I was just told I'll be taking my blue belt test in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - I am a little nervous, not sure what to expect or if I am ready. Any advice or words of encouragement for those that have been through it?
He's a Nova Uniao affiliated practitioner. 3rd degree black belt under Master Sazinho. On the East Coast, Renzo Gracie is really the strong Gracie presence, notably in NY and NJ. What was your experience in belt testing? How did it go and what did you have to do?
Look at it this way. It'll ONLY be what? 2 Hrs. So Give it all you got for 2 hrs. It is SUCH an accomplishment. Every School is different, so prep for the "TEST" could be different. We had to do x amount of sweeps, reversals, gaurd subs, side control subs, full mount subs, take downs..... THEN... We had to roll (or should I say, Get our a** kicked) by a higher belt for the last hour. I remember (back in 1997) one of the guys I had to roll with Justin McCully. (UFC Heavyweight). That was NOT fun!!!!! So just take it for what it is and good luck it's just a few hours and you'll be a Blue Belt!!! Congratulations by the way. GREAT Achievement.
Thanks for the encouragement - I am NERVOUS! Who do you do the sweeps, takedowns, etc. to? The instructor or another student? I love the rolling part - have no problem getting my butt kicked - our typical class is about 1/2 hour - 45 minutes of rolling, and I often go to higher belts... They told me if I don't pass, I have 6 months to try again...bummer
Progression is white -> blue -> purple -> brown -> black. Currently, I am a white belt - 1 year in. When the test happens, I'll be 1 year, 4 months. I found out that he'll do some BJJ history - good for me, I know it cold. I also know that if we do well, but not enough to "pass", you get a stripe...small consolation, but a sign of progress. My weakness has always been the attacking game. I have a harder time with subs, notably from in the guard. My triangles aren't always clean, I am not the most confident doing armbars, and even kimura from guard - it's hard for me to hip up clean. Funny thing is, I can omoplata pretty well, and that's a little more intricate. I can kimura from side control easy, armbar from mount fairly well, and do some chokes, but that's about it. I also have a sneaky sub where people that get my back tend to cross their feet - even when not fully crossed, you can slap a triangle on the foot - sort of a heel lock. Very painful. I've gotten some higher belts with that when they snooze I am also (for a white belt) very good at guard pass and defense. I can pass nearly every white belt with ease, many of the blue belts, and even stalemate some purple belts. Rolled with a few advanced blue belts and they can control me, but have difficulties subbing me. In my school, we roll day one. So I believe it's easier develop defense quicker. Some guys adapt well to the attacks - I just haven't, and that's why I am a little nervous about the test!
Give yourself a break!! UR a WHITE BELT! Don't expect to be confident with everything. My test and your test might and probably will be different. Every instructor has there way. Even different hand positions count for different types of chokes. Don't worry too much, If your instructor is cool, He'll probably give you the blue based also on effort. Also, either buy instructional DVDs or get on youtube and learn one or 2 more moves per position just to have it incase you can't remember something.
Yes, I've been leveraging YouTube a bit. I felt pretty good this week - held my own against my fellow blue belt candidates, so that's something. Keeping my fingers crossed. Gonna prep by doing the NAGA Worlds coming up (probably gi only, which uses BJJ rules) - that will be a good benchmark.
Not bad, but I was gone for 2 weka on vacation. Still, I've been seeing small improvements. Not overly confident in my attacks as I'd like, but I am better than most defending. I am attending a seminar tomorrow with my instructor's master - Master Sa (aka Sazinho). He's a bjj legend, should be fun! How about you? Black belt soon?
Just went back last week. Sad to say, I'm not into it at all! I will do it to get back into shape, but I have already missed a class. I think I'm at a different stage in my life now. It's too bad, I really love the sport. Black Belt, Ha! I'll be a Brown Belt for a LONG time I guess!
Brown is a very impressive level to be at. You have a great accomplishment there. I am at level three (orange belt) in Krav Maga. I love it, especially when we have to fight off multiple assailants. My instructors come from all backgrounds--ninjitsu, BJJ, UFC, Chinese boxing, etc. I go in to the BJJ classes and sparring sessions every so often. Very humbling experiences.
I think testing for colored belts is just a way to get more money out of you. Wear a white belt roll around enough and do enough atemi, it will turn black eventually. Your skill level is what it is and testing means nothing...its the blood, the bruises and the sweat that count.
Obviously I do...but not in some dojo run by somebody trying to make a buck or get into MMA competitition. I will go a step further, why wear anything but street clothes...that is, if you are serious about learning to fight. These belts and rankings are totally useless when some skel is intent upon taking your head off...Or do you just confine this to the dojo or some other controlled environment?
Here you go: from my mentor, RIP Carl. NUTS & BOLTS Fundamental "nuts & bolts" training for close combat should be directed at dealing with the extremes. That is a life and death struggle for survival, i.e. worst-case scenario. Restraint, control, and use of force scenarios and methods are peripheral to this core training. In other words train to deal with these beliefs at the forefront: The enemy is quite willing and capable of killing you - there are multiple threats - they are armed - the assailant(s) are bigger, stronger than you and they CAN FIGHT! Can it get any worse that that? Now add this to the mix: You are physically/mentally exhausted - ill or injured - caught by absolute surprise - may have to protect others as well - no viable avenue of E&E. So what do we HAVE to do? I think we would all agree that immediate and absolute "threat" elimination by the most extreme (hence most reliable) measures possible is really the only pragmatic answer. So now what? Let's look to real world models for some possible answers. Three potential goals seem obvious: 1 - immediate cessation of life. Yes, killing the SOB's outright! 2 - unconsciousness. Knocking the SOB's out cold! 3 - Acute traumatic shock (least viable). Making it physically impossible for the SOB's to do ANYTHING. I would heartily suggest following up with 1 or 2. John Minnery had a good line, If you killed him once and you're sure he's dead, kill him again and be dead sure". If anyone regards this as melodramatic or overly harsh, well consider what you would do if some animal were about to harm your wife, children, etc. Considering the worst case, it seems only logical that we attack the most viable targets with ruthless, abject brutality. Priority #1 - the throat/neck region and the face/skull (brain box). Everything else is secondary. Why? These two areas assure the "biggest bang for the buck" so to speak. Reality sucks, so you may very well have only ONE CHANCE, you had better make it the best chance possible! This applies to unarmed as well as armed combat. Attack the throat with the INTENTION of crushing it! No brainer. Attack the anterior/lateral carotid triangle. One of TWO primary KO points. Kyusho/Dim Mak this AIN'T! Just "hammer" the bastard. Fast, hard and often is the key phrase! Attack the cervical spine/C-1 - dens bone attachment. Attack the head/brain case. Now here we get interesting. The goal in attacking the head should be, in my opinion, to cause ACUTE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. Other possible injuries are secondary. Attack with the intention of causing massive "coup contra coup" brain trauma, either through translational or rotational impact. Cause severe "kinking" of the brain stem, either by hyper flexion or extension. Forget the "death touch" stuff. THIS IS HOW people in the real world get F***ed up. Just research contact sports injuries, i.e. football, hockey, soccer, boxing and judo. Shocking the medulla and the raephi ganglia are proven "shut downs" in the real world. Second proven KO is located at the jaw line lateral to the chin at about the spot where the mental foramen is located (draw a vertical line down from corner of mouth). This is the classic boxing KO and is due in large part to rotational acceleration causing "brain bounce" or concussive referral shock and acute twisting of the cervical vertebrae. No one is saying that this is "easy", BUT it is what you are going to HAVE to do. Sometimes you CAN attack directly, sometimes you can't. Uncle Murphy rules the roost here. So you DO whatever you have to DO, but get there! Spit in his eyes, slam a kick (with real intent and hopefully solid boots) into his shins, crush his nuts with a knee, grab the bastard and bite his nose off...whatever! Shock him, rock him, and knock him out! Or just smile simperingly and waste the skel with total abject ruthlessness. Then go home and get good nights sleep. It ain't pretty, it ain't easy, it ain't fun, this is SERIOUS "guano"and your very life and well being will be hanging in the balance. Either stand up, accept it and deal with it, or fold your hand, the choice is yours. The morgue is filled with compromise. Survival is its OWN REWARD! Carl Cestari
BTW, there is a photo...and I think a film clip of Carl rolling with one of the Gracies...so, BJJ was not foreign to him...I will try to find it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueg0BFKLaXQ&feature=player_embedded Not Carl, but the legendary Charlie Nelson...illustrates what I mean about the belts.
Is it really that hard to accept that you are both right? Of course belts don't mean squat in the real world, against a coked up gang-banger that won't hesitate to kill your wife or kids--you either have the ability to deal with it or you don't. Of course belt tests show that you have gained a certain level of competency in some skills and are ready to build on that. Finally, of course they cost money. But whether they are significantly profitable to administer, and whether that is the reason for belt test administration, though, are entirely different questions. I doubt many studios test for the sake of earning money. By the time you are done with overhead, instructor's personal or weekend time and opportunity cost, etc., there would have to be several dozen students per instructor, all being tested simultaneously, month after month, for any significant sums to change hands.
Good stuff, but a little over the top. We don't all live in ghettos. And applying an arm bar and screwing up someone's rotator cuff or elbow joint for life just because they are drunk and not 100% aware that they are acting like ******bags is a very stupid thing to do, and likely to land you in jail in most western countries. I take krav maga and street fighting/sparring classes almost every day. I also run and bike a lot to stay fit. BJJ is useful and I train in it once a week as well, but on the street, you don't want to end up on the ground.
All well and good, but I train for the competition and personal gratification. The health benefits are a bonus. I am 41 years old, I don't anticipate getting into many street fights and I train / rely on other methods if my property is breached.
And there you go...if you want to compete BJJ and MMA are fine...if getting belts is gratifying, go for it. But when and if you get serious about protecting yourself...I can hook you up with a guy in New Jersey...no contracts, no uniforms, no belts, no BS.
