BJJ Blue Belt Blues: Advice On How To Deal
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- čas přidán 14. 06. 2024
- Going from white belt to blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu is the first big accomplishment students experience.
Once students are awarded their blue belt, this weird frustration starts creeping in, known as the BJJ blue belt blues.
In this video, I discuss what the blue belt blues are, why it leads students to quitting BJJ, and a few suggestions on how to get out of the blue belt blues.
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00:00 Blue Belt Blues
01:19 3 Reasons
02:06 Responsibility
03:13 Level of Competition
04:33 Hitting A Plateau
07:16 Getting Out of The Blues
09:00 Comparing
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CZcams Video URL: • BJJ Blue Belt Blues: A...
#ChasenHill #BJJ #jiujitsu - Sport
What are some struggles you've had as a blue blet?
Finishing someone from the back. Finishing from mount, closed guard, or ashi…sure.
Unless I go for an RNC below their nose or trap one of their arms with my leg, I can’t seem to finish them from the back.
Feeling like my body is falling apart
I have been practicing Judo for about 18 years (2nd-degree black belt) and I have won many tournaments, including a national gold medal back in 2011. Two years ago, I moved to China for work, picked up BJJ as a white belt, and found myself enjoying the journey of starting a new martial art. I already had a good understanding of ground game in Judo, but BJJ turned out to be a different beast, however, I did achieve my blue belt in just under a year, due to my prior experiences.
I have been a blue belt for about a year now, and I found myself feeling frustrated with my progress lately. I feel like some of my techniques have gotten better but some are getting worse. I am focusing on only a few techniques and trying to hone my skills in just a few specific areas, but it feels like every time I take a step forward, I take two steps back. I also feel like I have a target on my back from many members of the club, as I am a judo black belt and a foreigner in China. This makes most of my rolls (with blue belts and some white belts) very competitive rather than experimental.
In the past month, I have definitely started feeling the BBB kicking in, but I am staying positive and enjoying the journey. I feel like I am slowly developing my own unique game, which is a slow process but a necessary part of the sport.
Thanks for the video and the tips!
Cheers from China!
.
Sounds to me like you could benefit from identifying another student or two that you roll with who like the idea of drilling new things, maybe you have something you want to work on and they have something they would like to work on or even better they like the idea of learning and working on whatever you’ve brought up. Remember, you’re the customer and in control of your destiny, just because everyone is sparing doesn’t mean you have to be, you and your partner can use your sparing time to drill too, hey I’ll start here you there and vice versa, then eventually work it into some slower flow action together. Just trying to be helpful, I think Lex Fridman used this approach on his way up the ladder I remember him saying. ✌️
I'm a 45 year old white Belt and truck driver.
💪💪💪
Amazing!!! Happy to have you part of the Jiu-Jitsu family!
I got my Blue Belt last year and I got hit with the Blues/Imposter Syndrome, the moment I got it. I felt like I needed to meet expectations the following class and I was worried. Instead of running I trained harder and more consistent to prove to myself I deserved it. Today, the blues is gone and I'm comfortable getting my ass kicked while challenging the higher belts.
This is awesome and great motivation! I would be very interested in hearing more about how you overcame this! Could you shoot me an email at chasen@chasenhill.com, so we can connect? 👊
1 stripe white belt here and had a year of consistent training and then 6 months of inconsistent training. I very much feel this type of blues - constantly fighting to get back to where I was and getting beat by people with half the training time. Great advice here that I'm going to steal especially about having a training focus and not comparing yourself to others.
I still suck but that's okay.
I've still got the White Belt Blues, and it seems odd that someone who trains hard enough to get their blue belt would lose heart. But perhaps it's exactly that kind of thinking that causes the blues. "I've worked so hard to get to blue belt, and yet I'm only just getting started, and now I'm at the bottom of an even bigger mountain."
I have done a lot of martials in my time ranging from karate to judo to kickboxing to brazillian jiu jitsu. I started doing brazillian jiu jitsu at 18 just before I turned 19. Im a light bloke and when I started I was 47kg and through time I managed to gain weight and I'm now comfortably sitting at 59kg. I recently got my blue belt and got the blue belt blues a week after. as a small white belt I would go a set pace keeping everything technical and rarely ever going 100%(even in comps) and people would just go the same pace as me. Then I got my blue belt and it seemed like everyone was going 1000% not caring about injuries or weight disadvantage whilst I was still going at the same pace. People would just try submit me and even succeed at submitting me in my guard despite them haveing a 20-40kg advantage. after 2 weeks of taking it, I decided I'm no longer going to go at a nice pase that I did when sparring these guys. I would put in 100% effort. I still go nice on newer people and people the same weight as me. It seems to have worked. after subing them a few times they tend to be more technical but still I feel like the bigger people are just constantly trying to over power me than have a decent roll. I'm 20 now and getting my blue belt has made me extremely happy but I think I would give advice to my self at 3 stripe white to start using strength and up your intensity just a little bit each week. I would also suggest taking up yoga. Im super flexible now and my guard has benefit massively from it. Awesome video though. I'm glad its normal to feel this way
Blue belt seven months. Cross training, competing, seminars help me
Absolutely they do!
@@ChasenHill yeah i like to train everywhere, as I have no attention span lol.
I think the main struggle is a lacking in finding a path.
What I mean is this:
Look at Judo in other places around the world.
The Judoka take a look at you, and assess that *(insert throw name here)* is going to be your throw.
You then have a senior belt as your practice partner as they fix your flaws.
And while the senior belt might not practice your throw, they understand enough of the basic principles to guide you effectively so that you know your throw.
The big expectation for purple belt is that you have a game and the time you spend getting to black is to make that game more efficient.
I'm over halfway through blue belt (3 stripe blue belt) and I think I have found a bottom game that makes sense for me.
The thing is, during this time, I had to go through a bit of trial and error to accomplish what I have and to put it simply, it wasn't easy.
No one could give me an honest direction.
Which was frustrating.
I asked my professor what direction i should take.
He told me my half guard was something I gravitated towards and that I should maybe do something with that.
The problem was that I got smashed constantly and even when it worked it was always a fight to get what I wanted.
When I tried a butterfly sweep in a roll, it was seamless, it was smooth.
Even when they tried to fight it, I felt like I was doing nothing at all.
I made butterfly work for me, everyone is bigger than me (like, a significant weight difference, not just 40 lbs) and butterfly sweeps really worked.
It would have been so much simpler if just got promoted to blue belt, and an upper belt looked at me, compared my body type to the average person and told me "go do Marcelo sweeps".
But no one does that in BJJ, you're on your own.
So if there's one thing to say about blue belt blues, give your blue belts some encouragement.
And ask if they're finding what works, and if they don't know what works, give them a direction.
Smartly AND intelligently!? Amazing.
Thanks for the words of wisdom professor, I'm currently dealing with the blue belt blues. I think it's more of the injury I'm dealing with, it was very weird getting my blue belt while injured. I'm still unsure if I have the ability to execute, I feel confident in my knowledge. However it's been almost 6 months I haven't been able to train fully. My goals right now are with the pt and progressing out of this injury.
That is tough! Just hang in there! Keep studying as much as you can to stay sharp!
Baby blue belt here (2 months blue). Needed to hear this, THANKS!
Congrats on the blue! If you need more help or advice, I would love to connect. Shoot me an email at chasen@chasenhill.com if you are down 🙂
I got my blue belt 2 months ago and I've had the blue belt blues almost immediately. The most demoralising thing I've found is that I'm getting tapped by white belts all the time and don't feel I deserve my blue belt
Yes. Definitely had them. Struggled heavily
I've been a blue belt for about six months now. I was a white belt for quite a long time (maybe 3.5 years total, but realistically 2 years worth of training) partly due to covid closing the gym, and having a baby etc. Right now I feel like my biggest struggle is dealing with the athletic white belts that have some experience and go 110% at all times. I do fine with them but the rolls are a real grind and I don't really feel like I can play with techniques. I am more focused on just subduing and controlling them. On the flip side, when I roll with coloured belts I feel like I am making good progress and have really enjoyable rolls. I guess I just didn't think that I would leave the gym after rolling with white belts somewhat deflated, while leaving after rolling with coloured belts really positive.
I feel yah dude was a long ass white belt myself and have similar struggles with some white belts. I tend to just use those as pressure rolls and its made me enjoy them a lot more. Not really looking for subs just moving around till they make a mistake and trying to never be off top position. Good luck dude!
Crush the spazz out of them... I do, and it's slowed down insanity rolls... I will let them practice jiu-jitsu, I will crush, grind, and pin spastic behavior 😂😂😂
Edit: My professor says it's "slow cooking them" 😊
The reason for this is simple, white belts don't always play the ''game'' of jiu jitsu.
When you roll with coloured belts they typically have a techinical answer for what you're doing and you can, to a degree, know how they will respond to you. This usually means you and your opponent can somewhat relax during your rolls, you both have gotten to a stage where you only use power and speed when it's needed, and sometimes not even that. Meaning, you almost never get close to 100% rolling with other coloured belts.
But an athletic white belt might just use power and speed for the entire duration of the roll, leaving you tired having to keep up physically.
Try uping your intensity when rolling with the coloured belts, do some cardio training, lift a bit and now these white belts wont bother you at all.
Was a white belt for a little over a year, been a Blue for 4ish months now. Definitely starting to get early imposter blues. I realized my guard passing is shit. Lots of skinny long legged dudes at my gym so lots of triangles coming my way. There are still some big burly white belts that can tap me and it kills my confidence. When I heard you talk about this in the video I felt better. I like the idea of finding problem areas and just working on that for a few weeks to a month and trying to progress that way. Still consistently training, would rather be a blue belt for 4 years than quit.
Awesome! Great mind set. Happy to hear you have that mind set. I can 100% help you further. Shot me a a email at chasen@chasenhill.com if you are open to chatting more 🙂
This. I'm a 1 stripe blue belt, had the blue belt for about 5 months, and I still have imposter syndrome. I have no idea how or why I got a stripe, because there are some (slightly younger) 3 stripe white belts who give me lots of trouble. Occasionally they tap me, but it's 50/50 on weather it will be me stuck on bottom just defending the whole time, or me on top struggling to fish for a sub. I feel like a total sham, but I'm just going to keep coming back until I feel like I earned my current rank. I've been trying to find my sticking points, and the main HUGE one right now is being stuck in what I'd call a bottom smashed half-guard. I just get absolutely smashed and while I can usually defend indefinitely, I'm stuck there. And this is against a couple 3 stripe whites. So yeah, idk if anyone else has experienced anything like that, but I feel you!
Mr. Professor Hill. How are ya. Asalammualaikum. Lol. I think we talked about this issue. If not ,then spot on brother. I had received my blue belt in 2021 same year I became a Muslim. Yes on and off for a greater part of 2021 and 2023. Injuries and self destruction. That should be your next topic, a very important and real aspect of life. Not believing in myself is my problem along with comparing me, I to others. You nailed it. And not being competitive to compete when I was a white belt. Not good enough. Blue belt blues is real per say. Just at different levels. So, maybe yea just escape and one submission to work on and at the same time exploring the chimp monk hole lol. But not too much? Any tip would be cool. Thank brother hill. Reggie.
I was a white belt for about 7 months got my Blue belt yeasterday. I feel like it was too soon as I was only a two stripe white belt.
We train hard in the gym im at and have mostly purple brown and black training partners along with a few other white belts.
I went it today feeling like I had an expectation and asked my instructor if it was the right call.
He said im rolling at a much higher level at an advanced blue belt and is very confident in my ability.
So im going to some open mats next week to test myself abit. Ive been to other gyms before and always do fine and can fend off higher belts for awhile. What would you do? Still feeling like an impostor as I was mentally expecting over a year to be at this belt level.
1) don’t care about belts or stripes. Hierarchies are not important.
2) don’t compare yourself to others.
3) have an individual plan - buy instructionals and work on specific areas that need work.
I recommend starting with John Danaher instructionals. He explains most things in incredible detail.
Good advice and a great place to get started 🙂
Hey #ChasenHill
👋 🙏
I’m about to be 48 and began jiujitsu at age 45. I had never done this before then.
I just received my blue belt about 2-3 months ago maybe 3-4 but anyway; I feel like I have forgotten EVERYTHING I EVER LEARNED.
I do pretty well rolling in class at a pretty non competitive pace with my class mats but anytime I get called to help demonstrate I feel like I’m lost. Being asked do something and getting put on the spot totally makes me feel lost.
I love training though and have so much fun. I do Muay Thai 2x a week and jiujitsu 2x’s a week. Another problem I have is my health issues. I’ve had about 8 surgeries in my lifetime and they take a toll on me. I feel a lil defeated before I ever get on the mat bc I have pain from surgeries and arthritis 😆 it ain’t funny but I’m old. I feel better after training and I’m in the best shape of my life now but I just get discouraged by this too.
Any advice for my ramblings is appreciated.
Thank you
Man I had the white belt blues and I hope I don't get it at blue. Started in march 2018 had three stripes till I got my blue in Oct (1 stripe now). Between multiple moves for family/school and injuries I got pretty lazy in 2021. Started back full grind mode did a comp and moved up a weight class (guys had like 25+) pounds on me and hung in there scoring a whack of points and it was a 3-5 experience comp. Got my blue belt a week later, really focused on all my flaws from that comp and just medaled in one last week. It feels like everything is just going crazy good now so really hoping I skipped the blues.
Comparing myself to others and not having a specific training plan really screwed my progression. With a clear head and goals it feels like it is all coming together.
I'm purple belt for the last 6 months. I've been through the blue belt blues and at my worst, I wanted someone to blow me away with a shotgun so I didn't have to train anymore. It was a hideous time, filled with heartache. Now I see new blue belts looking around and saying things like 'man I miss the fundamental class.' Then I say to myself 'just wait until the blue belt blues hit!.' My advice for any person suffering from the BBBs, is just keep your head down and roll. If there's a major gap is your technique like little to no guard, get private lessons.....but only for the problem you're having. The more rounds you do, the better it gets. Then when you go to a future grading and you see some white belts being promoted to blue.....all of a sudden your name could very well be called to come up and receive your purple belt. Purple ain't no picnic, but it's definitely better than the BBBs that's for sure.
My situation is slightly different atm, year and 5 month white belt here, and I only get rolls from typically purple and up, with a sprinkle of blues. 0-1 white belts typically roll on the beginner classes I can make throughout the week. (I know the upper belts take it easy on me)
Taken in all the upper belt awesomeness!
@@ChasenHill luckily everyone’s cool
That’s amazing you have an awesome environment!
That was my first like 3 years of training. Just know once there is more whites you will have to play some catch up on top game but your guard is gonna be fucking crazy good.
Hey, could you do a video on advice for Imposter syndrome?
100% can do and will do in future! I think I can help you sooner as well. If you are interested, shoot me a email at chasen@chasenhill.com
Ive just accepted being bad and fully expect to continue being bad...I train for the mental health not the belt.
I am 42 yrs old. I got my blue belt in June 2002. I quit about a year later. I experienced that roller coaster up and down that first year. I quit due to injury. I eventually came back Jan 2020. I got my first blue belt strip in Feb 2021. I struggled and fell into the blue belt blues from my first strip. It took me quite some time to get over it. I received my (3) strip on my blue belt June 2022. That got me over my blues. After I let go of this idea of belt chasing. I just settled into being a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. That led me to really breaking down each technique I struggled with and focusing on those issues. In no time my weakness became my strength. I started really seeing my game. Over the last 6 months or so my submission rate was maybe 2 submissions per class. Now I’m literally get 2-3 submissions per roll now. I just focus on the details. Also I started thinking ahead in regards to each opponent. The super strong young guys I realized I can’t compete head on physically with these guys. After I recognize this I change my game plan to accommodate that individual. I’m a happy (3) striped blue belt right now. I have been able to submit new to mid level purple belts with this strategy. It’s o nice to finally be good.
Why not learn the saxophone during the blue belt blues? Then you can play the blues when you have the blues
That would be very impressive!
😅
Just do a threat free Gracie Jiu Jitsu blue belt at a Rener/Ryron certified training centre, and you wont have to go through the suck!
Something weird going on with the sound, it's a little tinny
Yeah, I had some mic issues I noticed post-recording. I appreciate you sticking it out!
Not here. Sounds like the rest of his recent episodes. (Listening on Dynaudio BM5kii in a controlled environment.)
@@CynicEidolon thanks for quieting my anxiety a bit 😮💨
@Chasen Hill still love the content! 👌
@@tylergossett3133 thank you for all the support!
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@@ChasenHill I’m a self-proclaimed # 1 fan 😎
I’ve been a fan for years. Thank you for the amazing content.
I stopped after getting blue, after a year.... Then came back at white after 12 years.... Then got blue gain after 2 years. That was in 2019. Been blue now since then. Don't care about belts any more. I just keep training and don't want to be purple. Screw it. I'm blue for ever.... And don't care.