Jiu Jitsu Classes Portland : Don’t be THAT kind of White Belt!!!!

First of all, there’s a blue belt getting arm-barred by a white belt, and that’s ya know, normal enough… not too out of the ordinary…

The REAL question is: WHY IS THAT DUDE LACING HIS FINGERS SMH…. COME ON BRO WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BLUE BELT???

But that’s not what I wanted to point out for this Jiu Jitsu Classes Portland Article….You will admit, we all know at least ONE white belt that does THE FOLLOWING:

Freak out. Go Spastic. Bust out the Freak Strength. Fight every submission to the death. Neck Crank Hard af on you.

This is the moniker of the true white belt beginner. Over time, their understanding of the art naturally develops and they are more calm.

A wise man ( COUGH Joe Rogan COUGH ) once said that rolling with someone for the first time is like drowning. That’s one of the reasons why White Belts freak out and use their entire strength! They’re afraid of being submitted…

In the words of Anderson Silva ” It’s Normal… I’m a normal guy.”

The takeaway is that it’s NORMAL to be a white belt that freaks out and uses all their strength and tenses up and goes too hard and etcetera etcetera.

But the more that you relax, the more that you will realize, odds are if you are rolling with a higher belt, there is no reason to do any of the above.

Jiu Jitsu LITERALLY means “THE GENTLE ART”. Repeat after me now. Understand the words. JIU JITSU MEANS “THE GENTLE ART.”

Three reasons why you don’t want to be THAT GUY:

1. You will learn more when you are relaxed… not only on a technique level but on a muscle memory level.

Firas Zihabi ( Our MMA LORD AND SAVIOR) says that the RUSSIANS train wrestling LIGHT. The Cubans train boxing LIGHT. and the  Thai people train Muay Thai LIGHT. Jiu Jitsu is the same way. I have trained and sparred with UFC legends and our sparring sessions were super chill.

2.   Your teammates will appreciate you chilling out. You might get a lot of people that don’t want to roll with you if you get a reputation for the person that always wants to comp roll. What do I mean by comp roll? I mean the type of Jiu Jitsu FIGHT that is really competitive, like as in a competition. YES there is a good reason to comp roll for sure. But the true way to get good is to save those times for like maybe 20% of the time and drill the rest of the time. DRILLERS are KILLERS. How much do you learn while thrashing out on the mat, really? Do you play guitar by strumming wildly? Yes, sometimes. But do you learn that way? Nah. You play scales. Do you THRASH while learning scales? Nah bro. You don’t.

3. Why is it that every time people are like “hey bro you want to slow roll?” it turns into an all out shit-show and people are using their entire strength?

OMAR SANTIAGO A 2nd Degree BLACK BELT and OWNER of this awesome gym once told me… “bro the only way that you can slow roll is if you let people submit you” … WISDOM +100

Once I learned that and didn’t take it so personally I actually started learning and developing game. I started to actually feel like I was competent in my belt and not insecure.

My dudes. Trust me. If you are just starting out, keep trying to chill out and drill with your partners. It doesn’t need to be a furious scramble. Get with your other friends who understand this and drill with each other. It’s called the GENTLE ART for a reason.