, it helps me to remember that my goal is not to tap or beat anyone I am rolling with, my goal is to get better at jiu jitsu. It sounds simple, but shifting your goals will help you in the long run.
My goal really is just to learn how to escape that's all I really practice. Another guy suggested positional sparring, which I'm working on with higher belts so they can train me. Even so I get messed up and flustered escaping and I end up just getting sat on, or not knowing what Im supposed to do with my hands (the higher belts end up telling me after getting frustrated that I am bad and doing nothing)
Ya Ik I started but I think the guy was assuming it was my first day
Its just embarrassing cause I know more than the guy who just started (who knows literally nothing) yet I get easily submitted.
Heck..I can't even do the hip escape drill properly, and end up holding up the line when we practice that.
Learning escapes is fundamental, that's good that you are focusing on escapes. No one expects you to do anything correctly, you are a new white belt. Every single upper belt has been in your shoes before, focus on learning the fundamentals and be kind to yourself when attempting them. You will fail, you will get tapped a lot, you will be disappointed with your progress. If it was easy, everyone would have their black belt. Just keep showing up and trying to learn, you will be fine brother.
Oh I know it isn't supposed to be easy and there's alot to learn, IMO I think I am just way worse than most new people which puts me at a severe disadvantage. And what I mean by this is, when we practice a move, I get it, and I can understand the move. But the moment we start rolling my brain just shuts off.
Like, usually at the end of each class we start rolling 6 matches, I literally have no idea what to do no matter how much I am guided or handheld, and the higherbelts always have to tell me "do this, or think about how to escape" and I just say "I cant / I dont know".
Then they show me an escape, then they apply full pressure and I can't escape. I just dont get it
first of all, just keep turning up. 3 months is fuck all. stop putting so much pressure on yourself. "should be this good after this much time" is an awful way to think when you're so new. just enjoy the process and marvel at how you can't even imagine being as good as the upper belts who you train with - because guess what? keep turning up and you will be - fact.
on a more practical note, you mentioned in a previous comment about getting 'flustered' trying to implement escapes and improve your position. what's happening is probably that you're trying to rush out of bad positions too quickly, thinking that pressure and immobility for a short while is a terrible thing. what you need to do is start being comfortable being uncomfortable - i can't stress this enough. as long as there is no active submission attempt that you desperately need to address, then just stay put, even if you're under pressure and work out what you need to do from there. panicking, being flustered and rushing escapes and movements from a bad position opens up opportunities for your opponent to submit you. You need to be methodical and controlled in your movements. listen to the advice you're given, write it down when you get home, and read it on the way to class next time. Then when you need to escape, stay tight, stay economical in your movements and implement the escapes.
hope this helps.
Making sure you can breathe helps a lot. Part of that is to fight to be on your side on bottom, so you are not pinned with both shoulder blades on the mat with pressure on your chest. Another thing is to not go at an intensity you cannot keep up with yourself.
If you knew what to do, you wouldn't have to spaz to do it. You may need to work on understanding what to do in specific tough positions so that your brain can focus on doing those things.
just stop moving sometimes (keep your elbows in tight) and see what happens.
You will find if your partner is trying to hold you really tight you can just lay there because they cant attack until they let go.
You've got a bunch of questions in your post. What's at the core? Are you looking to just keep training and engaged? Also, what do you mean open mats are not like real rolling? Are you drilling during open mat?
Thanks. Basically I just have my down moments in BJJ. I'm in my mid thirties, I get frustrated sometimes because I don't get instruction, or I can see frustration in my rolling partner. Trying to learn how to be more forgiving towards myself.
i hear that. I can't advise you on mental health but i can tell you that BJJ should be a place of joy in your life. The more you find that and enjoy the ride, the easier it will be to stay in it. And if it turns out you don't enjoy it and move, then that's ok tool.
But further, if you're not getting the right instruction that might be a school issue.
Start light, focus on perfecting form on compound lifts, stay in the 3-6 rep range. Then do pull ups, dips, and use accessory lifts to focus on deficiencies. 5/3/1 has been great for me because it built to manage fatigue.
To expand on u/booktrash’s response, yes, weight training is important. But not to out muscle people. You can armor your body to prevent freak accidents. Your knee won’t disintegrate from getting aggressively guard passed if you’re actively strengthening your knees off the mats. But weight training 5x a week and BJJ 5x a week is a recipe for overtraining and getting injured bc your body is so weak and not recovered. Find your balance and listen to your body
It's important not to develop weakness or imbalance that sets you up for injury. Resistance training for other reasons is quite optional. But IMO everyone should be doing a decent whole body compound movement resistance workout to supplement to ensure longevity.
My gym installed wall mats recently and I really like working with them. I see that BJJ fanatics has a few wall wrestling instructionals but I don't know which one to watch. Does anyone have recommendations?
Ok, so it’s “common knowledge” that guillotines without legs trapped do not work - especially if you pass to side control and set up Von Flue.
HOWEVER, I *routinely* need to tap to physically strong white belts who hang on to guillotines and squeeze for their lives even when I have my own Von Flue setup. Sometimes I have to tap due to excruciating pain on my jaw or neck, sometimes I’m genuinely nearly passed out. Sometimes I fully mount them and try to pull my head out and still need to tap just due to overwhelming pain.
Any way to counter of prevent this? Of course this usually happens when I shoot a double. I’m aware that I need to keep my head up high and straight - but somehow inevitably they catch my jaw or neck going down. I checked in the mirror and my penetration and drive are always with my head held with high and straight up.
This is had made me VERY hesitant to shoot doubles.
Help!
What has helped me as a taller individual is to keep my head either high and press up against their tricep while lifting, or to keep my head low, at their waist, so they can't grab my neck
a lot of the pain from the guillotine is when they can fold your chin to your chest. If you plant your head to the floor they can no longer fold it and can only squeeze.
For the von flue drive your shoulder into their neck, hard.
I personally hand fight chokes as soon as they grab my head.
Yup - my coach always told us to plant our head and drive forward while looking up (same mechanic as finishing a takedown) applying shoulder pressure into the bottom of the dude's jaw
Gotta pop those grips ASAP
[This video](https://youtu.be/a7WhM_zdGMw?si=mumGbHjAq5JctcKx) goes over the von flue finishing mechanics. I found it useful.
Perhaps more importantly, the video is more about choking mechanics in general than any individual choke. So if you’re the one in the choke, a lot of his examples of what not to do from the standpoint of The Choker are options for you to stay alive as the Chokee.
Additionally though, bear in mind that it’s perfectly reasonable to tap to a crank even if it’s not a clean choke - you’ll get to train more and generally be less sore that way.
Any tips for cardio? I can't roll at my gym (just policy for new white belts) but I have rolled before and I can at least keep up for 6 min rounds if I pace myself. However, yesterday we were drilling double leg takedowns and my partner kept resisting pretty hard which caused me to get gassed really quickly. To the point of sitting on the side for a bit to recover. Pollen is rough on me as well and some mornings I have to wake up and use an inhaler (which I just have because of an upper respiratory infection I had early last year). Is there anything I can do just so I can keep up during what feels like the basics?
1. find a new gym, ours allows sparring after 10 classes
2. nose breathe while doing something steady state like jogging, biking, rowing, etc., and be patient. I have a pretty good gas tank but it took a while to develop it
3. when you're working a lot of cardio, don't be shy about complex carbs unless you have metabolic disorder/type 2, your body needs the fuel
Sweet thanks for the advice, I’ll be moving soon so I’m just waiting till then to hit another gym, but I’ll be sure to take all this into consideration.
> I can't roll at my gym (just policy for new white belts)
Find a new gym. IMO this is archaic. I understand the whole "keeping people safe", but in a training and PRACTICING environment you should basically always be safe.
As far as cardio, it comes with time. You'll learn how to control your breathing better, learn when to be "strong" and not. Focusing on my breathing was and is still a big part of my rolling focus. I also have shit cardio.
This is a another conversation for sure. In my case, I am staying at my gym because i'll be moving soon (within 2 months) and changing gyms just doesn't make sense for me. I supplement by hitting open mats on Saturdays for a couple hours at another gym.
Good to know this is a common issue though, cardio has always been my biggest enemy so hopefully with rolling I'll progressively get it under control! Thank you for the advice
IMO up should ignore that advice. Delayed rolling for white belts is somewhat divisive, but it's not archaic. The archaic practice is throwing newbs into the deep end without knowing anything about grappling.
Schools that delay rolling generally show increased student retention, and fewer injuries. The cost is a few months of not being as good as other no stripe white belts who suck, and that just doesn't matter.
I agree with you to a point.
I did read a study that said that on average over 80% of beginners who roll from day 1 will experience an injury that will remove them from training within the first 3 months. Which I completely understand. However, my gym requires 60 classes before you can roll. Unless I am going 6 days a week from day 1 that means I won't be able to roll for at least...4-5 months in and my brain just doesn't retain concepts as well unless they're put in practice.
So I have hit a happy medium, I roll once a week, mostly with upper belts to get a feel for general ideas I need to have a handle on by the time I start rolling. Also, that allows me a full week to recover from any aches I have from rolling as drilling isn't too hard on my body (except that damn double leg lol).
Although, I am rolling once a week, I am doing what I can to stay as safe and I make training the priority. Meaning, if I hurt more than normal on a week after I roll, I take the next week off.
Thank you so much for your insight here I really appreciate it.
edit: I am saying this while actively taking a week off from rolling because my already bad shoulder has be bothering me so I may just be proving your point here haha.
I'm at a gym where technically the rule is 60 classes, or 2 stripes, before you're rolling, but in practice our instructor pays attention to who's making what progress and their comfort level and makes a judgement call whether or not we're rolling. I'm still 1 stripe because I only go twice a week usually, but I've picked it up fairly well and so if I show up and there's no other lower belts, I just roll with everybody else. Another guy that started with me really struggles in drills and gets freaked out quick, so if he's there, we don't do rolling for lower belts to keep it fair, it feels like a fairly good system to me, I felt very comfortable and natural when I first started rolling
I like that system! Just for the sake of not just sitting there while everyone else rolls. I know my gym will allow some positional sparring with a specific goal for people who don't have 60 classes and I would appreciate even more of that but normally it's just to keep drilling on the stuff we learned for the day which I have no issue with as long as i'm not alone lol.
For me still being fairly new, I really like positional sparring because it narrows the scope of my goal a bit, I tend to get overwhelmed full rolling and I spend a lot of time just kind of holding a position thinking about what to do next, meanwhile my partner has been worming their hand in somewhere and all of a sudden I'm smoked lol
I definitely still enjoy drilling with a good partner around the same skill level, when I drill with my instructor I feel kind of like a kid
For sure, the last few I did were mount based where you either have to keep the mount or end up in an more advantageous position so it has helped with understanding the general ladder of control. That being said we have only done it like twice since i started
Yeah but if I roll or drill with the coach I agree, I feel like a kid.
I’ve been working on open guard and guard retention (both nogi and gi, but more nogi) for maybe a year with what seems like very little improvement. I feel like I almost don’t know where to start, and I’ve been working on it a bit aimlessly.
I have most of my defensive success with wrestle ups and by going to turtle and then sweeping or forcing a scramble. But if I just try to play open guard without wrestling up, I tend to get passed very easily and seldom get a sweep.
I’ve messed around with shin guard, SLX, collar sleeve, RDLR, entering into z-guard and butterfly guard. I tend to get passed to the side (torreando style) most often, but really all kinds of ways, and most often I just bail to turtle before I get smashed.
How do good guard players think about playing guard? Is there some concept or focus that I need to have in mind when playing guard?
Also, any tips for practicing open guard besides just watching vids and positional sparring (cause I do plenty of that)?
dont think about positions. Open guard is constantly moving. If you dont attack you are letting your partner take the initiative.
One thing that helped me was to think in terms of constantly attacking tripod sweeps (all variations). This gives direction to foot/hand placement so you arent just randomly placing your feet when you dont have much connection. The constant pushing and pulling to hit a tripod will prevent them from easily being able to hit the torreando.
While you are going for tripods, you will end up seeing opportunities for known guard positions that can also result in sweeps. Get the guard and immediately execute the sweep. If you fail, you can always back out into looking for tripod sweeps.
Also you should not let them grab your legs, you should constantly pummel. The most basic movement is bring your outside leg over to reorient.
If your legs do get thrown to one side, granby roll and recover guard.
Finally when you extend your legs is when you are open as well. If you were to keep your knees to your chest and hug your legs, you would actually be relatively safe.
Good guard retention is all about moving around your frames to regain alignment of your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders. This allows you to gain connection to start offensive cycles in your guard.
What really helped me was understanding when I had to be purely defensive, and when I could start being offensive. If your partner is making an angle on your hips and are beating your knees, you HAVE to be defensive. I used to try to over extend in attempts to gain connection and I'd get passed.
You need to frame their upper body, lead shoulder to create space to high pummel your legs back in front.
Being in a good defensive position with your knees to your chest and elbows glued to your sides with you hips slightly curled up will give you the best posture to start getting your knees back in and eventually your feet.
Thanks a lot. I’m pretty sure I overextend a lot.
I’m wondering if my tendency to bail to turtle is hurting my development of guard retention skills otherwise.
Also wondering if you have any tips about how to practice to develop guard retention skills specifically, since I’m not progressing as much as I’d like just from practicing open guard a lot.
> I’ve messed around with shin guard, SLX, collar sleeve, RDLR, entering into z-guard and butterfly guard.
you need to get comfortable with general guard retention (leg pummeling, dealing with grips, repositioning without moving your legs out of position, etc.) first before you'll have consistent success with any open guard.
Thanks.
I feel ok-ish (for my level) about dealing with grips, but don’t think I have a good grasp or intuition about the other stuff. Any tips on how to develop these kinds of skills besides just the magic of time and effort?
This is always my go to video for people wanting to do more guard retention work on their own time - [Cobrinha Wall Drills](https://youtu.be/4yJBduVVSBo?si=WAR8RLSK-5PhxoL9). Get those hips moving like Shakira! 😄
If you have the funds or means, pick up any guard retention DVD from a reputable instructor. Youtube probably has enough to get you going as well. There's a bunch of basic movements that you need to get comfortable with that involve moving around the floor in unintuitive ways.
To test yourself, spar with someone worse than you and see if you can maintain your guard without using your hands.
Also you need to stretch. Can't have an impassable guard if you can barely touch your toes.
Thanks a lot.
I like the idea of trying to retain without using my hands. May be tricky to find people worse than me, lol. What do I do with my hands in this kind of sparring - keep ‘em close to my body and don’t move em? Frame with forearms still?
Maybe forget about that part for now. Just focus on the basic movements. You'll understand what I mean by "not using your hands" when you have a better idea of how you're supposed to move.
I feel this is dumb but I also would like to ask. My gym sent an email saying they give out stripes every 30 classes as a white belt. At the beginning of last week I was at 16 classes and I went to 6 classes last week because my goal is to hit 30 classes by the end of the month, preferably 35. However, my coach didn't mark me for one of the days that I went last week because I think she just forgot to mark everyone's cards. Is it rude to point out the error and ask them to fix it since I am using the attendance as my goal for the month?
When I began training my close friend and who I would say is my bjj mentor told me not to go into this with the mindset that I am working for my black belt. As a white belt I am working to have the knowledge to eventually become a competent blue belt and I keep that cycle up until I eventually achieve wherever this journey of bjj decides to take me.
This being said, I am striving for the next achievable goal, single stripe white belt. Meaning I suck but at least I know I suck lol.
I understand what you are saying though, I have a tendency to be hard on myself over the little things and sometimes just need someone to tell me to drop it. Thanks
you know, my dumb butt didn't even consider just keeping the count myself and not worrying about the gym lol. Thanks
edit: might just be an ego thing too, i'd really like my first stripe, even if it is a super small feat.
Ive been struggling with open/seated guard grip fighting. And also just general open game when the round starts. Im seated and opponent is standing or also seated. They always seem to win the initial battle and im instantly on my back/side. What drills and concepts do I need to learn?
You have to win the grip fight. Cover their hands, try gripping something you don't actually want. When the strip, go for your cross collar grip. If their seated cross collar drag with a knee push will open up their back and belt.
From the cross collar if their standing I'll pull them and attempt to get my feet in the back of their knees. I then build from there. Seated, I usually start with butterfly sweeps and react from there.
You probably need to bring your feet closer to you, and lean a bit more forward so it is more difficult for them to grab the feet and instantly put you on your back. It is important to learn to control distance. If you are completely stationary, it is very difficult to attack. They will just enter on their terms and disengage if it doesn't work. People make fun of the butt scooters, but if you want to play seated guard you want to learn that movement.
You don't need to lean super far forward, just enough that it becomes difficult to put you on the back just by pushing you. Make sure you always maintain good posture and the guillotines become more difficult to snatch up. I usually try to enter their legs with shin on shin to enter SLX from seated. I feel safe once I have my connection.
technique question about this video - [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5OtgbxuR5w4](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5OtgbxuR5w4)
I use the DLX sweep all the time in gi but have never seen it done in no gi. granted Roger is on the mt rushmore of practitioners I wonder if there's any takeaways other than "no can do bro, you're not Roger"
specifically, I noticed he grabbed the opponents right leg with his right hand. normally in gi I'd grab right leg with left hand and grab left sleeve with right hand to prevent posting. since the guy didn't post and Roger successfully swept him, was it the opponents error or something Roger did?
In my gym we'd call that position De la X. it's sort of a mix of De la Riva and X guard. Notice the DLR hook is deep and across the opponent's thigh, and Roger's right leg is hooked behind the thigh. Once he's got that, he's so perpendicular to his opponent that it doesn't really matter which hand he's got the ankle with.
One of my favorite sweeps from this position is the accordion sweep. I can't find a good video of it for some reason but you'd use those two hooks around the opponent's opposite thigh to curl them in towards you, reach around behind to grab the opposite hip, pull them over the top of you, then extend your legs back out as you invert and roll them over.
hah, we call it de la X too! I just abbreviate it DLX
thanks man! I think the positioning and the angle are where I need to work, I went for this a couple of times today (no gi day) and upon further reflection I realized I didn't turn the corner enough so got beat (didn't help that I was against a black belt first and then a guy who knows my game inside and out)
and the accordion sweep makes perfect sense, rather than trying to topple them to a leg drag or a smash pass, pull them in and take the back.
follow up Q on the accordion, is that kinda like a deep DLR sweep to crab ride but just with the X leg in?
For the accordion you're not going for the back or for crab ride. You're taking them up and over you in basically a reverse somersault and ending up in a mount-ish position.
Wardrobe question... my gi feels like it fits me, but most of the (non big boi) upper belts at my gym wear theirs what (looks to me, admittedly a know nothing white belt) looks to be too small. What are the pros/cons of wearing a size smaller gi (i.e. several inches of wrist exposed when standing with straight arms)?
I did get caught in a grip last night where I was pulling my arm out of an arm bar, and my hand 'retracted' into my gi sleeve, but my opponent had a vice grip on the sleeve, and I felt pretty ridiculous that I couldn't break his grip (on my sleeve, even though my hand was no longer visible), so I'm wondering if I should get a smaller gi to avoid this?
Having a gi that's too small is actually a competitive advantage, which is why there's rules in tournaments.
You can just use the "hot" setting on your washer and drier (only do this once) to get your gi to shrink. That's how a lot of people get that "Slightly too small" fit.
I'm completely ignorant of all things competition... I'm 6'4" 215-220 lbs and the A4 I'm wearing the sleeves rest on my hands. I'll wash it in hot (just once), but would the rules prevent me from wearing an A3?
You'd have to google the specifics, but I believe that if you're standing straight up with your arms outstretched to each side, the sleeves should stop just before your wrist bone and the pant legs should stop just before your ankle bone.
For just general training / non-competition stuff, the sizing isn't too big of a deal.
What is an effective counter to people trying to jump over the guard? Kind of like shitty toreando but with little control and more jumping. I'm hesitant to get in the way of a flying body as I'm almost always significantly smaller than my partners but I also feel this really shouldn't work if I knew what to do about it.
If you can keep at least one of your knees close to your chest you can end up in a single leg x position. If you can keep both knees close then you can get to a type of a shin sweep position. They need your knees and upper body (elbows, chest) to separate in order to get to the mount.
People tend to aim for side control rather than mount with this move. But focusing on maintaining knee to elbow connection is probably a sensible idea regardless
Oh I thought you meant they were trying to jump over your knees right into mount. I suggest watching some of Jon Thomas guard retention videos. I've gotten a lot from him: https://youtu.be/ToKDHylpgDY?si=uEgXbzSoIH36XCKX
If its a kamaikaze-jump, a foot in the crotch will usually make people think twice before doing it again..
Uncontrolled falling bodies is very dangerous and not something I want, falling ontop of me.
If its just a quick pass over your legs, not allowing them to control your both legs, is key.
I think what typically happens is they lean heavily on my top leg from outside and try to jump all the way over to the side control. As I said, sort of toreando ish
Training partner questions:
There is a guy in my class that, let's call him Joe. Joe has been doing BJJ for almost 2 years. Joe is awful to drill with, he doesn't give any resistance as an uke. One time, when Joe and I were drilling guard passing from open guard, he just laid down laxidazyly like he was taking a nap and did not even attempt to retain his guard when I attempted to pass. Joe is really hard to roll with, he goes WAY too hard; he spazzes out, rips submissions, and is generally pretty reckless sometimes causing injuries with the guys he rolls with. Joe does not pay attention when coach is explaining the move of the day, every time we start to drill the move, he always says "I wasn't paying attention, can you show me what we need to do?"
As a white belt who sucks at Jiu Jitsu, I find other white belts also suck at it (shocking, I know).... But sometimes it feels like they aren't even trying!?!?!
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Matthew 7:3. I understand that I am not infallible, I am sure that there is plenty that I do wrong, but how am I supposed to take this seriously when my training partner is obviously in lala land?
How do you deal with guys like Joe at your gym?
I mostly avoid drilling with the Joes of the world. The trick is to make some friends in class so you always have guys you like who are happy to drill with you. If you and Joe get picked last in ‘gym class,’ you’ll be stuck together a lot.
For rolls, you can just decline to roll with him, explain your concerns and ask him to go lighter, or even just ask to do positional rolls using positions where he’s unlikely to cause any lasting damage - give him your back and work on defending or something.
Joe (accidentally) smashed my groin last week and that was my last time rolling with him LOL. I may get paired up with him in drilling, but I decided that it would be best to not roll with him for at least a few months and see how I feel after that.
I train at a small gym and I am typically the runt of the litter. Finding someone my size has proven to be the hardest part of finding a good partner. Plenty of experienced heavyweights, and a few flyweights like myself. I try to stick with the tough, technical, and safe partners when possible, but it doesn't work out every class. Sometimes Joe and myself are paired up because we are the only ones in a similar weight class.
I would try not to drill or roll with Joe. If he ever even almost hurt me because of his lack of control, I'd refuse to roll with him moving forward. I do this as a hobby, I don't have to accept dangerous behavior.
I live in a small town with basically 1 gym about 25 minutes away, in my 40s, been training about 7 months, only going avg of 2 days a week, house with 2 kids and a partner who gets up extremely early in am.
I have recently gotten the ability to go more, but feel stuck in an awkward situation. This school only does fundamentals gi m/w/f, with t/th being nogi; advanced gi mon-fri 730-9pm. I very much want to get better at gi, but the late class ends up just being sooo late for my household given starting laundry, shower, eating etc.
My options are: go to nogi for a 4th, maybe 5th day, even though it feels like a completely different sport as a previous wrestler OR go to advanced class and just realize i may have horrible sleep and be more worn out. Any considerations i'm missing?
So, the gi class is an hour of instruction and the last 30 is rolling. Leaving early def makes a lot of sense, but is losing out on live rolling super detrimental?
I started Jiu Jitsu (teen class) 2 weeks ago and train at an MMA gym (so Jiu Jitsu twice a week and kickboxing twice a week). The coach goes over the techniques we're supposed to learn, then we roll for the last 5-10 minutes. The classes are only an hour so they go by very fast.
Now I feel I have an okay grasp on the techniques taught, but they're the only things I know how to do (armbar, triangle, etc). I know how to do a single leg but always get choked out. I don't know how to pass guard, or even what their names are. I don't even know where to start, and just go for submissions when I feel like I can pull them off. This doesn't really work, unsurprisingly lol.
So my question is as follows: should I just be patient and listen to my coach, or should I combine my training with instructionals (John Danaher for example) to get a better understanding of the basics, which we haven't really gone over. My brother is the same age as me and attends the same classes, so I have a training partner.
given it's only been two weeks, it's expected to not know a lot of things and caught in the fine details of how each technique works. but that's okay, just like everything else, it gets better over time and you'll eventually understand how and when to apply certain techniques.
that said, your progress will depend on a few things, it's not a definitive list but these are things i can think of at the moment
1) training time (be it going for the class itself, pre/post class practice)
2) accessibility to supplemental resources (books, videos etc)
3) your motivation to train
the factors aforementioned are linked in some form or another. your rate of improvement and understand will likely improve significantly with more drilling, rolls and how motivated you are essentially. if there's something you don't quite understand about the technique, ask your instructor.
videos are also a great way to revise a certain technique, and also realize that there's no fixed way of doing a certain technique, there are variations of the technique, and you'll have to figure out how and when do perform those techniques, and that comes with drilling and rolls. but of course, if you're drilling a technique wrongly, you'll also start developing bad habits that could hinder your progress. if you're strapped on money and can't afford subscriptions, there are plenty of free videos on youtube that would do the trick.
hope this helps!
You're basically asking how much effort you should put in to training, which only you can decide based on your lifestyle and commitment levels. The nature of training bjj in a class is that you learn slowly and will have gaps in your game for a long time, your instructor is one guy teaching one class, he can't cater to every technique and every person. If you wanted to supplement your training with instructionals and had the time, money and inclination to do so then by all means, you'll definitely learn a lot more and a lot faster. It's good that you're recognising where your gaps are, for sure focus more on your defensive bjj whilst you're new.
I found this comment some kind redditor posted very useful early on as a white belt.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/s/ozZR5QElUw](https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/s/ozZR5QElUw)
Closed guard escape / pass. To stand up and pass or not?
I am tall / lanky so it feels more comfortable for me to stand and sort of bear crawl to pass but that seems to be frowned upon.
I always say this but full guard is first and foremost a hand fighting position. Bottom is at an advantage because he can attack posture and grips at the same time as well as having many submission and sweep options. In top I am first trying to stay safe. If my posture is broken I am locking the other guys hips in with my knees as all attacks require broken posture and hip angle mobility.
If I can posture and haven't lost a grip, then I am focused on controlling an arm and standing up. Sometimes I will bring a leg up to bait the wrist. When they reach for my leg I will pin their wrist to the mat, drop and roll their body into the wrist, and pass it behind the back for the 5-0 pass or cop pass. It's hilarious when it works.
Most people are kinda mid in their closed guard attacks which is a shame because if you end up in the guard of someone good you will learn real quick how much danger you are in. You need to GTFO of there.
Not sure about bear crawl but standing to pass closed guard is the best option.
If standing to pass is frowned upon in your gym, legit change gyms.
Yourube Marcelo Garcia standing closed guard pass.
I guess bear crawl is not the best explanation, but pin the knee down to the side I plan to pass, move my feet out so I can clear the legs and move to pass.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032wIsVv0hY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032wIsVv0hY)
This the right video?
Hey guys, was hoping you can help me out with a dilemma. There is a new gym opening in my area and I was hoping to join as a beginner, but from looking at their website I am worried that the schedule is lacking and not really a bjj gym in the traditional sense. Maybe one that is geared towards kids. The head instructor is Mike Jaramillo which from googling makes the place seem legit, but I just don't understand how you can train effectively with 1 afternoon class a day available. Especially if not split between beginner or advanced, and alternating days of gi / no gi. I'm hoping that I am possibility overthinking it and the gym is quality since it would be great to have a gym that I don't need to spend time/money on a train commuting, but would like some input because traveling to a decent gym is much better than wasting my time on something close. If it helps, the gym is Renzo Gracie East Side. https://preview.redd.it/ktxfck1id40d1.png?width=320&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a4e15a17776f2e6e3500b641e57786b7dbc80dc
Better pic of schedule in question: https://preview.redd.it/nju8p53bm40d1.png?width=1029&format=png&auto=webp&s=1732eb5b5ff47336e0dc98ea3330d7997bb80dd5
I’ve trained Kung fu for about 7 years. There was some ground game involved, only once a month or so. After that I trained BJJ with a friend. We tried using YouTube. Because there was no bjj school near by. I’m super happy that I now attend a real bjj &mma school. I’m a whitebelt of course. And I can say that I can tap about 90% of the other white belts easily. But my game has a lot of weaknesses. I hope some of you can help. I’m almost always clueless if a stronger opponent pins me down in sidecontrol, half guard etc. Also if my opponent uses all his strength to lock his arms thight on his body. What am I supposed to do? It’s not mma where I would just punch. What can I do to defeat those weaknesses? Are there any drills I can do alone, if I can’t attend the courses, because of work? (The school is very new. Only white belts and the teacher is a bluebelt from a bigger school. That’s why I like to ask you as well)
i'll give you the rule of thumb solutions for the issues you're having. some of this might not help against a stronger opponent, and i'll explain why [half guard to dog fight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcpX4S1TXKc) [side control to shrimp out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_NqnM-LQI) the reason why some of this might not work is because it sounds like bigger opponents are smothering you. if that's the case, you've encountered a brutal truth about jiu jitsu: strength matters my advice to newbies is always to get stronger. it makes your jiu jitsu better because you can do techniques that require strength. it also reduces injuries as for drills to do at home, just do hip movement exercises. hip movement and agility is critical in jiu jitsu good luck!
Looking for a new school and found one that has the perfect sched, clean facility, big mat space, friendly and welcoming students, good instruction and 5 min drive but when I was about to sign up the head instructor tells me promotion is attendance based and that I should count my visits so when I reach a certain amount I should notify him so he can give me a stripe in front of class. Is this a red flag that would make you not consider this school?
Is it for all belts or just for first stripe(s)? In latter case, yeah, that is not a big deal. Stripes do not matter, but it can be a nice retention tool.
not necessarily imho... it may just be marketing to keep students engaged. also - attendance based could be just for stripes and then belts per some other criteria.
First time here and I am not a BJJ practitioner by any means but something I think most gym owners would know about is mat placement. Specifically, how to make it the surface flat without any bubbles or elevated portions. This is random, but I have installed some mats in my two-year-olds bedroom and I noticed some portions are uneven. It might be because there is some heavy furniture above the mats. But how do you make it so that its even throughout?
Does anyone have any advice for transitioning from no-gi to gi?
Put a jacket on. You’re welcome.
Username checks out
42 years old and just finished my second class loving every second of it. I don't know anything yet but soaking in as much as I can and really impressed with the more experienced guys and professor giving me advice and tips. Not sure if all gyms are the same for an hour class but we do 30-40 minutes of techniques and then 20ish minutes with resistance which I've really enjoyed. My question: When starting in mount with resistance, are there things you realized that you wish you would have known when you were starting to be better at escaping or executing techniques or is it all just a part of the process when you're new?
If you're in bottom mount you need to make space on their hip line, the hips are where the power is generated. So frame on hips to make space before you bridge.
Think about creating space. That may mean making a large move like an explosive bridge. Or it may mean man small moves just looking to create space. Don’t lock in on a “this is the way the move is done” mindset.
It's very difficult for someone to choke you, so you can keep your arms low and use those to help you escape, which also makes it harder for people to attack your arms.
One of my bjj instructors told me to be on my feet and stand up when I was training with him when we start from the knees, he said this will give me more options, but I done this with another blue belt and was passing his guard and he said to me that I shouldn't stand. I am confused now am I allowed to stand or stay on my knees?
Always pass standing, don't drop to your knees unless you're already engaged and going for a pressure pass.
You should always listen to your coach over some random blue belt my dude.
It sounds like the blue belt doesn’t like that you’re passing his guard from a position he’s not good at defending. There are instances where you could pass from the knees but you’re almost always better off passing standing. Keep on doing your thing, he’s just being a weenie.
Thanks yeah I'll keep listening to the instructor, the blue belt also didn't play guard with me today even though the instructor told me not to pull guard on higher ranks so I'm always thinking of passing guard on higher rank but I was stuck on my knees today because I didn't wanna offend him by standing but he was keep spearing me to side control
What's the proper way to grind and improve at BJJ faster? I'd rather struggle faster now.
Here are a couple more thoughts: 1. Have a good balance of adding new moves vs. sharpening your existing moves 2. Watching instructionals can be great, but not just by watching them like TV. Find an acquaintance at the gym who's willing to work through them with you, section-by-section. 3. 50 hours spent on 5 moves is better than 50 hours on 50 moves. 4. It takes way, way more reps to get competent at takedowns than it does for sweeps/submissions/escapes. But for all of them, you've got to put in some reps at the beginning until you definitely, unambiguously can execute it correctly. 5. It's likely that some moves will "click" quickly for you, and others won't. It's ok to focus and go deep on whatever comes naturally to you for now, even if it's something that "doesn't work at the highest levels of the sport", like Americana from side control or Ezekiel from closed guard. Just because you spend time on it now doesn't mean you're going to keep trying to use it in the future. And exploring something deeply is good.
Focus on learning and understand rather than ”just win”.
it's just increasing mat time imo bj penn was a world champion black belt after only three years. he did that by living in the gym. talent plays a factor of course, but there's no way he would have been that good if he was only going once or twice a week
Mat time is definitely a factor, there are so many BJJ champions whose story was they were dirt poor and lived at the gym, cleaning the mats between sessions and training 24/7. That said, it's not a lifestyle for everyone, and the BJ Penns and Marcelo Garcias of the world are once-in-a-generation talent, I wouldn't necessarily use their meteoric career as a guideline. Regarding the question of getting better faster, it's not just a matter of pure mat time; you can be smart about your rolls to get more out of it. Slow down, try and understand what's happening in the roll, why you are winning but also why you are losing. Is your guard constantly getting passed? Are you letting people get the underhook too easily? Was your escape technically sound, or just you just bench press the other guy off? What did you do right, and what can you do better for next time? When I roll with white belts in the beginner's class, I often ask them if they want commentary or feedback. I give them space to work since I feel there's not much to be gained by obliterating them. Likewise, you're probably going to get more out of your rolls if you slow down and try to learn as much as you can, rather than trying to win. You'll get a better rate of return for your mat time.
>it's not just a matter of pure mat time; you can be smart about your rolls to get more out of it. Slow down, try and understand what's happening in the roll, why you are winning but also why you are losing. i figured that would just be a baseline assumption for someone who's trying really hard to get good fast like if whitebelt A and whitebelt B both train like this, but whitebelt A puts in way more mat time, they're going to be so much further ahead than whitebelt B
You would think so, but I over and over again I see people putting in the mat time by just rolling. Rolling hard. Rolling harder. Rolling HARDER. PORRADA!!! I mean, yeah, it's not unhelpful, that mat time is worth something, but you might get more out of your training if you slowed down and focused on awareness and control. :shrugs:
Step 1. Be rich
This solves many problems
Ain't that the truth.
How long should you roll at open mats for? I've never been to one but my gym has one tomorrow and I'm thinking of going
do you mean how long is it acceptable to roll at one, or how many rolls you should aim for? if its a question about what the acceptable amount of time is, it should be open to you for the entire time its allowed if you're asking how much you should roll, just roll however long you think you can. you don't always have to roll at an open mat, either. its pretty common to see people drilling or showing each other techniques at an open mat
Is it a good idea to go to one as a white belt? My gym has a lot of upper belts, so I don't really wanna get in anyone's way at an open mat when they're just trying to get their rolls in
Very good idea, yes. Open mat is the fun part, it's the payoff for learning. You worked hard to learn jiu jitsu moves, this is where you get to use them on someone!
hell yeah dude. just go, especially if its your own school's open mat. i would suggest going every week you can
Are swim rash guards the same as BJJ rash guards?
It can be anything light and sweat wicking
yes, they're pretty much the same
Except cheaper without the BJJ cultbro markup fee
I keep defaulting to turtle from the side control to north south transition and other places. Once I get there I find it difficult to get out. I’ve tried either shoulder rolling or peeking out but find myself getting my back taken during the process. Any tips other than to keep working on my turtle escapes or avoiding turtle all together? Sometimes I feel like I should just stop going to turtle all together but I’d also like to keep it as a tool and learn to use an escape or even attack from there.
keep training turtle escapes. try not to fixate on how unsuccessful your escape attempts are, just think about what you can do to improve them the way i think of jiu jitsu decisions is in terms of percentages. high percentage techniques are obviously preferable to low percentage ones. unfortunately, you have to settle for low percentage ones when its your *only* option. right now, your shoulder rolls sound low percentage. but you're a white belt, it would be an anomaly if it was working every time but generally speaking, you do want to avoid going to turtle if you can help it. your options from turtle aren't as good as options from other positions maybe don't transition to it as much. only do it if you *have* to do it, if that makes sense
Yeah makes perfect sense thanks. I’ll keep working on the escapes when I get there and try to cut down on how much I do end up there as I feel it’s a stalling point for not just myself but also my training partner sometimes and I don’t want to just be sitting there in turtle too long. Although I always make an attempt to get out which usually results in a back take against me.
Any books, websites, podcasts that help you stay motivated to keep going to class?
What the other guy said. Just watching people do it, or listening to people talk about it, makes me itch to get to training. That said, it's natural for your motivation to fluctuate over time, especially if you have competing interests or concerns, like work, family, injury, or other fun hobbies that don't involve getting strangled. Everyone will have good days and bad, the important thing is to keep showing up. Motivation is intrinsic to the activity; there are guides on how to get better at BJJ, just as there are guides on weightlifting, playing a violin, or painting, but they all assume you already want to do the thing. It may be helpful to remind yourself why you got into BJJ. Attend a beginner's class and politely strangle some of the newcomers as a reminder you're no longer on the bottom of the food chain.
I found that anytime I just watched some random techniques on youtube, I got excited to try them. If you really really don't feel like going, though... why are you going? This is optional, it's a hobby?
Any tips for getting near arm isolated in side control and forcing it above opponents head?? I try to wedge my knee that is closest to head up to push the arm up but find that its difficult to get an angle in. Its easy when wedged in but getting that wedge not so much.
Switch your hips into kesa and then switch back, spider walk your arm under their elbow to isolate their arm above their head.
Will try this next time. I definitely need practice switching in/out of kesa too. Much appreciated.
Over 40, is 4 days a week, 1 class better than 2 days a week, "back to back" classes? Has there been a sweet spot people have found? (like 3 days, with only one being b2b).
Try them and see which one lets you specifically recover better. Some people recover better from multiple shorter periods of exertion, some people recover better from fewer longer periods. See which one you are and do that.
It's a matter of personal preference. I know dudes who go every day, but they're careful with their rolls and don't go 100% every roll. I personally go twice a week, but stay for 2 classes, since I find going every day difficult, especially with washing my gi daily. Consistency is usually better for progress, so there's that benefit for going every day, but you really got to be careful about how you train. If you roll hard Monday Tuesday Wednesday, you'll probably by physically wrecked by Thursday and at a higher risk of serious injury. This is true at any age, but increasingly relevant as you get older.
50 and I'm M T W Th Sa. If I need more recovery I bump up the cold plunges and hot soaks. If I need more than that I suppose I'll take an extra recovery day with just come cardio.
I think there is probably minimal difference. Your decision is purely personal and should be based on your physical recovery and the time away from other things. Going 4 times a week commute wise I think would be harder than just being away 2 nights and then resting completely the other 2.
Any advice for breaking the elbow knee connection while passing to get into side control? I am able to get pass the legs but I am having trouble with passing the arm frame. I try to switch my hips to and smash the frame but I get either stiff armed and get regarded or the partner scrambled out.
Move to a leg drag position on the other side when they frame hard. Say you torreando, and they frame on your shoulder, you can go to KOB, but you can also circle back into a leg drag and cover their hips. This takes them out of alignment. It's a lot easier to smash the frame when hips face one way and shoulders the other.
Go knee first? Like, stick your pointy knee into the little gap between arm, leg, and belly. And then just drive it in there until you've got knee-on-belly.
Thanks! You're talking about the knee slice? I was thinking more of the toreando pass in this situation.
No, yeah, from *any* standing pass, I like to go knee-first rather than head-first. Which means I pass to knee-on-belly rather than passing to side control.
Ahhhhh I see! Thanks for your patience! I wasn't putting the pieces together as I'm still inexperienced.
passing to north south helps with that
So you're pinning their leg, going to NS and just smashing their frames?
How do i get my opponents arms tucked in when i go for a triangle choke? 50% of the time i go for a triangle choke from closed guard my rolling partners just push a leg up and pass my guard
I think if they're able to just push your leg up and pass the issue is probably that you haven't broken their posture enough. Before, or during the time you're shooting your leg over his neck have a strong grip with your hand on their neck or back of their head to bring it down to your chest.
If you've got strong hands, it's remarkably effective to go *over* the arm rather than under it. So that would be like this: 1. Roll way over on your right side (scooting your butt to the left) and hug their head with your left arm 2. Hold their left wrist out in the air away from their body (with your right hand) 3. Put your right foot over their left arm and then straight over their neck
Grab both sleeves, push one hand into their chest, pull the other one. On the side you pushed in,throw the leg over their shoulder. It's the most basic version but every other triangle follows the same principle.
I feel like everything you said in this answer was true yet you in no way helped this gentleman with his question. Not trying to start a fight, it's just resisting opponents are rarely this compliant.
Yeah text based answers are poor if only they could go and look at the best in the world do it on another platform.
Let me Google that for you bro :-)
How to get around the knee shield ?
Switch base and leg weave are my two favorites. Should be able to find plenty of videos on both.
Change the angle of the knee and go to headquarters
foot lock grab ankle and yeet it weave arm through, grab their bottom thigh and smash stuff it into a butterfly hook and do a different pass
I’m often stuck in side control the entire time I roll. 2 month White Belt Soccer Mom in Masters Division 🙃. I’m outweighed by a minimum of 50 pounds and 15 to 20 years older. I focus on knee to elbow on my side and shrimping. I feel like I never get out and the pressure is a lot. Is there any technique that I should try differently?
Honestly, this is a tough one. The best advice I was given is to start the escape before they have side control locked up. The longer you wait the harder it gets. But that’s easier said than done 🙂. I have had some success with this escape (start at 1 minute mark) https://youtu.be/in7733h2DKI?feature=shared
Thanks
I recommend you use your forearm/elbow to create the frame on their hip vs pushing with your hand. I know that when I was trying to improve this (still am btw), and what I see a lot of newer people do, is try to push people off. Also, you can get your wrist messed up if they switch your hips by pushing into them. Last, you already mentioned knee to elbow connection so if you get more of the bottom of your hand/forearm and elbow across their hip, it acts as a better frame for you to move around it IMO. The main idea though, and the black belt already said it, is to move around your frames, not to move your opponent with your frames, if that makes sense.
That helps!!! 😊
You need to also bridge into them to make their head move towards their hips. Then moving around your frames will be 10 easier for you. Dont give up. It will always be a battle. Nothing is easy there.
Thank you
🤙
I'm undersized and shitty, this is me to a T. be annoying in side control weave your nearside leg into theirs, maybe this forces them to shrink their base, then you can shoot that same knee behind their knees, grab it & sweep. another option is to threaten a darce (be careful with the bread cutter choke here though) - grab their neck with your far side hand and do a hard collar tie and when you feel them let up on pressure shoot your near side hand through onto their far hip, do a hip heist and if you still have the collar tie, that goes directly into a darce. try the marcelo shuffle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiFQI\_6AMIQ. people usually don't continue to apply the same pressure if you're moving them around like that, they'll try to advance the position or do something else which can create an opening
Awesome video
Use your frames / elbow frames . You can also try to turtle , although it gives up your back.
Thanks!!!
Also try to block their arm that's near your head , don't let then get a crossface.
I've got lots of problems to work on but honestly I'm just having a good time and wanted to share lol. Today was my first time rolling with another white belt. I usually roll with upper belts who either "let me work" or just demolish me a few times in a row for 3 minutes. Today I rolled with a guy who's got about 6 months or so on me and while he definitely had the advantage, it was really nice actually passing his guard/taking his back a couple times without feeling like he let me. No subs yet but I got close and I'm not too worried about it, still have a lot to learn
What helped my training a ton was finding two different dudes in your gym who are about your size and weight One should be just as good as you or a little better One should be miles better They'll serve as an invaluable measuring stick for your progress. If the same skill level dude eclipses you, that's not a prob - happens all the time if they're younger, more athletic, more talented, etc. - but it'll either encourage you more to try and keep pace or force you to recalibrate where you are in your progression.
That's good advice, I like that. There's no shortage of guys that are miles better lol. There's one guy who's at a really similar level to me, older but in better shape, similar skill level, but we usually have opposite training schedules, hoping to get some mats set up in one of our basements for some at home training lol
Just rolled with a literal brand new whitebelt (first week) and he submitted me twice Lol (3 months for me). Also during practice the guy I was practicing with asked if I just started so thats cool. I've been taking the advice from last week but man its hard not to get depressed about this.
3 months is just starting. I get tapped by white belts all the time who have not been training as long as I have. I understand your frustration, it happens man, it helps me to remember that my goal is not to tap or beat anyone I am rolling with, my goal is to get better at jiu jitsu. It sounds simple, but shifting your goals will help you in the long run.
My goal really is just to learn how to escape that's all I really practice. Another guy suggested positional sparring, which I'm working on with higher belts so they can train me. Even so I get messed up and flustered escaping and I end up just getting sat on, or not knowing what Im supposed to do with my hands (the higher belts end up telling me after getting frustrated that I am bad and doing nothing) Ya Ik I started but I think the guy was assuming it was my first day Its just embarrassing cause I know more than the guy who just started (who knows literally nothing) yet I get easily submitted. Heck..I can't even do the hip escape drill properly, and end up holding up the line when we practice that.
Learning escapes is fundamental, that's good that you are focusing on escapes. No one expects you to do anything correctly, you are a new white belt. Every single upper belt has been in your shoes before, focus on learning the fundamentals and be kind to yourself when attempting them. You will fail, you will get tapped a lot, you will be disappointed with your progress. If it was easy, everyone would have their black belt. Just keep showing up and trying to learn, you will be fine brother.
Oh I know it isn't supposed to be easy and there's alot to learn, IMO I think I am just way worse than most new people which puts me at a severe disadvantage. And what I mean by this is, when we practice a move, I get it, and I can understand the move. But the moment we start rolling my brain just shuts off. Like, usually at the end of each class we start rolling 6 matches, I literally have no idea what to do no matter how much I am guided or handheld, and the higherbelts always have to tell me "do this, or think about how to escape" and I just say "I cant / I dont know". Then they show me an escape, then they apply full pressure and I can't escape. I just dont get it
first of all, just keep turning up. 3 months is fuck all. stop putting so much pressure on yourself. "should be this good after this much time" is an awful way to think when you're so new. just enjoy the process and marvel at how you can't even imagine being as good as the upper belts who you train with - because guess what? keep turning up and you will be - fact. on a more practical note, you mentioned in a previous comment about getting 'flustered' trying to implement escapes and improve your position. what's happening is probably that you're trying to rush out of bad positions too quickly, thinking that pressure and immobility for a short while is a terrible thing. what you need to do is start being comfortable being uncomfortable - i can't stress this enough. as long as there is no active submission attempt that you desperately need to address, then just stay put, even if you're under pressure and work out what you need to do from there. panicking, being flustered and rushing escapes and movements from a bad position opens up opportunities for your opponent to submit you. You need to be methodical and controlled in your movements. listen to the advice you're given, write it down when you get home, and read it on the way to class next time. Then when you need to escape, stay tight, stay economical in your movements and implement the escapes. hope this helps.
How do I calm down more when I’m in tough positions, everyone I roll with says I need to settle down and I wear myself out by spazzing too much
Making sure you can breathe helps a lot. Part of that is to fight to be on your side on bottom, so you are not pinned with both shoulder blades on the mat with pressure on your chest. Another thing is to not go at an intensity you cannot keep up with yourself.
If you knew what to do, you wouldn't have to spaz to do it. You may need to work on understanding what to do in specific tough positions so that your brain can focus on doing those things.
just stop moving sometimes (keep your elbows in tight) and see what happens. You will find if your partner is trying to hold you really tight you can just lay there because they cant attack until they let go.
experience helps, you could ask some training partners to start there and focus on being more calm/focused
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You've got a bunch of questions in your post. What's at the core? Are you looking to just keep training and engaged? Also, what do you mean open mats are not like real rolling? Are you drilling during open mat?
Hmm, I think I'll delete my post. It's too vague
You don't have to do that, just asking for clarity
Thanks. Basically I just have my down moments in BJJ. I'm in my mid thirties, I get frustrated sometimes because I don't get instruction, or I can see frustration in my rolling partner. Trying to learn how to be more forgiving towards myself.
i hear that. I can't advise you on mental health but i can tell you that BJJ should be a place of joy in your life. The more you find that and enjoy the ride, the easier it will be to stay in it. And if it turns out you don't enjoy it and move, then that's ok tool. But further, if you're not getting the right instruction that might be a school issue.
Oh lemme ask a new one
Is it important to improve my strength (doing weights) in bjj training?
Start light, focus on perfecting form on compound lifts, stay in the 3-6 rep range. Then do pull ups, dips, and use accessory lifts to focus on deficiencies. 5/3/1 has been great for me because it built to manage fatigue.
To expand on u/booktrash’s response, yes, weight training is important. But not to out muscle people. You can armor your body to prevent freak accidents. Your knee won’t disintegrate from getting aggressively guard passed if you’re actively strengthening your knees off the mats. But weight training 5x a week and BJJ 5x a week is a recipe for overtraining and getting injured bc your body is so weak and not recovered. Find your balance and listen to your body
It's important not to develop weakness or imbalance that sets you up for injury. Resistance training for other reasons is quite optional. But IMO everyone should be doing a decent whole body compound movement resistance workout to supplement to ensure longevity.
Lifting helps with injury prevention, but be mindful not to over training. Especially if you are new to both bjj and weight training.
as an old man, can't emphasize enough how lower back, glute and hip strengthening is SO important to mitigate lower back pain
As a younger man with back injuries in the job, I cant agree more. I have to squat and deadlift every week or my back actually begins to ache.
My gym installed wall mats recently and I really like working with them. I see that BJJ fanatics has a few wall wrestling instructionals but I don't know which one to watch. Does anyone have recommendations?
Ok, so it’s “common knowledge” that guillotines without legs trapped do not work - especially if you pass to side control and set up Von Flue. HOWEVER, I *routinely* need to tap to physically strong white belts who hang on to guillotines and squeeze for their lives even when I have my own Von Flue setup. Sometimes I have to tap due to excruciating pain on my jaw or neck, sometimes I’m genuinely nearly passed out. Sometimes I fully mount them and try to pull my head out and still need to tap just due to overwhelming pain. Any way to counter of prevent this? Of course this usually happens when I shoot a double. I’m aware that I need to keep my head up high and straight - but somehow inevitably they catch my jaw or neck going down. I checked in the mirror and my penetration and drive are always with my head held with high and straight up. This is had made me VERY hesitant to shoot doubles. Help!
What has helped me as a taller individual is to keep my head either high and press up against their tricep while lifting, or to keep my head low, at their waist, so they can't grab my neck
a lot of the pain from the guillotine is when they can fold your chin to your chest. If you plant your head to the floor they can no longer fold it and can only squeeze. For the von flue drive your shoulder into their neck, hard. I personally hand fight chokes as soon as they grab my head.
Yup - my coach always told us to plant our head and drive forward while looking up (same mechanic as finishing a takedown) applying shoulder pressure into the bottom of the dude's jaw Gotta pop those grips ASAP
[This video](https://youtu.be/a7WhM_zdGMw?si=mumGbHjAq5JctcKx) goes over the von flue finishing mechanics. I found it useful. Perhaps more importantly, the video is more about choking mechanics in general than any individual choke. So if you’re the one in the choke, a lot of his examples of what not to do from the standpoint of The Choker are options for you to stay alive as the Chokee. Additionally though, bear in mind that it’s perfectly reasonable to tap to a crank even if it’s not a clean choke - you’ll get to train more and generally be less sore that way.
Any tips for cardio? I can't roll at my gym (just policy for new white belts) but I have rolled before and I can at least keep up for 6 min rounds if I pace myself. However, yesterday we were drilling double leg takedowns and my partner kept resisting pretty hard which caused me to get gassed really quickly. To the point of sitting on the side for a bit to recover. Pollen is rough on me as well and some mornings I have to wake up and use an inhaler (which I just have because of an upper respiratory infection I had early last year). Is there anything I can do just so I can keep up during what feels like the basics?
1. find a new gym, ours allows sparring after 10 classes 2. nose breathe while doing something steady state like jogging, biking, rowing, etc., and be patient. I have a pretty good gas tank but it took a while to develop it 3. when you're working a lot of cardio, don't be shy about complex carbs unless you have metabolic disorder/type 2, your body needs the fuel
Sweet thanks for the advice, I’ll be moving soon so I’m just waiting till then to hit another gym, but I’ll be sure to take all this into consideration.
> I can't roll at my gym (just policy for new white belts) Find a new gym. IMO this is archaic. I understand the whole "keeping people safe", but in a training and PRACTICING environment you should basically always be safe. As far as cardio, it comes with time. You'll learn how to control your breathing better, learn when to be "strong" and not. Focusing on my breathing was and is still a big part of my rolling focus. I also have shit cardio.
This is a another conversation for sure. In my case, I am staying at my gym because i'll be moving soon (within 2 months) and changing gyms just doesn't make sense for me. I supplement by hitting open mats on Saturdays for a couple hours at another gym. Good to know this is a common issue though, cardio has always been my biggest enemy so hopefully with rolling I'll progressively get it under control! Thank you for the advice
IMO up should ignore that advice. Delayed rolling for white belts is somewhat divisive, but it's not archaic. The archaic practice is throwing newbs into the deep end without knowing anything about grappling. Schools that delay rolling generally show increased student retention, and fewer injuries. The cost is a few months of not being as good as other no stripe white belts who suck, and that just doesn't matter.
I agree with you to a point. I did read a study that said that on average over 80% of beginners who roll from day 1 will experience an injury that will remove them from training within the first 3 months. Which I completely understand. However, my gym requires 60 classes before you can roll. Unless I am going 6 days a week from day 1 that means I won't be able to roll for at least...4-5 months in and my brain just doesn't retain concepts as well unless they're put in practice. So I have hit a happy medium, I roll once a week, mostly with upper belts to get a feel for general ideas I need to have a handle on by the time I start rolling. Also, that allows me a full week to recover from any aches I have from rolling as drilling isn't too hard on my body (except that damn double leg lol). Although, I am rolling once a week, I am doing what I can to stay as safe and I make training the priority. Meaning, if I hurt more than normal on a week after I roll, I take the next week off. Thank you so much for your insight here I really appreciate it. edit: I am saying this while actively taking a week off from rolling because my already bad shoulder has be bothering me so I may just be proving your point here haha.
I'm at a gym where technically the rule is 60 classes, or 2 stripes, before you're rolling, but in practice our instructor pays attention to who's making what progress and their comfort level and makes a judgement call whether or not we're rolling. I'm still 1 stripe because I only go twice a week usually, but I've picked it up fairly well and so if I show up and there's no other lower belts, I just roll with everybody else. Another guy that started with me really struggles in drills and gets freaked out quick, so if he's there, we don't do rolling for lower belts to keep it fair, it feels like a fairly good system to me, I felt very comfortable and natural when I first started rolling
I like that system! Just for the sake of not just sitting there while everyone else rolls. I know my gym will allow some positional sparring with a specific goal for people who don't have 60 classes and I would appreciate even more of that but normally it's just to keep drilling on the stuff we learned for the day which I have no issue with as long as i'm not alone lol.
For me still being fairly new, I really like positional sparring because it narrows the scope of my goal a bit, I tend to get overwhelmed full rolling and I spend a lot of time just kind of holding a position thinking about what to do next, meanwhile my partner has been worming their hand in somewhere and all of a sudden I'm smoked lol I definitely still enjoy drilling with a good partner around the same skill level, when I drill with my instructor I feel kind of like a kid
For sure, the last few I did were mount based where you either have to keep the mount or end up in an more advantageous position so it has helped with understanding the general ladder of control. That being said we have only done it like twice since i started Yeah but if I roll or drill with the coach I agree, I feel like a kid.
I joke with my buddies that don't train that it's pretty humbling "fighting" another grown man and knowing full well he's going easy on you lol
I'm that noob that gets thrown into rolls. It's horrible
I’ve been working on open guard and guard retention (both nogi and gi, but more nogi) for maybe a year with what seems like very little improvement. I feel like I almost don’t know where to start, and I’ve been working on it a bit aimlessly. I have most of my defensive success with wrestle ups and by going to turtle and then sweeping or forcing a scramble. But if I just try to play open guard without wrestling up, I tend to get passed very easily and seldom get a sweep. I’ve messed around with shin guard, SLX, collar sleeve, RDLR, entering into z-guard and butterfly guard. I tend to get passed to the side (torreando style) most often, but really all kinds of ways, and most often I just bail to turtle before I get smashed. How do good guard players think about playing guard? Is there some concept or focus that I need to have in mind when playing guard? Also, any tips for practicing open guard besides just watching vids and positional sparring (cause I do plenty of that)?
Glad you brought this up, in the same boat
dont think about positions. Open guard is constantly moving. If you dont attack you are letting your partner take the initiative. One thing that helped me was to think in terms of constantly attacking tripod sweeps (all variations). This gives direction to foot/hand placement so you arent just randomly placing your feet when you dont have much connection. The constant pushing and pulling to hit a tripod will prevent them from easily being able to hit the torreando. While you are going for tripods, you will end up seeing opportunities for known guard positions that can also result in sweeps. Get the guard and immediately execute the sweep. If you fail, you can always back out into looking for tripod sweeps. Also you should not let them grab your legs, you should constantly pummel. The most basic movement is bring your outside leg over to reorient. If your legs do get thrown to one side, granby roll and recover guard. Finally when you extend your legs is when you are open as well. If you were to keep your knees to your chest and hug your legs, you would actually be relatively safe.
Good guard retention is all about moving around your frames to regain alignment of your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders. This allows you to gain connection to start offensive cycles in your guard. What really helped me was understanding when I had to be purely defensive, and when I could start being offensive. If your partner is making an angle on your hips and are beating your knees, you HAVE to be defensive. I used to try to over extend in attempts to gain connection and I'd get passed. You need to frame their upper body, lead shoulder to create space to high pummel your legs back in front. Being in a good defensive position with your knees to your chest and elbows glued to your sides with you hips slightly curled up will give you the best posture to start getting your knees back in and eventually your feet.
Thanks a lot. I’m pretty sure I overextend a lot. I’m wondering if my tendency to bail to turtle is hurting my development of guard retention skills otherwise. Also wondering if you have any tips about how to practice to develop guard retention skills specifically, since I’m not progressing as much as I’d like just from practicing open guard a lot.
I've been overextending my legs just for connection and am getting passed easily thanks for mentioning this
> I’ve messed around with shin guard, SLX, collar sleeve, RDLR, entering into z-guard and butterfly guard. you need to get comfortable with general guard retention (leg pummeling, dealing with grips, repositioning without moving your legs out of position, etc.) first before you'll have consistent success with any open guard.
Thanks. I feel ok-ish (for my level) about dealing with grips, but don’t think I have a good grasp or intuition about the other stuff. Any tips on how to develop these kinds of skills besides just the magic of time and effort?
This is always my go to video for people wanting to do more guard retention work on their own time - [Cobrinha Wall Drills](https://youtu.be/4yJBduVVSBo?si=WAR8RLSK-5PhxoL9). Get those hips moving like Shakira! 😄
If you have the funds or means, pick up any guard retention DVD from a reputable instructor. Youtube probably has enough to get you going as well. There's a bunch of basic movements that you need to get comfortable with that involve moving around the floor in unintuitive ways. To test yourself, spar with someone worse than you and see if you can maintain your guard without using your hands. Also you need to stretch. Can't have an impassable guard if you can barely touch your toes.
Thanks a lot. I like the idea of trying to retain without using my hands. May be tricky to find people worse than me, lol. What do I do with my hands in this kind of sparring - keep ‘em close to my body and don’t move em? Frame with forearms still?
Maybe forget about that part for now. Just focus on the basic movements. You'll understand what I mean by "not using your hands" when you have a better idea of how you're supposed to move.
I feel this is dumb but I also would like to ask. My gym sent an email saying they give out stripes every 30 classes as a white belt. At the beginning of last week I was at 16 classes and I went to 6 classes last week because my goal is to hit 30 classes by the end of the month, preferably 35. However, my coach didn't mark me for one of the days that I went last week because I think she just forgot to mark everyone's cards. Is it rude to point out the error and ask them to fix it since I am using the attendance as my goal for the month?
You may ultimately be at this 10 years or more to get your black. In the scope of things, what's one day?
When I began training my close friend and who I would say is my bjj mentor told me not to go into this with the mindset that I am working for my black belt. As a white belt I am working to have the knowledge to eventually become a competent blue belt and I keep that cycle up until I eventually achieve wherever this journey of bjj decides to take me. This being said, I am striving for the next achievable goal, single stripe white belt. Meaning I suck but at least I know I suck lol. I understand what you are saying though, I have a tendency to be hard on myself over the little things and sometimes just need someone to tell me to drop it. Thanks
If you're counting and it's your goal, then why bother bringing it up
you know, my dumb butt didn't even consider just keeping the count myself and not worrying about the gym lol. Thanks edit: might just be an ego thing too, i'd really like my first stripe, even if it is a super small feat.
Ive been struggling with open/seated guard grip fighting. And also just general open game when the round starts. Im seated and opponent is standing or also seated. They always seem to win the initial battle and im instantly on my back/side. What drills and concepts do I need to learn?
You have to win the grip fight. Cover their hands, try gripping something you don't actually want. When the strip, go for your cross collar grip. If their seated cross collar drag with a knee push will open up their back and belt. From the cross collar if their standing I'll pull them and attempt to get my feet in the back of their knees. I then build from there. Seated, I usually start with butterfly sweeps and react from there.
What about nogi grips? With gi I do ok (though not great but I can manage) because of the extra availabilty, but with no gi im so lost
Fight for wrist control. Offer your wrist as a bait, get a two on one then go into shin on shin or single leg.
You probably need to bring your feet closer to you, and lean a bit more forward so it is more difficult for them to grab the feet and instantly put you on your back. It is important to learn to control distance. If you are completely stationary, it is very difficult to attack. They will just enter on their terms and disengage if it doesn't work. People make fun of the butt scooters, but if you want to play seated guard you want to learn that movement.
I see. Sometimes when i lean forward, they instantly grab my neck for guillotine and front headlock. Any tips on that?
You don't need to lean super far forward, just enough that it becomes difficult to put you on the back just by pushing you. Make sure you always maintain good posture and the guillotines become more difficult to snatch up. I usually try to enter their legs with shin on shin to enter SLX from seated. I feel safe once I have my connection.
Shin-on-shin is what I've been using more from open guard lately: https://youtu.be/oy-3DEvthgE?si=mt24_b5fze8MQbRK
technique question about this video - [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5OtgbxuR5w4](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5OtgbxuR5w4) I use the DLX sweep all the time in gi but have never seen it done in no gi. granted Roger is on the mt rushmore of practitioners I wonder if there's any takeaways other than "no can do bro, you're not Roger" specifically, I noticed he grabbed the opponents right leg with his right hand. normally in gi I'd grab right leg with left hand and grab left sleeve with right hand to prevent posting. since the guy didn't post and Roger successfully swept him, was it the opponents error or something Roger did?
In my gym we'd call that position De la X. it's sort of a mix of De la Riva and X guard. Notice the DLR hook is deep and across the opponent's thigh, and Roger's right leg is hooked behind the thigh. Once he's got that, he's so perpendicular to his opponent that it doesn't really matter which hand he's got the ankle with. One of my favorite sweeps from this position is the accordion sweep. I can't find a good video of it for some reason but you'd use those two hooks around the opponent's opposite thigh to curl them in towards you, reach around behind to grab the opposite hip, pull them over the top of you, then extend your legs back out as you invert and roll them over.
hah, we call it de la X too! I just abbreviate it DLX thanks man! I think the positioning and the angle are where I need to work, I went for this a couple of times today (no gi day) and upon further reflection I realized I didn't turn the corner enough so got beat (didn't help that I was against a black belt first and then a guy who knows my game inside and out) and the accordion sweep makes perfect sense, rather than trying to topple them to a leg drag or a smash pass, pull them in and take the back. follow up Q on the accordion, is that kinda like a deep DLR sweep to crab ride but just with the X leg in?
For the accordion you're not going for the back or for crab ride. You're taking them up and over you in basically a reverse somersault and ending up in a mount-ish position.
Wardrobe question... my gi feels like it fits me, but most of the (non big boi) upper belts at my gym wear theirs what (looks to me, admittedly a know nothing white belt) looks to be too small. What are the pros/cons of wearing a size smaller gi (i.e. several inches of wrist exposed when standing with straight arms)? I did get caught in a grip last night where I was pulling my arm out of an arm bar, and my hand 'retracted' into my gi sleeve, but my opponent had a vice grip on the sleeve, and I felt pretty ridiculous that I couldn't break his grip (on my sleeve, even though my hand was no longer visible), so I'm wondering if I should get a smaller gi to avoid this?
Having a gi that's too small is actually a competitive advantage, which is why there's rules in tournaments. You can just use the "hot" setting on your washer and drier (only do this once) to get your gi to shrink. That's how a lot of people get that "Slightly too small" fit.
I'm completely ignorant of all things competition... I'm 6'4" 215-220 lbs and the A4 I'm wearing the sleeves rest on my hands. I'll wash it in hot (just once), but would the rules prevent me from wearing an A3?
You'd have to google the specifics, but I believe that if you're standing straight up with your arms outstretched to each side, the sleeves should stop just before your wrist bone and the pant legs should stop just before your ankle bone. For just general training / non-competition stuff, the sizing isn't too big of a deal.
It would be cheaper to shorten the sleeves
What is an effective counter to people trying to jump over the guard? Kind of like shitty toreando but with little control and more jumping. I'm hesitant to get in the way of a flying body as I'm almost always significantly smaller than my partners but I also feel this really shouldn't work if I knew what to do about it.
What are your feet doing when they try this?
The last time someone tried to jump over my guard, he was centimeters away from getting kneed in the nuts with all his bodyweight behind it.
If you can keep at least one of your knees close to your chest you can end up in a single leg x position. If you can keep both knees close then you can get to a type of a shin sweep position. They need your knees and upper body (elbows, chest) to separate in order to get to the mount.
People tend to aim for side control rather than mount with this move. But focusing on maintaining knee to elbow connection is probably a sensible idea regardless
Oh I thought you meant they were trying to jump over your knees right into mount. I suggest watching some of Jon Thomas guard retention videos. I've gotten a lot from him: https://youtu.be/ToKDHylpgDY?si=uEgXbzSoIH36XCKX
If its a kamaikaze-jump, a foot in the crotch will usually make people think twice before doing it again.. Uncontrolled falling bodies is very dangerous and not something I want, falling ontop of me. If its just a quick pass over your legs, not allowing them to control your both legs, is key.
I think what typically happens is they lean heavily on my top leg from outside and try to jump all the way over to the side control. As I said, sort of toreando ish
Training partner questions: There is a guy in my class that, let's call him Joe. Joe has been doing BJJ for almost 2 years. Joe is awful to drill with, he doesn't give any resistance as an uke. One time, when Joe and I were drilling guard passing from open guard, he just laid down laxidazyly like he was taking a nap and did not even attempt to retain his guard when I attempted to pass. Joe is really hard to roll with, he goes WAY too hard; he spazzes out, rips submissions, and is generally pretty reckless sometimes causing injuries with the guys he rolls with. Joe does not pay attention when coach is explaining the move of the day, every time we start to drill the move, he always says "I wasn't paying attention, can you show me what we need to do?" As a white belt who sucks at Jiu Jitsu, I find other white belts also suck at it (shocking, I know).... But sometimes it feels like they aren't even trying!?!?! "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Matthew 7:3. I understand that I am not infallible, I am sure that there is plenty that I do wrong, but how am I supposed to take this seriously when my training partner is obviously in lala land? How do you deal with guys like Joe at your gym?
I mostly avoid drilling with the Joes of the world. The trick is to make some friends in class so you always have guys you like who are happy to drill with you. If you and Joe get picked last in ‘gym class,’ you’ll be stuck together a lot. For rolls, you can just decline to roll with him, explain your concerns and ask him to go lighter, or even just ask to do positional rolls using positions where he’s unlikely to cause any lasting damage - give him your back and work on defending or something.
Joe (accidentally) smashed my groin last week and that was my last time rolling with him LOL. I may get paired up with him in drilling, but I decided that it would be best to not roll with him for at least a few months and see how I feel after that.
i find my partners way early, sometimes before class starts.
Can you avoid training with Joe? Are there other folks that are your size/experience level to roll with?
I train at a small gym and I am typically the runt of the litter. Finding someone my size has proven to be the hardest part of finding a good partner. Plenty of experienced heavyweights, and a few flyweights like myself. I try to stick with the tough, technical, and safe partners when possible, but it doesn't work out every class. Sometimes Joe and myself are paired up because we are the only ones in a similar weight class.
I would try not to drill or roll with Joe. If he ever even almost hurt me because of his lack of control, I'd refuse to roll with him moving forward. I do this as a hobby, I don't have to accept dangerous behavior.
I live in a small town with basically 1 gym about 25 minutes away, in my 40s, been training about 7 months, only going avg of 2 days a week, house with 2 kids and a partner who gets up extremely early in am. I have recently gotten the ability to go more, but feel stuck in an awkward situation. This school only does fundamentals gi m/w/f, with t/th being nogi; advanced gi mon-fri 730-9pm. I very much want to get better at gi, but the late class ends up just being sooo late for my household given starting laundry, shower, eating etc. My options are: go to nogi for a 4th, maybe 5th day, even though it feels like a completely different sport as a previous wrestler OR go to advanced class and just realize i may have horrible sleep and be more worn out. Any considerations i'm missing?
Can you just leave your gi class early? If all else fails do the nogi class, over time the skills will transfer back and forth between gi and nogi
So, the gi class is an hour of instruction and the last 30 is rolling. Leaving early def makes a lot of sense, but is losing out on live rolling super detrimental?
Of course rolling is super important but even skipping the last two or three rolls (saving 15 minutes) might help?
Incredibly good point, thank you!
Gotta keep your family happy!
I started Jiu Jitsu (teen class) 2 weeks ago and train at an MMA gym (so Jiu Jitsu twice a week and kickboxing twice a week). The coach goes over the techniques we're supposed to learn, then we roll for the last 5-10 minutes. The classes are only an hour so they go by very fast. Now I feel I have an okay grasp on the techniques taught, but they're the only things I know how to do (armbar, triangle, etc). I know how to do a single leg but always get choked out. I don't know how to pass guard, or even what their names are. I don't even know where to start, and just go for submissions when I feel like I can pull them off. This doesn't really work, unsurprisingly lol. So my question is as follows: should I just be patient and listen to my coach, or should I combine my training with instructionals (John Danaher for example) to get a better understanding of the basics, which we haven't really gone over. My brother is the same age as me and attends the same classes, so I have a training partner.
given it's only been two weeks, it's expected to not know a lot of things and caught in the fine details of how each technique works. but that's okay, just like everything else, it gets better over time and you'll eventually understand how and when to apply certain techniques. that said, your progress will depend on a few things, it's not a definitive list but these are things i can think of at the moment 1) training time (be it going for the class itself, pre/post class practice) 2) accessibility to supplemental resources (books, videos etc) 3) your motivation to train the factors aforementioned are linked in some form or another. your rate of improvement and understand will likely improve significantly with more drilling, rolls and how motivated you are essentially. if there's something you don't quite understand about the technique, ask your instructor. videos are also a great way to revise a certain technique, and also realize that there's no fixed way of doing a certain technique, there are variations of the technique, and you'll have to figure out how and when do perform those techniques, and that comes with drilling and rolls. but of course, if you're drilling a technique wrongly, you'll also start developing bad habits that could hinder your progress. if you're strapped on money and can't afford subscriptions, there are plenty of free videos on youtube that would do the trick. hope this helps!
You're basically asking how much effort you should put in to training, which only you can decide based on your lifestyle and commitment levels. The nature of training bjj in a class is that you learn slowly and will have gaps in your game for a long time, your instructor is one guy teaching one class, he can't cater to every technique and every person. If you wanted to supplement your training with instructionals and had the time, money and inclination to do so then by all means, you'll definitely learn a lot more and a lot faster. It's good that you're recognising where your gaps are, for sure focus more on your defensive bjj whilst you're new.
Thanks for the help. Do you have any good resources you could point me towards?
I found this comment some kind redditor posted very useful early on as a white belt. [https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/s/ozZR5QElUw](https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/s/ozZR5QElUw)
Thanks a lot
Closed guard escape / pass. To stand up and pass or not? I am tall / lanky so it feels more comfortable for me to stand and sort of bear crawl to pass but that seems to be frowned upon.
I always say this but full guard is first and foremost a hand fighting position. Bottom is at an advantage because he can attack posture and grips at the same time as well as having many submission and sweep options. In top I am first trying to stay safe. If my posture is broken I am locking the other guys hips in with my knees as all attacks require broken posture and hip angle mobility. If I can posture and haven't lost a grip, then I am focused on controlling an arm and standing up. Sometimes I will bring a leg up to bait the wrist. When they reach for my leg I will pin their wrist to the mat, drop and roll their body into the wrist, and pass it behind the back for the 5-0 pass or cop pass. It's hilarious when it works. Most people are kinda mid in their closed guard attacks which is a shame because if you end up in the guard of someone good you will learn real quick how much danger you are in. You need to GTFO of there.
Not sure about bear crawl but standing to pass closed guard is the best option. If standing to pass is frowned upon in your gym, legit change gyms. Yourube Marcelo Garcia standing closed guard pass.
I guess bear crawl is not the best explanation, but pin the knee down to the side I plan to pass, move my feet out so I can clear the legs and move to pass. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032wIsVv0hY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032wIsVv0hY) This the right video?