The white belt in Jiu Jitsu in my opinion is the most important in one’s Jiu Jitsu journey. One of the hardest parts of Jiu Jitsu is having the courage to begin a Jiu Jitsu journey. Once you’ve mustered up the courage to try Jiu Jitsu out even more challenges, twists, and forks in the road on your journey will present themselves. This includes physical limitations, injuries, and just plain life getting in the way. For me, it was a journey for me getting into a regular Jiu Jitsu practice and then navigating my way through training with life events and injuries. In the end, I accomplished making it through white belt and haven’t looked back on my continuous Eternal Jiu Jitsu journey. In this article, I detail my experience getting into the regular practice of Jiu Jitsu, how I navigated through white belt, and insight on getting through the belt.
How I got into Jiu Jitsu
I had dabbled in martial arts my whole life, never spending enough time in one martial art to establish control or mastery of techniques. As a kid, I did some wrestling, karate, and boxing. In my adult life, I continued to dabble in boxing, judo, kickboxing, and self-defense. Eventually, I attended a Judo class and a Jiu Jitsu brown belt was there as a visitor to teach a Jiu Jitsu class. This would be my first introduction to Jiu Jitsu and it was a rude awakening. I was young, strong, and large at the time and felt I could hold my own against most humans. After the class, we did some free rolling and I got to roll with the brown belt who I outweighed by probably 40 pounds. To my shock and amazement, I could manhandle this person (because they let me), but seemingly out of nowhere I would lose position and either be joint locked or choked into submission. I also could do nothing if the brown belt got on top of me. This left a big impression on me and though I couldn’t start training Jiu Jitsu immediately because of my enlistment in the military, I vowed to learn the art in the future.
Here is a link to my full depiction of my origin story, but after my first encounter with the brown belt, I continued for many years dabbling in various martial arts. I would leave the military, attend college, and start a family continuously training off and on in short stints in kickboxing, judo, and the Japanese style of Jiu Jitsu. Eventually nearing 40, I had 2 kids who were at a more independent stage, my career was stable, and I began to have free time in the evening. I was also out of shape and needed to get back into a healthy state so I thought now is the time to learn Jiu Jitsu before it was too late. After many years working in a chair, I was overweight at 245 pounds and ready to make a change.
Getting into my first Jiu Jitsu routine
In my hometown, I previously trained with a self-defense, karate, and judo legend from the blood and guts era of Karate while I was in college. I was loyal to the gym and decided to begin training there again. The legend was very old by this time and was not frequently in the gym being retired, but his sons were there running the gym and overall it is a great program that they run. To my amazement, the brown belt was still around, and had now become a very seasoned black belt with professional MMA experience. His gym was a few towns over though and required a 70-minute drive to get there. He would come by the school now and then to teach classes specific to Jiu Jitsu. We were given specific Jiu Jitsu white belts for his classes that typically were once a week. This is where my Jiu Jitsu journey began.
After attending classes at the self-defense school and Jiu Jitsu there once a week, one of the Jiu Jitsu teacher’s black belts opened an affiliate school that was only a 25-minute drive from my home. At that point, I began training at two places the self-defense school and the affiliate Jiu Jitsu school. I hit a nice stride and was able to make at least three individual training sessions a week with at least two specific to Jiu Jitsu. This was a great time for me. Grappling with experienced partners I knew that this was the art for me. I was having fun, getting in better shape, and learning techniques rapidly. This carried on for about 1.5 years and I was awarded 2 stripes on my white belt in that time. Unfortunately, the affiliate gym closed down only a few months after opening and I began traveling to the Jiu Jitsu specialty gym 70 minutes away 1-2 times a week. Training at the distant gym was great and my game rapidly improved. I was getting great teaching from an excellent professor and the training partners were an excellent mix of experience and physical attributes. I continued on this path for a few months until we were all hit in the face with Covid.
The Pandemic hits
Covid was the first big challenge I had with staying on the Jiu Jitsu path. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was so much unknown and things were scary with many people dying around the world. I was working in a hospital at the time and with a family including two young children my partner and I decided to lock down and stay at home as much as possible. This included training Jiu Jitsu. I decided to quit actively training with others until there was a vaccine or more known about the virus.
At the same time, I decided to quit actively training with partners, I knew that I would pick it up again when able and wanted to do what I could to get into better shape and practice in ways not involving partners. I made some changes to my routines and did many activities so that when the time came I would be ready to get back onto the mats of justice with my fellow practitioners. Here is a list of the things I did to support my Jiu Jitsu journey and be ready for a return to the mats when the time came:
- Purchased a used Dollamur wrestling mat for my home gym
- Dollumur wrestling mat review
- Purchased a used Pro grappling dummy for drilling on
- Pro grappling dummy review
- Flipped old gym equipment and built out a home gym for working out
- The ultimate home gym for Jiu Jitsu performance
- Tracked calories to lose weight
- Continuously worked out utilizing long-state cardio workouts, progressive overload weight lifting, and high-intensity interval workouts
- Purchased the Grapplers Guide lifetime membership
- Review of the Grapplers Guide
- Purchased many BJJ fanatic instructionals
- Purchased Jiu Jitsu books
- Gracie Jiu Jitsu Master Text
- Jiu Jitsu University
Overall I was successful in staying physically fit, but I did find it challenging to learn Jiu Jitsu by only reading books, watching instructions, and drilling with the dummy. I ended up taking a little over a year off returning to the mats after receiving multiple rounds of vaccine and actually having the virus.
Getting back to the mats
A year off the mats was very hard and I was almost angry ready to train after having a year plus stolen by the virus, but in the end, it could have been way worse I was healthy and my family was safe. I lost 0 passion for Jiu Jitsu having to take time off and was ready to dive back in when my family and I felt it was safe and prudent to do so. I decided when going back that I would focus solely on Jiu Jitsu and not return to the self-defense/judo school and instead directly train with my formal Jiu Jitsu professor in the school 70 minutes away from my home. Hopefully, if you are in a location with more options for Jiu Jitsu you can employ a better strategy to pick a long-term school, and if so here are some resources to consider if you are just starting your Eternal Jiu Jitsu journey.
How to Start Training Jiu Jitsu a Step-by-Step Checklist
The Complete Guide to Picking Your First Jiu Jitsu Gym
How to Know if a Jiu Jitsu Gym is Right for You Long Term
Getting back to the mats was bittersweet and I was very happy to be actively training again. I jumped right in and started training 3 days a week. I trained for a solid 6 months and was awarded my third stripe on my white belt. I was consistent in my training and I could feel my skills exponentially increasing with each training session, life was good.
Injury Strikes
About 5 months after achieving my third stripe I would experience my next challenge with a somewhat major injury. I was rolling with a large talented purple belt in my gym who managed to secure a high full mount on me. I struggled for many minutes trying to get the house of a man off me. At the time I was about 220 pounds and typically stronger than most of my training partners. I would not call myself a spazzy grappler in my white belt days, but I had the size and strength to explode out of some pins, submissions, and positions. Today was the day that I would use power over technique and injury myself.
To try and get the man off me I tried to do an explosive bridge with terrible form. I angled the toes of my right leg inward and violently pushed off the leg trying to bridge. When pushed off the leg my foot stayed on the mat and my knee bent inward and I immediately felt the ligaments on the inside of my knee stretch and tear. I didn’t hurt much at the time, but I knew immediately that it wasn’t good. I tapped early and explained the knee. Almost immediately I couldn’t put weight on the knee and had to hobble off the mat. I was able to drive home and had some range of motion with pain in the knee. The next day I was unable to support any weight on the knee. It ended up being a grade 2 MCL tear in my knee. I decided against surgery and rehabbed the injury on my own. Luckily the MCL can recover in most situations on its own.
Read about all the fun injuries I’ve experienced in Jiu Jitsu so far
Reflecting on the injury, it sucked going through it, but ultimately, I think I used it as an opportunity to become a better grappler. It took me off the mats for about 3 weeks before I could put significant weight on it and walk somewhat normally. When I returned to the mats I had to modify my training by not using the knee at all at first and progressively adding more and more until it felt normal again. This made me play off my back more and focus way more on survival and escape from submissions. Being a top player, this helped my overall game as I grew confident that if I lost a position I would still be safe and I could still be calm in inferior positions. I spent a good three months mostly on my back defending against attacks and escaping positions. I think the tear was also both an ego check and a reaffirmation that technique needs to come before strength and speed. I learned better body mechanics and how to use my body to achieve the goals I want in grappling while keeping myself safe. I became a calmer grappler utilizing thought and technique to achieve superior positions and submissions. Ultimately it took about 6 months for my knee to feel 100% and to where I could confidently roll with it at a normal to intense pace.
Earning the Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt
My professor typically does promotions every 6-8 months or so utilizing the stripe system and regular Jiu Jitsu belt colors. In addition to the stripe every 6-8 months it is also at his discretion the number of stripes you receive or the belt you receive. I was pleasantly surprised to be awarded my blue belt skipping the 4th stripe. After the pandemic and the MCL tear, I was happy to have earned my blue belt. The road was very long to get to this point and many challenges had to be conquered to get there. The promotion was a surprise and only grew the fire inside greater to continue down the blue belt path.
Advice for white belts
I learned so much about Jiu Jitsu and myself during my white belt journey. Ultimately I wouldn’t change much, but if I could go back there are probably some things that I’d look to optimize. Here are some bullet point leanings from my experience as an older Jiu Jitsu hobbyist going through white belt.
- Try to pick the right gym for you and do not just settle on the first one you try. Think about what’s important to you, try some gyms out, and reflect deeply on what is best for you.
How to Start Training Jiu Jitsu a Step-by-Step Checklist
The Complete Guide to Picking Your First Jiu Jitsu Gym
I would also recommend picking a gym that specific to Jiu Jitsu. I spent time doing other activities like judo and striking. Both are excellent skills, but with my passion being for Jiu Jitsu I wish I would have put all my effort into Jiu Jitsu and then look to supplement later as needed.
- Develop a Jiu Jitsu routine. Pick the amount of training that’s right for you and then just show up. For me, it’s been three days a week as a hobbyist and family man. I build my schedule around those three days and a contingency for if it needs to flex to other days or times. I believe that mat time is the biggest contributor to skill development in Jiu Jitsu. If you embrace and enjoy the grind, your Jiu Jitsu will grow organically.
- Leave your ego at the door. I believe that my ego caused me to train too hard at times with the need to win versus learning in training. Doing this lead to injury including the MCL tear. Being a thoughtful chess-playing grappler elevated my game and the strength and speed can always be brought in after. My injuries dropped significantly by being calmer and focusing on technique and body mechanics more.
- Especially as an older grappler take steps to prepare your body for Jiu Jitsu training. This includes mobility/flexibility, strength training, cardio training, diet, sleep, and hydration.
How to Hydrate for Jiu Jitsu Training
How to Recover After a Hard Jiu Jitsu Training Session
- Buy yourself some cool Jiu Jitsu gear to train in. I bought a nice Jiu Jitsu GI, No Gi shorts, and a nice Jiu Jitsu bag. Having gear that performs, is comfortable, and is nice looking to you goes a long way in keeping the hobby fun.
- Be open-minded to your training and look for a way to always be moving forward with Jiu Jitsu journey. I got hit with the pandemic and an MCL tear. Life happens and it may try to derail your journey. When it inevitably happens look to the positive and creative ways that can not only keep you on the path but drive improvement exponentially. I think I became a better grappler by leaps and bounds because of the pandemic and my MCL injury.
- Focus on the fundamentals. Learn early the major positions of Jiu Jitsu, primarily closed guard, passing, side control, mount, and back control. Once you have a general understanding of the primary positions understand the hierarchy of positions and how moving between positions can put you into a better place to finish the match with a submission. As you begin to learn the positions and their hierarchy, white belt is mostly about defense and escaping precarious positions and submissions. Once you have the confidence to remain safe it will lead to better positions and less fear in attempting and finishing submissions.