I wasn’t giving wrestling its due respect and recently had a rolling partner who I didn’t know and who was 50 lbs lighter than me, and had only been doing BJJ for 6 months compared to my casual 2 year attendance. BUT he wrestled in both high school and college. Needless to say he smashed me every time. Respect to wrestling!
A guy that has wrestled in high school and college has at least 8 yeas of grappling under his belt. He is a skilled grappler and, maybe a good athlete. It's weird that people, especially wrestlers themselves, try not to acknowledge that they are already generally good the moment they stroll out there.
I find I can catch experienced wrestlers in subs for the first few months bc someone going to guard is just completely weird for them, and bc they don't realize when they are in danger of a submission. A ghost escape to Darce just isn't a thing in wrestling bc the match is over at side control. Once they get the feeling of impending danger and used to people fighting from their back, they are tough to do much with.
Several years ago I was a 3 or 4 stripe white belt (now a brown belt) rolling a "brand new" white belt. I had a really hard time with this dude (neither one of us submitted the other), and left class disappointed. Found out later that he was formerly on the Olympic wrestling team for another country a few years prior. My disappointment turned to feeling quite proud almost instantly! Wrestlers can be a difficult and sometimes frustrating challenge but are extremely beneficial for learning as well.
Wrestlers with novice BJJ experience have literally medaled and won ADCC. Guys like Mark Kerr, Evan Tanner, Matt Riddle, etc. learned JJ from books/videos and won. It's a massive leg up, that 4 years in high school puts them so far ahead, add elementary and/or college and it propels them even more.
True, I remember Rico Rodriguez winning ADCC as a Machado Blue Belt. But it was due to his wrestling background that helped him win. And one wrestling season in high school you can have anywhere from 30 matches and up. Tournaments almost every weekend along with the team duel meets, it was a lot of experience crammed into one season.
@@ChinoV yup, Jeff Monson won as a white belt that couldn't do a triangle in competition and Nicky Rod got silver as a blue belt. So many top sub grapplers with the wrestling base
In my experience it helps with the transition from white to blue as you already have a solid foundation when it comes to base and control. I was a decent wrestler in high school and got my blue belt in 4 months, but purple/brown/black took me just as long as everyone else. It also took me a really long time to get used to fighting off of my back and I almost feel like my reluctance to fight off of my back was a hindrance for the first 5 years. There are some really bad habits that come with a wrestling background as well, which take some time to reverse(putting hands on the mat, head down during takedowns and in guard) Can't count the number of times I was kimura'd and guillotined in the first few years.
Wrestlers are always tough in BJJ because they are/were "real" athletes. They have to compete and make the team: Varsity, JV....Anyone can do BJJ, Judo, Karate as long as you pay every month. They will still take your money, even if you suck....a wrestling coach will send you home, cut you from the team....
Haha, our wrestling coach never kicked anyone off the team because they sucked. People would quit cause practices were tough, and we would have to wrestle for our spots. There was one varsity spot for each weight class. If you had 4 guys, you could challenge for that one spot every week, some schools did challenge matches every 2 weeks. But the point is that in wrestling you had to earn your spot, nothing was given to you. It kept us on our toes and pushing harder and harder to break the starting varsity lineup. Practices were grueling, but it forged a different mentality that some people lack. When I left to the army after high school, basic training was not as physically grueling as the training that we had in wrestling. Some of the toughest soldiers I met, Rangers/SF/Sappers, were wrestlers. Wrestling pushes you mentally and physically, so Bjj and wrestling compliment each other.
Even those guys who “sucked,” still had my respect for sticking it out when other people quit. there is a level of respect that I hold for wrestlers that I meet, because I know the grind. Our coaches would still send these 3rd & 4th string guys to the JV tournaments to get some matches in. Some JV tournaments allowed multiple people from one team in the same weight class, it gave them an opportunity to wrestle. I honestly feel that wrestling is one of the greatest sports that we should all experience at some point in our youth.
few wrestling teams cut anyone. Most wrestling teams have trouble getting a full team--even in college. If you're at a DI college with a wrestling program you can walk on, and the coaches will probably be glad to have someone to beat on. Wrestling, especially in college, you either get tough or you quit. No one forces you to quit unless you have some behavior, drug, or academic issues.
Never seen someone get cut, coaches had too much respect even for bad wrestlers just for being tough enough to stick it out. And if multiple people were in a weight class they would compete for the varsity spot. I won it several times but always lost it before a match week, so was the varsity heavyweight that only wrestled jv.
Thanks! Its helpful hearing your thoughts on belt promotion. Agree that the internal reward is the most important with little pats on the back (stripes/belts) from time to time to let you know you’re making progress.
I was a high school wrestler with some college baseball under my belt. Safe to say I’m quite an athletic kid and I remember my first promotion. I rolled mostly with blue and purples bc frankly I felt like I couldnt get a good roll with the white belts and despite this I received only 1 stripe come promotion day. Why? bc I barely showed up. I thank my professor for doing that bc honestly it communicated to me “look kid youre good but youre just scratching the surface on your skill level” it made me realize okay consistency is important and without that I can never grow.
Do you think this rule applies to athletic people In general? I feel that athletic people either pick up the sport and love it and get promoted fast because they are so athletic , or they quit because of the embarrassment and large skill gap. What are your thoughts?
a lot of athletism and some technique can take you a very far way. most of the the professional athletes I know actually don't work very hard. they are just naturally gifted and lucky.
In short, no. Wrestling provides a certain type of strength, agility, balance, and especially, hand strength. It’s hard to describe but you can feel it quickly. As a former D1 wrestler and judo black belt, I took up BJJ after age 50. I would constantly meet people in class who would never ever do anything with BJJ. They were like limp noodles. Also met “good athletes” who were way too stiff, powerful, and predictable. They would also probably never go anywhere. Other wrestlers, however, were always tough. Yes, some wrestlers “take” to BJJ quicker than others, just as they did when I started in judo (grew up in wrestling). But wrestlers generally have that total body awareness that translates to the mat. Natural thing. I could go on and on about this subject, but generally a competitive wrestler will compete well and become a very good BJJ athlete. I felt freed by judo, for example, because I could now choke and do arm bars, etc. But I also felt I had advantages over pure judo players. Same with BJJ. I can smash BJJ guys with classic wrestling stuff because it’s generally in their blind spot. But wrestlers also have blind spots to BJJ that I worked really hard to eliminate (such as reaching!). Once I minimized my weaknesses, I could work on unique offenses. NBD, but wrestling does give you certain advantages.
I’m a judoka and started going to a BJJ gym for a while. After about 6 months they started putting me in their advance class and not the fundamentals which normally meant you had to have 3 stripes and I had none. Eventually they told me they wouldn’t grade me because I didn’t buy their gi. I was still using my 2 judo gi’s and I didn’t have their patches and I just thought that was the most pathetic thing. They said if I bought the gi they’d give me my blue belt and I didn’t want to feel like I just bought it. Even if that was the rule they could have said at the very beginning. I was very up front that I was doing BJJ to compliment judo and get better on the ground. They were trying to get better at stand up (and were awful at it, these BJJ black belts claimed to also be judo black belts and they clearly weren’t- which has been my experience of a lot of Brazilian teachers for some reason. Why lie?) It was weird. I didn’t care about the belt but the school wanted my stand up experience but didn’t want to give me a stripe
@@insidetrip101 the money grabbing culture of BJJ really is the thing I hate the most about the sport. I only went to that school because it wasn’t a gracie school. I don’t need another uniform and I didn’t want to train to be a competition player for them It’s the opposite of judo. Go into any judo gym anywhere in the world and say you’re a BJJ player and your focus is on BJJ and you’re there to learn some standup and maybe go once or twice a week and they’ll welcome you with open arms for a third of the price. BJJ just isn’t like that for some reason. I was going 5 times a week at one point and I was enjoying it. If they’d have just given me the stripes I’d have kept going and probably would have got their patches/gi eventually. I just didn’t need another gi
You kind of need a Team Gi for the grading and can not really compete in a random Gi if You represent the school, thats just a logical thing - you pay respect to your school by wearing the flag., i dont think its an unreasonable thing to ask., whats wrong with Judo? You should have stayed a Judoka in your or an affiliated club BUT if its their matts its also their rules., OR maybe a MMA gym is better for you.
@@gerasbetlas I was there to train casually. I wasn’t looking to be a competition player. If I wanted to do that I’d understand getting the gi and patches. It’s more they wanted me to buy the blue belt and weren’t up front about the fact that they wouldn’t grade me. It took them 6 months to say it. Why shouldn’t I train BJJ casually I don’t care. I don’t like sport BJJ. I didn’t stop doing Judo. I am a Judoka. Like I said the other way around if you’re a Jiujitsu player going to a judo gym, even casually, this would never happen. It’s about the art. Not the competition.
Great vid Chew! I wrestled in HS and College and it took me a few weeks to swallow my pride and work my bottom and back game.. I've never really concerned myself with belts.. Cheers
I feel like my goal is getting time on the Matt to be able to roll with my team.. especially before they compete.. I don't compete...I'm a 42 yr old hobbiest...I love training..but I have 2 kids and a career... I'm a blue belt and probably will be one for a long while...but I'm finding time on the Matt makes me happy and helps grind out my other frustrations in life... and I can't spell well... lol... so anyway..cheers and go train!
I think most of the time it's common sense. Usually a mixture of "can you do the techniques expected from this dojo for the belt you're trying to get, and can you put them together while rolling?" and "what is your body realistically capable of?". And the attitude of the person comes into play as well, so getting to know them as Chewy said. Blue belts and up act as mini teachers and are supposed to help other students. You want to make sure those people add to the dojo instead of take away from it, but usually that's pretty simple. If they take away from the dojo they don't even get to stay long enough to earn a belt most of the time.
As a wrestler in my experience my transition into BJJ/grappling came with a bunch of confusion. On one aspect there’s this hypothetical belt system. And a lot of people believe technique above all but as a wrestler you drill the same move enough times that you can hit it in every position. From the wrestlers perspective the belt system feels like a joke even in chewy’s situation he didn’t really believe the wrestler was a white belt that’s why he made him compete at blue. If a freshman comes in on the wrestling team there is nothing to stop him from taking the senior captains varsity spot. Same scenario if there’s a black belt going against a first year BJJ person with a background in wrestling there’s nothing stopping that wrestler from catching up and beating that black belt consistently. I definitely recommend wrestlers learn BJJ but also catch wrestling catch wrestling is such a smoother transition
So earlier I posted a comment saying I was going to start the journey. I deleted it cuz I hate lying and it hadnt happened yet. Well, it happened, I had my first serious day of jiu jitsu. It was amazing and I am truly happy to have started. Thank you to this community and chewy for being who they are, welcoming. My gym is no different. Everyone is soo happy to help. I'm nervous but some rando that's on his 8th day took me under his wing and he was my partner for 2 hrs; I'll never forget it.
It’s not just wrestling but for example football translates a lot into grappling. Lots of hand fighting and tackling is pretty much a double leg takedown. The intensity is there too so you can have someone with “zero grappling” come in and start to work even higher belts. Other combat sports too for example boxing. If someone was an amateur boxer even they’re not gonna shy away from physical contact and will just have a better understanding of fighting in general that someone who’s never been a martial artist will have
I've been doing Jiu-Jitsu for 2 years and I consider myself pretty proficient for how long I've been doing it. I've gone against a few wrestlers with very little jujitsu experience and those Greco-Roman guys definitely present a huge problem. I've lost a few matches to guys who I knew I was better at Jiu-Jitsu then but points wise and wrestling/standup I was just out matched. It's just crazy when I feel no submission threat but they are so good with their weight and balance and ability to shift that you feel so outclassed. With that being said my favorite people to roll with are wrestlers because if you can get them on their back they panic
Love the Channel Chewy. One of my biggest regrets was not wrestling in high school. I sat the bench in basketball instead 😢. I honestly think if some one told me wrestling was a martial art I may have tried it. 🤙🤙
I'm an ex wrestler now 40 something. Broke down and messed up. I started BJJ and I gotta say, the similarities are amazing and the differences are astounding. Either way I love the feeling of rolling. But it does blow me away how slow BJJ operates. I'm used to explosive powerful moves. If you want an arm, you TAKE the arm. Dig your head in and take what you want. And when you do it, make it hurt. I also noticed, BASIC wrestling moves translate well to defending many BJJ tactics once you get used to being on your back, grappling from standing I felt very superior. Clench and take downs seemed to come easier. Scrambles are still fun and feel the same!
I'm a Brit but work with American guys a lot. Most of the guys I train with have a solid wrestling base. Makes a HUGE difference. No lazy rolls. Gives me new problems to figure out. I love it.
I agree jiu-jitsu is a martial art It should be skill-based and obviously if you pick up the skills quicker you get promoted quicker that's honestly how life and a job works as well...
A new kid joined our gym last week. He came in with the wrestling shoes and everything (quickly realizing bjj is barefoot) but I overheard himtalking about how he was a medaled high school wrestler. We drill and then start to roll. Me and another student are watching him roll with his friend and he does a full on like spear take down on him. I say to my friend "I think he used to wrestle", guess he overheard me and goes "nope, never wrestled, just been listening and learning" 😆. I've seen first hand that wrestling give a huge advantage, but be humble please.
IMHO from what I see as a beginner, Wrestlers and guys who are naturally strong, get their 3 stripes, blue belt and maybe purple belts QUICKER but around there it tends to level off because other purple belts and brown and black belts have already gained the skills to defend and attack stronger / wrestler types. i.e. wrestling is a great headstart and good skill but it tends to yield diminishing returns. Some BJJ guys also know how to focus on wrestler weaknesses and the wrestlers often wind up mounted or guillotined.
I think a lot of a college wrestlers advantage also has to do with their experience learning technique. In most cases if you’ve wrestled in college you’ve been learning grappling technique for at least 10 years. Your grappling coordination is simply going to be better given all the different moves you’ve learned even though it was a different type of grappling. Take a BJJ black belt and white belt both being shown a completely new wrestling or judo technique neither has ever seen before, whose going to learn it and be able to implement it in their game faster? It goes both ways :)
I agree with the principle of this, but in practice, I've noticed the opposite. White belts do not have BJJ ingrained in them yet, so they are able to learn judo, whereas other belts, especially blue and purple, are stubborn and try to make the session a BJJ one. They only do tomoe nage (poorly) and refuse to do other throws, trips and techniques
As a former wrestler, I got my blue belt in less than 7 months because I got very comfortable on my back, being patient and sweeping people. My instructor literally told me 2 months in “if you knew anything off your back I’d give you a blue belt today” so that’s what I did
"College Wrestler" should always be qualified in context. D2 and D3, NAIA, JUCO wrestlers can be really freaking or they can be garbage wrestlers , If some one was starting matching D1 they are good and know what they are doing. SO yeah you can have a college wrestler walk in hang with upper belts right off the bat and you can have a college wrestler take 2 years to get a blue belt and have a lot of challenges a talented non wrestler didn't have.
Since you mentioned "older" students, I will comment that I am 72 and have just 2 mos. of training. While people are respectful of my age, on the mat it doesn't matter as much. Yes, they don't want me to get hurt. However, with regard to belts, I could care less until I have the skills. If I can't learn the skills and develop the fitness to roll well, I don't want the belt.
I think nowadays too many dojos give out candy, and I get it some people are pretty tough. I like you video Chewy I agree with everything you've said. My professors are black belts under Cyborg and I've been a purple belt for about five going on six years now. Am I bad? No, not even close, I compete regularly, I do well, I hold my own against higher level guys, why does it take so long? It has alot to do with my size, I'm a big guy and I haven't quite grasped what it takes to be a Brown Belt yet, and my issue is inverting, like Fightsports will not promote me until' they see me actively using inverting in live matches and rightfully so. U can win all the competitions u want but to be a Brown or Black Belt u kind of have to know what a Jiu Jitsu black belt is expected to know.
My old karate sensei once told me "stop worrying about the belt, the belt is there to reflect and tell me how much you already know, it's not the other way".
Was a D1 wrestler, ran through white through purple and got m brown in 2 and a half years. Will get black before year 4 but brown was a catch up belt for sure.
@@MrOj59 Hey man, if you're too lazy to not train multiple times a day and not have 20+ year base in another area of grappling, that's on you. Hopefully you realize how ignorant your comment is and get that black in 12 years training only 2 times a week.
@@Abettergrappler nothing to do with being lazy etc. If you get your black belt in under 4 years as you've suggested then that would put you in the top 10 fastest promotions in the world. Congratulations random CZcams comment guy
Since we're on the subject of wrestling, I have a question for you. Do you think that having a wrestling background could be a double edge edge sword? By that I mean, I have witnessed top level college wrestlers give up their back's when fighting a jujitsu expert i.e., Chael Sonnen Vs Ortiz, or Michael Chandler Vs Olivera. When a wrestler has it drilled into him that they can get off the ground exposing their backs, I wonder if that is something they ever get over?
I think Jiu Jitsu should use an ELO system like chess and it would standardise the belt ranks instead of coaches just giving belts when they feel like it. Like just have it so when you compete you earn rating on who you beat and then when you pass a certain rating then you can get your belt.
I have guys in the gym i train at ask me all the time did you wrestle in school. I didn't wrestle in school and makes me wish I did. Love your channel so much good info.
I feel that wrestlers have a very interesting learning curve to BJJ. They start off WORSE than the average person due to them usually charging in recklessly and ending up in a traingle or RNC from giving up their back. BUT once they get the bad habits beaten out of them they tend to take off. TL;DR Wrestlers make crappy white belts but amazing blue belts
I have no idea what you're talking about. If you think wrestlers start off worse then I think you should question their wrestling credentials. No good wrestler charges in recklessly. That's some jr high wrestling garbage.
What about someone coming from an MMA background 13+ years. In the gi I can just about beat all blue belts and there is only 2 purples who give me a run for my money. How do you belt that person. Do they wait the time frame that’s expected or do you belt based on skill set ?
Curious: have you had a student(s) pass you in skill where you come to them with questions as much as they to you? I suppose if this does happen, its like a father being proud of their son or daughter, eh?
Did you play for the varsity team? My highschool doesn’t wrestle so i want to know if i could get into the wrestling team at my college just from bjj. Someone did it before.
It sounds like you hold a white belt wrestler to a higher standard.. Why would you require him to enter a blue belt tournament, but keep him at a white belt??
It blows my mind that people worry about promotions. Your Professor will promote you when you’re ready. Why would you beg or cry about not getting promoted? It’s all about your ego.
I consider judo and bjj to be inextricably linked, so I require everyone to have the same proficiency in all recognized judo techniques as a regular judo practitioner
Funny stuff there. I understand the history fine. Just saying that it's weird. I've never heard anyone else ever say anything about bjj practitioners being required to learn a bunch of throwing techniques. Nothing wrong with pulling guard. There are different aspects being focused on, and the average bjj practitioner decided on bjj instead of judo for a reason. So, yes, it's weird.
I wonder how Chew handles promoting brothers or brother n sister who start together. With the way parents can be down here....if child A gets a belt and child B doesn't....forget it!!
@@Chewjitsu I just opened up my school. I just wrapped up the first month a couple days ago. Upon sign up I am telling the parents that promotions don't come often and are going to be at my discretion. I am telling them that I I'm looking at their knowledge and if they are actually learning. If they are not learning then it falls on me. Told them but either way don't be focused on belt colors changing or stripes. Because they can be learning and doing great but doesn't mean that they are going to get a belt. They are understanding as of now of course. We will see later on LOL because people down here are a different breed hahaha. I saw my old coaches go through hell with some parents
@@MinhaFamiliaAQBJJ Shoot me an email or instagram message if you have any questions. I think you did before, but I was super busy at the time. But if you need a little guidance, I'd be happy to help.
@@Chewjitsu brother I need any pointers you have for me. I know its gonna be a struggle but man it's rough. Rough. The culture down here is different. I'll shoot u a message. Whatever will work for me i will do
If they had just transitioned to catch wrestling they wouldn't have to even worry about belts. The only belt a wrestler cares about is a championship belt.
I've seen a few of your videos don't you think pics of yourself all over the place are a little too much? Seems a little narcissistic to me, I mean it is your gym and your videos but do we need to see pics of you on the wall in your videos as well?.. seems like you're not really sure of yourself
I had the same thing lol. That was the style I chose to adapt for my mma, my style was just jiu jutsu, just top game for Gnp and to never receive it. Could beat a lot higher ranked belts but always remained a white belt with many stripes lol. But I understand very well it was always "anti" jiu jutsu.
If you're rolling with professor and get into position to choke, do it. It's likely professor will give you the opportunity to practice. However, don't force it because you want to be in control, which limits injuries. If you're choking and nothing's happening, don't crank it and hurt professor. And although speed is key, don't go so fast you're not controlling your limbs and smack professor in the face. But yes, attempt to submit your professor, it's a great way to see what you're doing right/wrong
@@jacobhill7963 Don't listen to him. Crank it and try and hurt your professor. Its a good test to see if he's actually worth anything. . . just be willing to suffer the consequences
Do you really have 60 year old people with little to no martial arts experience join your gym? Depending on the person that could be physically dangerous.
I roll with a dude in his 50s. I actually just learned that he was in his 50s. I would have thought that he was at least 60. I just turned 40 and that dude wears me out. He is a master of gassing his opponent
Sad to say I'm very close to 60 - started BJJ at 53. Yesterday I received my Brown belt- I train/roll with much younger, stronger, male, female etc. about 5 days a week. I had no prior martial arts or wrestling experience. Given the fitness level of many younger people - maybe they should be concerned.
Sorry man but these are Stupid ass subjective rules. Giving people belts based on their “baseline” is what demoralizes and embarrasses people. Sets them up for failure. I’m the white belt with wrestling experience and I get the best of purple belts an brown belts. When I beat them, honestly I get embarrassed for them. I even let them win out of respect and also because I don’t want to break their will. promote people based on their actual skill and ability. Not what you think is their baseline. Come up with a standard for promotions… maybe it’s if they submit x number of white belts or blue belts, then they can advance. Not sure but the current system is stupid af
I’m sorry, you’re not a life coach, if you’re attempting to get to know someone beyond the rules of the gym, that’s outta bounds. A blue belt level guy is a blue belt level guy, no matter how much a piece of shit he is
They ruined it by pressure testing it, winning, and forcing it to change? Lol @@bm2_852 they have technique, you just don't understand it, like all those JJ black belts buttscooting 'cause they don't have takedowns
No having wrestlers in jiu jitsu forces grapplers to improve their skills and work on facing different types of opponents, if your BJJ is good enough you should be able to submit wrestlers of your back, there are ways to defeat wrestlers as BJJ guy, Craig Jones has a instructional called the anti wrestling equation in BJJ fanatics, great information imo
@@bm2_852 No wrestler I have ever met (including myself) hates the gi. Every wrestler I've ever talked to has found the gi to be the most interesting thing around with what you can do with it. Coming from wrestling to bjj is like fishing with your bare hands for 10 years and then someone hands you this fishing pole thing and completely changes your world and opens up possibilities that you never dreamed of. Of course, I would never look at someone who fishes with their bare hands and say "you know, they're just fast and strong athletes with no skill whatsoever." But what do I know? Its probably easy to catch fish with your bare hands.
I wasn’t giving wrestling its due respect and recently had a rolling partner who I didn’t know and who was 50 lbs lighter than me, and had only been doing BJJ for 6 months compared to my casual 2 year attendance. BUT he wrestled in both high school and college. Needless to say he smashed me every time. Respect to wrestling!
A guy that has wrestled in high school and college has at least 8 yeas of grappling under his belt. He is a skilled grappler and, maybe a good athlete. It's weird that people, especially wrestlers themselves, try not to acknowledge that they are already generally good the moment they stroll out there.
What stripe / belt level did you get to after 2 years casual?
Interested as I’m casual too, 6 months in!
Coach says I’m almost a 3 stripe white belt, but that’s with taking a lot of time off.
I find I can catch experienced wrestlers in subs for the first few months bc someone going to guard is just completely weird for them, and bc they don't realize when they are in danger of a submission. A ghost escape to Darce just isn't a thing in wrestling bc the match is over at side control. Once they get the feeling of impending danger and used to people fighting from their back, they are tough to do much with.
Wrestlers like that are like popeye after he eats the can of spinach. That’s a pretty good attribute to have for any combat sport.
Several years ago I was a 3 or 4 stripe white belt (now a brown belt) rolling a "brand new" white belt. I had a really hard time with this dude (neither one of us submitted the other), and left class disappointed. Found out later that he was formerly on the Olympic wrestling team for another country a few years prior. My disappointment turned to feeling quite proud almost instantly! Wrestlers can be a difficult and sometimes frustrating challenge but are extremely beneficial for learning as well.
Wrestlers with novice BJJ experience have literally medaled and won ADCC. Guys like Mark Kerr, Evan Tanner, Matt Riddle, etc. learned JJ from books/videos and won. It's a massive leg up, that 4 years in high school puts them so far ahead, add elementary and/or college and it propels them even more.
True, I remember Rico Rodriguez winning ADCC as a Machado Blue Belt. But it was due to his wrestling background that helped him win. And one wrestling season in high school you can have anywhere from 30 matches and up. Tournaments almost every weekend along with the team duel meets, it was a lot of experience crammed into one season.
@@ChinoV yup, Jeff Monson won as a white belt that couldn't do a triangle in competition and Nicky Rod got silver as a blue belt. So many top sub grapplers with the wrestling base
Wrestling is a lot of top game BJJ.
In my experience it helps with the transition from white to blue as you already have a solid foundation when it comes to base and control. I was a decent wrestler in high school and got my blue belt in 4 months, but purple/brown/black took me just as long as everyone else. It also took me a really long time to get used to fighting off of my back and I almost feel like my reluctance to fight off of my back was a hindrance for the first 5 years. There are some really bad habits that come with a wrestling background as well, which take some time to reverse(putting hands on the mat, head down during takedowns and in guard) Can't count the number of times I was kimura'd and guillotined in the first few years.
Wrestlers are always tough in BJJ because they are/were "real" athletes. They have to compete and make the team: Varsity, JV....Anyone can do BJJ, Judo, Karate as long as you pay every month. They will still take your money, even if you suck....a wrestling coach will send you home, cut you from the team....
Haha, our wrestling coach never kicked anyone off the team because they sucked. People would quit cause practices were tough, and we would have to wrestle for our spots. There was one varsity spot for each weight class. If you had 4 guys, you could challenge for that one spot every week, some schools did challenge matches every 2 weeks. But the point is that in wrestling you had to earn your spot, nothing was given to you. It kept us on our toes and pushing harder and harder to break the starting varsity lineup.
Practices were grueling, but it forged a different mentality that some people lack. When I left to the army after high school, basic training was not as physically grueling as the training that we had in wrestling. Some of the toughest soldiers I met, Rangers/SF/Sappers, were wrestlers. Wrestling pushes you mentally and physically, so Bjj and wrestling compliment each other.
Even those guys who “sucked,” still had my respect for sticking it out when other people quit. there is a level of respect that I hold for wrestlers that I meet, because I know the grind.
Our coaches would still send these 3rd & 4th string guys to the JV tournaments to get some matches in. Some JV tournaments allowed multiple people from one team in the same weight class, it gave them an opportunity to wrestle. I honestly feel that wrestling is one of the greatest sports that we should all experience at some point in our youth.
few wrestling teams cut anyone. Most wrestling teams have trouble getting a full team--even in college. If you're at a DI college with a wrestling program you can walk on, and the coaches will probably be glad to have someone to beat on.
Wrestling, especially in college, you either get tough or you quit. No one forces you to quit unless you have some behavior, drug, or academic issues.
Idk- you can just get benched. I’ve seen bad wrestlers before
Never seen someone get cut, coaches had too much respect even for bad wrestlers just for being tough enough to stick it out. And if multiple people were in a weight class they would compete for the varsity spot. I won it several times but always lost it before a match week, so was the varsity heavyweight that only wrestled jv.
Thanks! Its helpful hearing your thoughts on belt promotion. Agree that the internal reward is the most important with little pats on the back (stripes/belts) from time to time to let you know you’re making progress.
I was a high school wrestler with some college baseball under my belt. Safe to say I’m quite an athletic kid and I remember my first promotion. I rolled mostly with blue and purples bc frankly I felt like I couldnt get a good roll with the white belts and despite this I received only 1 stripe come promotion day. Why? bc I barely showed up. I thank my professor for doing that bc honestly it communicated to me “look kid youre good but youre just scratching the surface on your skill level” it made me realize okay consistency is important and without that I can never grow.
Do you think this rule applies to athletic people In general? I feel that athletic people either pick up the sport and love it and get promoted fast because they are so athletic , or they quit because of the embarrassment and large skill gap. What are your thoughts?
I'm extremely athletic and would say there a a lot of people (white belts) in my school who are way better than me. Most days I feel like I suck lol
Wrestling is different because it's grappling
Saving for a potential video
a lot of athletism and some technique can take you a very far way.
most of the the professional athletes I know actually don't work very hard. they are just naturally gifted and lucky.
In short, no. Wrestling provides a certain type of strength, agility, balance, and especially, hand strength. It’s hard to describe but you can feel it quickly. As a former D1 wrestler and judo black belt, I took up BJJ after age 50. I would constantly meet people in class who would never ever do anything with BJJ. They were like limp noodles. Also met “good athletes” who were way too stiff, powerful, and predictable. They would also probably never go anywhere. Other wrestlers, however, were always tough. Yes, some wrestlers “take” to BJJ quicker than others, just as they did when I started in judo (grew up in wrestling). But wrestlers generally have that total body awareness that translates to the mat. Natural thing. I could go on and on about this subject, but generally a competitive wrestler will compete well and become a very good BJJ athlete. I felt freed by judo, for example, because I could now choke and do arm bars, etc. But I also felt I had advantages over pure judo players. Same with BJJ. I can smash BJJ guys with classic wrestling stuff because it’s generally in their blind spot. But wrestlers also have blind spots to BJJ that I worked really hard to eliminate (such as reaching!). Once I minimized my weaknesses, I could work on unique offenses. NBD, but wrestling does give you certain advantages.
I’m a judoka and started going to a BJJ gym for a while. After about 6 months they started putting me in their advance class and not the fundamentals which normally meant you had to have 3 stripes and I had none.
Eventually they told me they wouldn’t grade me because I didn’t buy their gi. I was still using my 2 judo gi’s and I didn’t have their patches and I just thought that was the most pathetic thing. They said if I bought the gi they’d give me my blue belt and I didn’t want to feel like I just bought it.
Even if that was the rule they could have said at the very beginning. I was very up front that I was doing BJJ to compliment judo and get better on the ground. They were trying to get better at stand up (and were awful at it, these BJJ black belts claimed to also be judo black belts and they clearly weren’t- which has been my experience of a lot of Brazilian teachers for some reason. Why lie?)
It was weird. I didn’t care about the belt but the school wanted my stand up experience but didn’t want to give me a stripe
That's a very sad story.
@@insidetrip101 the money grabbing culture of BJJ really is the thing I hate the most about the sport. I only went to that school because it wasn’t a gracie school. I don’t need another uniform and I didn’t want to train to be a competition player for them
It’s the opposite of judo. Go into any judo gym anywhere in the world and say you’re a BJJ player and your focus is on BJJ and you’re there to learn some standup and maybe go once or twice a week and they’ll welcome you with open arms for a third of the price. BJJ just isn’t like that for some reason.
I was going 5 times a week at one point and I was enjoying it. If they’d have just given me the stripes I’d have kept going and probably would have got their patches/gi eventually. I just didn’t need another gi
You kind of need a Team Gi for the grading and can not really compete in a random Gi if You represent the school, thats just a logical thing - you pay respect to your school by wearing the flag., i dont think its an unreasonable thing to ask., whats wrong with Judo? You should have stayed a Judoka in your or an affiliated club BUT if its their matts its also their rules., OR maybe a MMA gym is better for you.
@@gerasbetlas I was there to train casually. I wasn’t looking to be a competition player. If I wanted to do that I’d understand getting the gi and patches. It’s more they wanted me to buy the blue belt and weren’t up front about the fact that they wouldn’t grade me. It took them 6 months to say it. Why shouldn’t I train BJJ casually
I don’t care. I don’t like sport BJJ. I didn’t stop doing Judo. I am a Judoka. Like I said the other way around if you’re a Jiujitsu player going to a judo gym, even casually, this would never happen. It’s about the art. Not the competition.
@@ForzaTerra89 L
1000% - Chewy knows best…I think 💭 of it this way - don’t chase belts, chase skill levels…you gotta enjoy the process of developing…
Great vid Chew! I wrestled in HS and College and it took me a few weeks to swallow my pride and work my bottom and back game.. I've never really concerned myself with belts.. Cheers
I feel like my goal is getting time on the Matt to be able to roll with my team.. especially before they compete.. I don't compete...I'm a 42 yr old hobbiest...I love training..but I have 2 kids and a career... I'm a blue belt and probably will be one for a long while...but I'm finding time on the Matt makes me happy and helps grind out my other frustrations in life... and I can't spell well... lol... so anyway..cheers and go train!
I think most of the time it's common sense. Usually a mixture of "can you do the techniques expected from this dojo for the belt you're trying to get, and can you put them together while rolling?" and "what is your body realistically capable of?". And the attitude of the person comes into play as well, so getting to know them as Chewy said. Blue belts and up act as mini teachers and are supposed to help other students. You want to make sure those people add to the dojo instead of take away from it, but usually that's pretty simple. If they take away from the dojo they don't even get to stay long enough to earn a belt most of the time.
As a wrestler in my experience my transition into BJJ/grappling came with a bunch of confusion. On one aspect there’s this hypothetical belt system. And a lot of people believe technique above all but as a wrestler you drill the same move enough times that you can hit it in every position. From the wrestlers perspective the belt system feels like a joke even in chewy’s situation he didn’t really believe the wrestler was a white belt that’s why he made him compete at blue.
If a freshman comes in on the wrestling team there is nothing to stop him from taking the senior captains varsity spot.
Same scenario if there’s a black belt going against a first year BJJ person with a background in wrestling there’s nothing stopping that wrestler from catching up and beating that black belt consistently.
I definitely recommend wrestlers learn BJJ but also catch wrestling catch wrestling is such a smoother transition
So earlier I posted a comment saying I was going to start the journey. I deleted it cuz I hate lying and it hadnt happened yet. Well, it happened, I had my first serious day of jiu jitsu. It was amazing and I am truly happy to have started. Thank you to this community and chewy for being who they are, welcoming. My gym is no different. Everyone is soo happy to help. I'm nervous but some rando that's on his 8th day took me under his wing and he was my partner for 2 hrs; I'll never forget it.
35 years old.
Glad you had a good experience.
It’s not just wrestling but for example football translates a lot into grappling. Lots of hand fighting and tackling is pretty much a double leg takedown. The intensity is there too so you can have someone with “zero grappling” come in and start to work even higher belts. Other combat sports too for example boxing. If someone was an amateur boxer even they’re not gonna shy away from physical contact and will just have a better understanding of fighting in general that someone who’s never been a martial artist will have
czcams.com/video/BKwu1-HVTLU/video.html
Catch wrestler here….love rolling with BJJ guys. But yeah I do fine vs all belt ranks, black included. Never have done BJJ in my life.
I've been doing Jiu-Jitsu for 2 years and I consider myself pretty proficient for how long I've been doing it. I've gone against a few wrestlers with very little jujitsu experience and those Greco-Roman guys definitely present a huge problem. I've lost a few matches to guys who I knew I was better at Jiu-Jitsu then but points wise and wrestling/standup I was just out matched. It's just crazy when I feel no submission threat but they are so good with their weight and balance and ability to shift that you feel so outclassed. With that being said my favorite people to roll with are wrestlers because if you can get them on their back they panic
Love the Channel Chewy. One of my biggest regrets was not wrestling in high school. I sat the bench in basketball instead 😢. I honestly think if some one told me wrestling was a martial art I may have tried it. 🤙🤙
I'm an ex wrestler now 40 something. Broke down and messed up. I started BJJ and I gotta say, the similarities are amazing and the differences are astounding. Either way I love the feeling of rolling. But it does blow me away how slow BJJ operates. I'm used to explosive powerful moves. If you want an arm, you TAKE the arm. Dig your head in and take what you want. And when you do it, make it hurt. I also noticed, BASIC wrestling moves translate well to defending many BJJ tactics once you get used to being on your back, grappling from standing I felt very superior. Clench and take downs seemed to come easier. Scrambles are still fun and feel the same!
I'm a Brit but work with American guys a lot. Most of the guys I train with have a solid wrestling base. Makes a HUGE difference. No lazy rolls. Gives me new problems to figure out. I love it.
Yeah that's me. Im always there to put some work in and I try to make sure I come out of every practice exhausted.
I agree jiu-jitsu is a martial art It should be skill-based and obviously if you pick up the skills quicker you get promoted quicker that's honestly how life and a job works as well...
Considering most wrestlers started grappling at 3...yeah. Probably.
My gym have key cards but it is more about how well you are taking it in with your classes you come to
My gym does promotions very similar to you, we also don’t put to much emphasis on belts which is nice
A new kid joined our gym last week. He came in with the wrestling shoes and everything (quickly realizing bjj is barefoot) but I overheard himtalking about how he was a medaled high school wrestler. We drill and then start to roll. Me and another student are watching him roll with his friend and he does a full on like spear take down on him. I say to my friend "I think he used to wrestle", guess he overheard me and goes "nope, never wrestled, just been listening and learning" 😆. I've seen first hand that wrestling give a huge advantage, but be humble please.
IMHO from what I see as a beginner, Wrestlers and guys who are naturally strong, get their 3 stripes, blue belt and maybe purple belts QUICKER but around there it tends to level off because other purple belts and brown and black belts have already gained the skills to defend and attack stronger / wrestler types. i.e. wrestling is a great headstart and good skill but it tends to yield diminishing returns.
Some BJJ guys also know how to focus on wrestler weaknesses and the wrestlers often wind up mounted or guillotined.
I think a lot of a college wrestlers advantage also has to do with their experience learning technique. In most cases if you’ve wrestled in college you’ve been learning grappling technique for at least 10 years. Your grappling coordination is simply going to be better given all the different moves you’ve learned even though it was a different type of grappling. Take a BJJ black belt and white belt both being shown a completely new wrestling or judo technique neither has ever seen before, whose going to learn it and be able to implement it in their game faster? It goes both ways :)
I agree with the principle of this, but in practice, I've noticed the opposite. White belts do not have BJJ ingrained in them yet, so they are able to learn judo, whereas other belts, especially blue and purple, are stubborn and try to make the session a BJJ one. They only do tomoe nage (poorly) and refuse to do other throws, trips and techniques
As a former wrestler, I got my blue belt in less than 7 months because I got very comfortable on my back, being patient and sweeping people. My instructor literally told me 2 months in “if you knew anything off your back I’d give you a blue belt today” so that’s what I did
Would you say that's because you came in really strong on top position?
"College Wrestler" should always be qualified in context. D2 and D3, NAIA, JUCO wrestlers can be really freaking or they can be garbage wrestlers , If some one was starting matching D1 they are good and know what they are doing. SO yeah you can have a college wrestler walk in hang with upper belts right off the bat and you can have a college wrestler take 2 years to get a blue belt and have a lot of challenges a talented non wrestler didn't have.
Very true. The college wrestlers in my story were D1 and the other was a 3x NAIA champ. Both were studs.
Since you mentioned "older" students, I will comment that I am 72 and have just 2 mos. of training. While people are respectful of my age, on the mat it doesn't matter as much. Yes, they don't want me to get hurt. However, with regard to belts, I could care less until I have the skills. If I can't learn the skills and develop the fitness to roll well, I don't want the belt.
I think nowadays too many dojos give out candy, and I get it some people are pretty tough. I like you video Chewy I agree with everything you've said. My professors are black belts under Cyborg and I've been a purple belt for about five going on six years now. Am I bad? No, not even close, I compete regularly, I do well, I hold my own against higher level guys, why does it take so long? It has alot to do with my size, I'm a big guy and I haven't quite grasped what it takes to be a Brown Belt yet, and my issue is inverting, like Fightsports will not promote me until' they see me actively using inverting in live matches and rightfully so. U can win all the competitions u want but to be a Brown or Black Belt u kind of have to know what a Jiu Jitsu black belt is expected to know.
My old karate sensei once told me "stop worrying about the belt, the belt is there to reflect and tell me how much you already know, it's not the other way".
Great advice sir! Thank you
You talking about Brandon! Love that dudes channel.
Hi I’ve been wrestling since first grade I’m 20 now. And I started jiujitsu 5 months ago and I took a super fight and beat a blue belt 8-0
Was a D1 wrestler, ran through white through purple and got m brown in 2 and a half years. Will get black before year 4 but brown was a catch up belt for sure.
What less than 4 yrs to blackbelt🤣 come on mate
@@MrOj59 Hey man, if you're too lazy to not train multiple times a day and not have 20+ year base in another area of grappling, that's on you. Hopefully you realize how ignorant your comment is and get that black in 12 years training only 2 times a week.
@@Abettergrappler nothing to do with being lazy etc. If you get your black belt in under 4 years as you've suggested then that would put you in the top 10 fastest promotions in the world. Congratulations random CZcams comment guy
Since we're on the subject of wrestling, I have a question for you. Do you think that having a wrestling background could be a double edge edge sword? By that I mean, I have witnessed top level college wrestlers give up their back's when fighting a jujitsu expert i.e., Chael Sonnen Vs Ortiz, or Michael Chandler Vs Olivera. When a wrestler has it drilled into him that they can get off the ground exposing their backs, I wonder if that is something they ever get over?
I think Jiu Jitsu should use an ELO system like chess and it would standardise the belt ranks instead of coaches just giving belts when they feel like it. Like just have it so when you compete you earn rating on who you beat and then when you pass a certain rating then you can get your belt.
I have guys in the gym i train at ask me all the time did you wrestle in school. I didn't wrestle in school and makes me wish I did. Love your channel so much good info.
Yes
I feel that wrestlers have a very interesting learning curve to BJJ. They start off WORSE than the average person due to them usually charging in recklessly and ending up in a traingle or RNC from giving up their back.
BUT once they get the bad habits beaten out of them they tend to take off.
TL;DR Wrestlers make crappy white belts but amazing blue belts
Thats not the case at all
Regular people put themselves in triangles just as much, but they have nowhere near the skill wrestlers do
Lol ratio’d
I have no idea what you're talking about. If you think wrestlers start off worse then I think you should question their wrestling credentials. No good wrestler charges in recklessly. That's some jr high wrestling garbage.
What about someone coming from an MMA background 13+ years. In the gi I can just about beat all blue belts and there is only 2 purples who give me a run for my money. How do you belt that person. Do they wait the time frame that’s expected or do you belt based on skill set ?
Wrestlers are good at being the hammer, but the real test is when they are the nail
I'm getting the sense that the second guy is Brandon Reed :)
Depends on the school. Mine promotes at normal rate.
Curious: have you had a student(s) pass you in skill where you come to them with questions as much as they to you? I suppose if this does happen, its like a father being proud of their son or daughter, eh?
Grappling is grappling
do you have toys for your first tournament?
You’re not a blue belt but you have to compete with them?
I wrestled in college and got my blue belt in 6 months and purple a years after that
Did you play for the varsity team? My highschool doesn’t wrestle so i want to know if i could get into the wrestling team at my college just from bjj. Someone did it before.
I'll be a whitebelt until my coach gives me a blue one. Don't much matter.
It sounds like you hold a white belt wrestler to a higher standard.. Why would you require him to enter a blue belt tournament, but keep him at a white belt??
It blows my mind that people worry about promotions. Your Professor will promote you when you’re ready. Why would you beg or cry about not getting promoted? It’s all about your ego.
I consider judo and bjj to be inextricably linked, so I require everyone to have the same proficiency in all recognized judo techniques as a regular judo practitioner
That's weird
@@whitebeltexplainsjujitsu if BJJ being Judo is weird to you, I can only imagine your reaction when you put bread in a toaster and see what pops out
Sure. They're exactly the same. LoL
@@whitebeltexplainsjujitsu proving my point. Get some stripes and learn some history
Funny stuff there. I understand the history fine. Just saying that it's weird. I've never heard anyone else ever say anything about bjj practitioners being required to learn a bunch of throwing techniques. Nothing wrong with pulling guard. There are different aspects being focused on, and the average bjj practitioner decided on bjj instead of judo for a reason. So, yes, it's weird.
Word
I wonder how Chew handles promoting brothers or brother n sister who start together. With the way parents can be down here....if child A gets a belt and child B doesn't....forget it!!
This is a great question.
Same question applies to significant others.
Me and the coaches have promoted siblings separately before. It’s fine.
@@Chewjitsu I just opened up my school. I just wrapped up the first month a couple days ago. Upon sign up I am telling the parents that promotions don't come often and are going to be at my discretion. I am telling them that I I'm looking at their knowledge and if they are actually learning. If they are not learning then it falls on me. Told them but either way don't be focused on belt colors changing or stripes. Because they can be learning and doing great but doesn't mean that they are going to get a belt. They are understanding as of now of course. We will see later on LOL because people down here are a different breed hahaha. I saw my old coaches go through hell with some parents
@@MinhaFamiliaAQBJJ Shoot me an email or instagram message if you have any questions. I think you did before, but I was super busy at the time. But if you need a little guidance, I'd be happy to help.
@@Chewjitsu brother I need any pointers you have for me. I know its gonna be a struggle but man it's rough. Rough. The culture down here is different. I'll shoot u a message. Whatever will work for me i will do
I pissed off my jiujitsu coach by focusing on takedowns and wrestling.
Think about it: wrestling is a cheap school sport with a far larger culture. Wrestlers get to have way more mat time as kids.
If they had just transitioned to catch wrestling they wouldn't have to even worry about belts. The only belt a wrestler cares about is a championship belt.
Who cares??? It a personal journey
I've seen a few of your videos don't you think pics of yourself all over the place are a little too much? Seems a little narcissistic to me, I mean it is your gym and your videos but do we need to see pics of you on the wall in your videos as well?.. seems like you're not really sure of yourself
Wrestling is definitely a boon for jiujitsu... so is judo
Edit: but either on their own obviously doesn't beat jiujitsu at its own game
I had the same thing lol. That was the style I chose to adapt for my mma, my style was just jiu jutsu, just top game for Gnp and to never receive it. Could beat a lot higher ranked belts but always remained a white belt with many stripes lol. But I understand very well it was always "anti" jiu jutsu.
Am I allowed to choke out the professor 🤔 if I'm a whitebelt
If you're rolling with professor and get into position to choke, do it. It's likely professor will give you the opportunity to practice. However, don't force it because you want to be in control, which limits injuries. If you're choking and nothing's happening, don't crank it and hurt professor. And although speed is key, don't go so fast you're not controlling your limbs and smack professor in the face. But yes, attempt to submit your professor, it's a great way to see what you're doing right/wrong
Choke him out, take his belt, then you can be the professor
@@jacobhill7963 Don't listen to him. Crank it and try and hurt your professor. Its a good test to see if he's actually worth anything. . .
just be willing to suffer the consequences
@@jacobhill7963 so If I were to force choke him I guess everything will be everything
people who ask their instructors when they'll get their blue belt will get their blue belt faster
Church time!
😂
Wrestlers get triangled :)
Do you really have 60 year old people with little to no martial arts experience join your gym? Depending on the person that could be physically dangerous.
I roll with a dude in his 50s. I actually just learned that he was in his 50s. I would have thought that he was at least 60.
I just turned 40 and that dude wears me out. He is a master of gassing his opponent
@@shaunn7778 if he gassed you, why did you think he was 60?
Sad to say I'm very close to 60 - started BJJ at 53. Yesterday I received my Brown belt- I train/roll with much younger, stronger, male, female etc. about 5 days a week. I had no prior martial arts or wrestling experience. Given the fitness level of many younger people - maybe they should be concerned.
Yep. We take it easy and slow on the older guys though. I don’t let them roll for a while and make sure they take lots of rest in between rounds.
Sorry man but these are Stupid ass subjective rules.
Giving people belts based on their “baseline” is what demoralizes and embarrasses people. Sets them up for failure.
I’m the white belt with wrestling experience and I get the best of purple belts an brown belts.
When I beat them, honestly I get embarrassed for them. I even let them win out of respect and also because I don’t want to break their will.
promote people based on their actual skill and ability. Not what you think is their baseline.
Come up with a standard for promotions… maybe it’s if they submit x number of white belts or blue belts, then they can advance. Not sure but the current system is stupid af
I’m sorry, you’re not a life coach, if you’re attempting to get to know someone beyond the rules of the gym, that’s outta bounds. A blue belt level guy is a blue belt level guy, no matter how much a piece of shit he is
cringe
wrestlers ruined jiujitsu.. change my mind
In a way, they basically just hate the gi and have minimal technical
They ruined it by pressure testing it, winning, and forcing it to change? Lol
@@bm2_852 they have technique, you just don't understand it, like all those JJ black belts buttscooting 'cause they don't have takedowns
@@InvisibleHotdog what beith this *takedown wizardry you speaketh of?
No having wrestlers in jiu jitsu forces grapplers to improve their skills and work on facing different types of opponents, if your BJJ is good enough you should be able to submit wrestlers of your back, there are ways to defeat wrestlers as BJJ guy, Craig Jones has a instructional called the anti wrestling equation in BJJ fanatics, great information imo
@@bm2_852 No wrestler I have ever met (including myself) hates the gi. Every wrestler I've ever talked to has found the gi to be the most interesting thing around with what you can do with it.
Coming from wrestling to bjj is like fishing with your bare hands for 10 years and then someone hands you this fishing pole thing and completely changes your world and opens up possibilities that you never dreamed of.
Of course, I would never look at someone who fishes with their bare hands and say "you know, they're just fast and strong athletes with no skill whatsoever." But what do I know? Its probably easy to catch fish with your bare hands.