A good rule of thumb I think is to never use your A game against lower belts. If you are the better grappler... That's an opportunity to use techniques that are a work in progress.
In general I agree, but against the super aggressive guys I pull them to A game area and let them tire out. I’d rather go a little harder for a few seconds than let these guys fly around
All good points. I definitely need (as a blue belt) to remember to try out new things against white belts. I also see the value in keeping an eye on the larger, stronger white belts and using my A game to counteract their advantages over me in weight and strength.
Chewy I work a heavy schedule for 4 days then 3 days off which I use for class. Those 4 days I'm stuck at work and commuting/ dinner time is always filled with your videos. It keeps me interested even when I'm not on the mats -- thank you for being a big motivator brother. I also picked up one of the black and purple rashguards, it should be here today or tomorrow 🙏😊
Actually very timely for me. I’m a white belt and feeling down last week because I felt like I wasn’t getting better and everyone was crushing me. Ended up taking about four days off came back with a clear head and now I’m going to focus on reps of things I need to get better at. Thanks as always for your Content! But I sure a couple weeks ago just to say thanks.
As a guitar teacher and now a novice bjj player, I can completely agree with your outlook. For example, I can easily knock out and teach most AC/DC riffs without too much effort, but trying to teach (let alone play) Revelation Mother Earth by Randy Rhoads (Ozzy) is a whole different ballgame. Practice makes perfect, but sometimes you have to go back to those 3 chord riffs...
I’ve hit many slumps in my game many times myself. I personally never thought too much on it other than I’m just going to be on this journey a while developing skill…
Hey man I recently started training 10th planet in February love the channel man currently dealing with some stuff with my ribs but its awesome and I wanna do mma one day
I’d imagine I’ll be doing a decent amount of technique exploration when I start BJJ in a couple weeks. The first week’s free, so I’m just going in with an open mind as someone from primarily a Taekwondo and Karate background. Great video as always, and I’ve been watching to help myself prepare for that first class, because I am nervous lol.
Everything you said is what I've been doing for 3 months now. It's a great way to improve no doubt about it! Good way to get good at guard retention is to do exactly this too...ask your partner to pass and reset with you during live rolls.
Had the conversation with a 1 stripe white belt this week who said he's working on becoming more explosive. I told him if his goal was to get injured, get your partners injured, and have no one in the gym want to roll with you, that'd be the right approach. Pointed out to him that me and the other blue belt guy in the conversation rolled right before I rolled with him and we were literally using less than 25% of our physical attributes and could probably roll for an hour at that pace. Geeze and these guys wonder why their bodies are so destroyed if they train everyday.
I’m a purple recovering from knee surgery. I pretty much have to drill and focus on the areas of my game that put less strain on my knee. I’m also helping the lower belts with whatever they want to work on.
46 year old three stripe white. I find I learn less rolling with aggressive whites. I’m looking to achieve multiple positions and they want the sub (younger guys). I’m forced to react, anticipate and move quicker meanwhile using less strength with higher belts and feel there is more flow rather than an epic grip oriented death match. Of course I roll whites but that’s my feelings in the last year.
Definitely insightful…I know when I was rolling with a brown belt and he told me to slow down in my rolls…it definitely makes sense to slow down and work my technique instead of trying to power through everything…any techniques in slowing down in rolls during training?
Ryron was saying keep it playful for over a decade….stop caring about winning so much, put yourself in uncomfortable positions and watch the growth. Deliberate practice is a very similar methodology. Great stuff Chew….PS if you haven’t read Malcolm Gladwells “Outliers” yet you’ll enjoy….talks a lot about the 10k hour theory as well.
I’ve read it. And while The book is a fun read. He misses the mark on a few things about the studies it’s based off of. Peak was produced by people who actually ran the studies outliers and books like it were based on and they share some interesting details. In regards to keep it playful. Sometimes, but you’ve gotta have access to a higher gear too. And hard training has it’s place.
Roger Gracie trained with white belts almost exclusively preparing for his early world Championship. Which in my mind means he’s using almost pure technique. Watch Russian wrestlers training. It’s a lot of flow it’s light and deliberate. Don’t get me wrong you need a tough roll here and there but you can not last in the gentle art going hard all the time.
Something that I think is quite rare that helps you improve in other areas is feedback. Either through watching footage of yourself or the instructor giving you that feedback. It's difficult for the instructor to give everybody feedback, so perhaps recording footage of position sparring and analysing it would be useful. Especially with someone who is better than you who can noticed things that you don't.
i suggest anyone who feels they have hit a plateau despite how much effort they make is TAKE a LONG break. at least a month, up to six months. stay fit but stay off the mat
My take on no progress is to just show up and have fun. I feel like when your outlook on it is more lax the more your willing to try out and have fun with.
Taking a few days off is also a good way to break through a plateau, particularly if you train a lot and feel worn out. This will give your mind and body time to recover
Positional sparring is fantastic. We did 3 weeks of back control and i was even getting close to catching the purple belts out as a white belt. I cant get their back in live rolls yet though.. one day..
Gonna use my comment to say to anyone reading to pick up Chewy's half guard sweeper instructional. It is very helpful along with positional sparring from handguard.
I love to fight and go hard, so I have to check myself occasionally because hard rolling limits creativity, imo. When I know we're going hard and my buddy is trying to put his A-game on me, I'm exclusively going to work my best techniques and positions. Nothing wrong with that sometimes, but if I want to get better at butterfly guard, I'm going to have to play it, and ideally at a pace where it doesn't INSTANTLY get smashed and passed.
I just got my blue belt last week and cannot relate. I am still learning things for the first time or the first time in a long time. I see my improvements and am sometimes amazed that I did the technique correctly and it worked. I would recommend a few things though: 1. Roll with everyone. From the guy built like thanes to the guy who looks like a broom. Yes, even roll against the spazzy, crank everything elbowing guy. 2. If they are a lower belt, work your weakest position. Try not to use any power, just technique. 3. Try to hit in live rolling what you drilled that class. I also recommend Talent is overrated the book. Chewy recommended it a while back in another video and I am reading it now. On page 200 and it is good.
Roger Gracie talks about this idea. He says this is how he got to be so goddamn good at basic jiujitsu and can dominate world champions with fundamental techniques. I’ve begun to think of free rolling as the reward I give myself for sticking to focused, deliberate training. If 80% of my training is built around specific positional sparring and drilling, and 20% is rolling, I still get to have fun but will improve much faster.
On the biggest slump right now, coach told me I'm about ready to get my blue belt but I feel like I don't know anything, struggling in rolling and having trouble getting techniques to work. I just started back in the gi after a few months of only no gi due to a comp and it's getting really difficult.
I keep hearing from guys at my gym that punch chokes are kind of bad etiquette. Are they that much worse than other kinds of chokes? They seem cool to learn and highly effective but I’ve been hearing people complain about them. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Watch an instructional and start working on new stuff in your rolls, new sequences, new guards, stuff you aren’t to comfortable with, there’s a ton there other than that Chewey is right, focus when rolling, don’t just be all over the place trying to beat everyone.
Posted this on one of your other vids, love to hear your take on it. - I'm a 44 year old, doing Jujitsu for 3 years now. I only recently got awarded my blue belt, and was delighted. I felt I finally was making progress. Last Friday in training I got swept by a purple belt and landed on my shoulder. I immediately felt my clavicle snap. It's a grim outlook. Surgery to fix a plate and reattach ligaments, then plate removal at a later date. My question is do you think there is any possibility of me continuing jujitsu? Also have you had any older members of your gym get injured and continue? Thanks.
Are you sure it broke? I had that happen and it was a shoulder separation. I thought it was for sure broken until I went to the hospital. I was back 6 weeks later. I’ve also broken my clavicle several times when I was a teenager. It’s not a huge deal.
I'd talk to your doctor and consult him. But yep I think there is a possibility you could continue training even if you have to adjust they way you train to accommodate the injuries and things.
@@countsmyth for what it’s worth: at my school there is a 65+ year old blue belt who completely broke his ankle and came back within 6 months training at his full capacity, scrapping with 20 year olds. He is also riddled with injuries over his life. You will be back and you will continue getting better. Let your body rest and recover, follow your doctors orders and stay positive 🤙🏽
Chewy, Im 29 and have been training for a bout a year now. I am former high-school wrestler and I roll three times a week in the upper belt open mat. With My top game and my wrestling I am very competitive with them and I often find myself getting to an advantageous position more often then not. However, I am absolutely god awful off of my back. I have a good understanding and experience from drilling sweeps and attacks from guard but it is ridiculous how easily these guys are passing guard and how overwhelmed I am with them on top. I am terrified my game will never progress because I feel so stuck. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I had this problem similar to you too. I made it to purp belt because of my top game, but had the worst guard game or playing off my back in general. I decided to spend the whole year playing off of my back. After about 8 months of getting destroyed and learning from my mistakes, I hit an epiphany and was able to chain multiple techniques together that worked really well with me. Now I actually like playing off of my back now. So just set a plan to play off your back for a whole year and you will eventually hit an epiphany.
I go to a smaller school with mostly lower belt prospective MMA guys, and they only know one speed, GO. On top of that they're generally a bit bigger and stronger than me so it's tough for me to get these kinds of rolls. I've basically got to seek out the "easy" rolls in the class and do my best to turn off my strength and use pure technique which helps a ton, but I wish I had access to guys my level and size that know how to turn off the "goon" strength and just focus on technique because I'm a bjj junkie and don't train striking and mma.
@@BeingBrian I can contain it if I put out max effort, but nothing happens and I hate boring rolls where they try the whole round to pass my guard and can't submit me or vice versa
@@WOWster007 I do, but that's not really in thier wheel houses yet. They still seem to have the "gotta win at all costs" mentality at this point. And like I said its a smaller school with not too many members at this point so I tend to get my best most beneficial rolls in with my black belt instructor, although trying new techniques out on him isn't the best option either since he smashes my A game anyways lol
If your training partners are going all out and they can't pass your guard or submit you, why can't you just use technique then? Don't let fear of getting caught keep you from progressing.
Hey Chewy, I started jiu jitsu about 2.5 months ago, I've earned my second stripe recently, I also have a little wrestling experience (2 yrs highschool) ,only saying that so you know where I'm at in my limited experience. I've had this mindset the whole time that I'm now wondering if I should get rid of and wanted to know your input. I am a heavier guy, around 220-240 lbs, and most of the time I will try to hold my weight and strength back while rolling with smaller people, even higher belts. My question is should I do this with higher stripes/belts, or should they be able to handle it? Thank you for your time :)
Higher belts should be able to handle it as it’s a good test of their skills. Smaller people I would try to match their strength and be careful because you could injure them unintentionally. Basically, don’t lead with strength but if you need it, use it
@@LONGxNxLIMP I’m a pretty big guy, I powerlifted for 5 years before training BJJ and I don’t think I ever came out with a “victory” roll (with a purple belt for example) who was smaller than me during my entire time as a white belt. They can handle you and they have many times before you started training. Just be careful if it’s a girl for example or an older man ya know
A good rule of thumb I think is to never use your A game against lower belts. If you are the better grappler... That's an opportunity to use techniques that are a work in progress.
That’s a great idea!
In general I agree, but against the super aggressive guys I pull them to A game area and let them tire out. I’d rather go a little harder for a few seconds than let these guys fly around
All good points.
I definitely need (as a blue belt) to remember to try out new things against white belts.
I also see the value in keeping an eye on the larger, stronger white belts and using my A game to counteract their advantages over me in weight and strength.
A game defense though if they want to go hard. Tire them out. Now it's my turn :)
@@felix200601 that’s not the point the point to stop these lower belt aggressive guys with ur b game , to help your b game Improve
Chewy I work a heavy schedule for 4 days then 3 days off which I use for class. Those 4 days I'm stuck at work and commuting/ dinner time is always filled with your videos. It keeps me interested even when I'm not on the mats -- thank you for being a big motivator brother. I also picked up one of the black and purple rashguards, it should be here today or tomorrow 🙏😊
Awesome. Appreciate the support and glad I can join you for some BJJ moments off the mat.
Actually very timely for me. I’m a white belt and feeling down last week because I felt like I wasn’t getting better and everyone was crushing me. Ended up taking about four days off came back with a clear head and now I’m going to focus on reps of things I need to get better at. Thanks as always for your Content! But I sure a couple weeks ago just to say thanks.
As a guitar teacher and now a novice bjj player, I can completely agree with your outlook. For example, I can easily knock out and teach most AC/DC riffs without too much effort, but trying to teach (let alone play) Revelation Mother Earth by Randy Rhoads (Ozzy) is a whole different ballgame. Practice makes perfect, but sometimes you have to go back to those 3 chord riffs...
I’ve hit many slumps in my game many times myself. I personally never thought too much on it other than I’m just going to be on this journey a while developing skill…
Solid evidence 👌🏼 thank you!
Can't stress enough the importance of deliberate practice. Great video Chewy!
So true. When I slowed down I actually started seeing things. Lo and behold! 😂 Took me long enough
Hey man I recently started training 10th planet in February love the channel man currently dealing with some stuff with my ribs but its awesome and I wanna do mma one day
I’d imagine I’ll be doing a decent amount of technique exploration when I start BJJ in a couple weeks. The first week’s free, so I’m just going in with an open mind as someone from primarily a Taekwondo and Karate background. Great video as always, and I’ve been watching to help myself prepare for that first class, because I am nervous lol.
Just have fun bro leave your ego at the door
Everything you said is what I've been doing for 3 months now. It's a great way to improve no doubt about it!
Good way to get good at guard retention is to do exactly this too...ask your partner to pass and reset with you during live rolls.
Had the conversation with a 1 stripe white belt this week who said he's working on becoming more explosive. I told him if his goal was to get injured, get your partners injured, and have no one in the gym want to roll with you, that'd be the right approach. Pointed out to him that me and the other blue belt guy in the conversation rolled right before I rolled with him and we were literally using less than 25% of our physical attributes and could probably roll for an hour at that pace.
Geeze and these guys wonder why their bodies are so destroyed if they train everyday.
Another good thing to mention is the Dunning-Kreuger effect
I’m a purple recovering from knee surgery. I pretty much have to drill and focus on the areas of my game that put less strain on my knee. I’m also helping the lower belts with whatever they want to work on.
Good advise thank you
Good job Chewy! I love positional training.
46 year old three stripe white. I find I learn less rolling with aggressive whites. I’m looking to achieve multiple positions and they want the sub (younger guys).
I’m forced to react, anticipate and move quicker meanwhile using less strength with higher belts and feel there is more flow rather than an epic grip oriented death match.
Of course I roll whites but that’s my feelings in the last year.
Definitely insightful…I know when I was rolling with a brown belt and he told me to slow down in my rolls…it definitely makes sense to slow down and work my technique instead of trying to power through everything…any techniques in slowing down in rolls during training?
Try to breath only through your nose and when you start feeling like you can't then you're going too hard.
Brilliant advice.
deliberate training will get you better but also... its fun! Free sparing can honestly get kinda boring sometimes.
Ryron was saying keep it playful for over a decade….stop caring about winning so much, put yourself in uncomfortable positions and watch the growth. Deliberate practice is a very similar methodology. Great stuff Chew….PS if you haven’t read Malcolm Gladwells “Outliers” yet you’ll enjoy….talks a lot about the 10k hour theory as well.
I’ve read it. And while The book is a fun read. He misses the mark on a few things about the studies it’s based off of.
Peak was produced by people who actually ran the studies outliers and books like it were based on and they share some interesting details.
In regards to keep it playful. Sometimes, but you’ve gotta have access to a higher gear too. And hard training has it’s place.
Roger Gracie trained with white belts almost exclusively preparing for his early world Championship. Which in my mind means he’s using almost pure technique. Watch Russian wrestlers training. It’s a lot of flow it’s light and deliberate. Don’t get me wrong you need a tough roll here and there but you can not last in the gentle art going hard all the time.
Something that I think is quite rare that helps you improve in other areas is feedback. Either through watching footage of yourself or the instructor giving you that feedback. It's difficult for the instructor to give everybody feedback, so perhaps recording footage of position sparring and analysing it would be useful. Especially with someone who is better than you who can noticed things that you don't.
Another GREAT video
i suggest anyone who feels they have hit a plateau despite how much effort they make is TAKE a LONG break. at least a month, up to six months. stay fit but stay off the mat
Situation sparring at 50% is best later full open rolling to find and fix any problems 💯👍🏻
My take on no progress is to just show up and have fun. I feel like when your outlook on it is more lax the more your willing to try out and have fun with.
100% - such an intellectual grappler…
Taking a few days off is also a good way to break through a plateau, particularly if you train a lot and feel worn out. This will give your mind and body time to recover
Love it chewy
Positional sparring is fantastic. We did 3 weeks of back control and i was even getting close to catching the purple belts out as a white belt. I cant get their back in live rolls yet though.. one day..
Gonna use my comment to say to anyone reading to pick up Chewy's half guard sweeper instructional. It is very helpful along with positional sparring from handguard.
Appreciate that Andrew. Glad it helped you out with your Half Guard.
I love to fight and go hard, so I have to check myself occasionally because hard rolling limits creativity, imo. When I know we're going hard and my buddy is trying to put his A-game on me, I'm exclusively going to work my best techniques and positions. Nothing wrong with that sometimes, but if I want to get better at butterfly guard, I'm going to have to play it, and ideally at a pace where it doesn't INSTANTLY get smashed and passed.
I just got my blue belt last week and cannot relate. I am still learning things for the first time or the first time in a long time. I see my improvements and am sometimes amazed that I did the technique correctly and it worked.
I would recommend a few things though:
1. Roll with everyone. From the guy built like thanes to the guy who looks like a broom. Yes, even roll against the spazzy, crank everything elbowing guy.
2. If they are a lower belt, work your weakest position. Try not to use any power, just technique.
3. Try to hit in live rolling what you drilled that class.
I also recommend Talent is overrated the book. Chewy recommended it a while back in another video and I am reading it now. On page 200 and it is good.
Roger Gracie talks about this idea. He says this is how he got to be so goddamn good at basic jiujitsu and can dominate world champions with fundamental techniques.
I’ve begun to think of free rolling as the reward I give myself for sticking to focused, deliberate training. If 80% of my training is built around specific positional sparring and drilling, and 20% is rolling, I still get to have fun but will improve much faster.
On the biggest slump right now, coach told me I'm about ready to get my blue belt but I feel like I don't know anything, struggling in rolling and having trouble getting techniques to work. I just started back in the gi after a few months of only no gi due to a comp and it's getting really difficult.
We have identical twins one rolls hard the other flows. The flow guy is better imo
Would you consider a new intro tune? The current one has a MASH feel to it.
I keep hearing from guys at my gym that punch chokes are kind of bad etiquette. Are they that much worse than other kinds of chokes? They seem cool to learn and highly effective but I’ve been hearing people complain about them. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
🙇🏼♂️🙏🏼
Watch an instructional and start working on new stuff in your rolls, new sequences, new guards, stuff you aren’t to comfortable with, there’s a ton there other than that Chewey is right, focus when rolling, don’t just be all over the place trying to beat everyone.
Posted this on one of your other vids, love to hear your take on it. - I'm a 44 year old, doing Jujitsu for 3 years now. I only recently got awarded my blue belt, and was delighted. I felt I finally was making progress. Last Friday in training I got swept by a purple belt and landed on my shoulder. I immediately felt my clavicle snap. It's a grim outlook. Surgery to fix a plate and reattach ligaments, then plate removal at a later date. My question is do you think there is any possibility of me continuing jujitsu? Also have you had any older members of your gym get injured and continue? Thanks.
Are you sure it broke? I had that happen and it was a shoulder separation. I thought it was for sure broken until I went to the hospital. I was back 6 weeks later. I’ve also broken my clavicle several times when I was a teenager. It’s not a huge deal.
@@dannyexcess3148 Snapped in half. Got xray conformation, so the doctor is putting a plate in on Tuesday. Mobility is totally gone in my shoulder.
I'd talk to your doctor and consult him. But yep I think there is a possibility you could continue training even if you have to adjust they way you train to accommodate the injuries and things.
@@Chewjitsu Yes, I'd be gutted to give up jujitsu. Just wondering did any of your students get any bad injuries and have to quit?
@@countsmyth for what it’s worth: at my school there is a 65+ year old blue belt who completely broke his ankle and came back within 6 months training at his full capacity, scrapping with 20 year olds. He is also riddled with injuries over his life. You will be back and you will continue getting better. Let your body rest and recover, follow your doctors orders and stay positive 🤙🏽
Chewy, Im 29 and have been training for a bout a year now. I am former high-school wrestler and I roll three times a week in the upper belt open mat. With My top game and my wrestling I am very competitive with them and I often find myself getting to an advantageous position more often then not. However, I am absolutely god awful off of my back. I have a good understanding and experience from drilling sweeps and attacks from guard but it is ridiculous how easily these guys are passing guard and how overwhelmed I am with them on top. I am terrified my game will never progress because I feel so stuck. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
You have to MAKE yourself start from guard/open guard EVERY SINGLE TRAIN for a minimum of 6 months and see what happens.
Never let someone control your head
I had this problem similar to you too. I made it to purp belt because of my top game, but had the worst guard game or playing off my back in general. I decided to spend the whole year playing off of my back. After about 8 months of getting destroyed and learning from my mistakes, I hit an epiphany and was able to chain multiple techniques together that worked really well with me. Now I actually like playing off of my back now. So just set a plan to play off your back for a whole year and you will eventually hit an epiphany.
I go to a smaller school with mostly lower belt prospective MMA guys, and they only know one speed, GO. On top of that they're generally a bit bigger and stronger than me so it's tough for me to get these kinds of rolls. I've basically got to seek out the "easy" rolls in the class and do my best to turn off my strength and use pure technique which helps a ton, but I wish I had access to guys my level and size that know how to turn off the "goon" strength and just focus on technique because I'm a bjj junkie and don't train striking and mma.
Sounds like you're just not good enough to contain their go, nothing wrong with that, I'm somewhat there too
@@BeingBrian I can contain it if I put out max effort, but nothing happens and I hate boring rolls where they try the whole round to pass my guard and can't submit me or vice versa
Ask them if they’d like to do a light roll for technique
@@WOWster007 I do, but that's not really in thier wheel houses yet. They still seem to have the "gotta win at all costs" mentality at this point. And like I said its a smaller school with not too many members at this point so I tend to get my best most beneficial rolls in with my black belt instructor, although trying new techniques out on him isn't the best option either since he smashes my A game anyways lol
If your training partners are going all out and they can't pass your guard or submit you, why can't you just use technique then? Don't let fear of getting caught keep you from progressing.
Hey Chewy, I started jiu jitsu about 2.5 months ago, I've earned my second stripe recently, I also have a little wrestling experience (2 yrs highschool) ,only saying that so you know where I'm at in my limited experience. I've had this mindset the whole time that I'm now wondering if I should get rid of and wanted to know your input. I am a heavier guy, around 220-240 lbs, and most of the time I will try to hold my weight and strength back while rolling with smaller people, even higher belts. My question is should I do this with higher stripes/belts, or should they be able to handle it? Thank you for your time :)
Higher belts should be able to handle it as it’s a good test of their skills. Smaller people I would try to match their strength and be careful because you could injure them unintentionally. Basically, don’t lead with strength but if you need it, use it
@@gymlaxbro so even if the smaller person is a higher belt this is the approach that you suggest? Thank you for the response btw
@@LONGxNxLIMP I’m a pretty big guy, I powerlifted for 5 years before training BJJ and I don’t think I ever came out with a “victory” roll (with a purple belt for example) who was smaller than me during my entire time as a white belt. They can handle you and they have many times before you started training. Just be careful if it’s a girl for example or an older man ya know
@@LONGxNxLIMP and I used to use a ton of strength for the first 1-1.5 years of training and still got smashed haha
2 stripes in 2.5 months? Might need to check your gym man, that’s really quick
The audio is out of sync on the video chewy
Nope.
When things aren’t working, I think it’s helpful to take a private or two