Being a white belt in BJJ is unlike being a white belt in any other martial art. The reason for that is simple – if you train BJJ, you’ll able a white belt for about two years. In traditional martial arts, you could get a brown belt in the same amount of time. That just demonstrates how long a time we spend at white belt. It also means that not all white belts in BJJ are the same, and not all of them will benefit from the same BJJ white belt tips.
The one thing that all white belts have in common, from those that are on their first day, to those that have been training for a couple of years, is getting to blue belt. I’ve covered the reason for that many times before. it si simple – nobody wants to be a beginner. That is precisely why the blue belt is the most coveted belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That said, white belts with different training timelines usually have different questions and goals aside from the blue belt. That simply means that there’s no way to give all white belt tips that will universally work for them. It is also why I organized this article in a way that will offer BJJ white belt tips to complete newbies and those nearing blue belt alike.
Not All BJJ White Belts Are The Same
The one thing many people fail to grasp is that given the length of time people spend at a given belt level in BJJ, you can’t really consider the same things apply to everyone within a rank. While we oftentimes say that the experience gap between someone about to be promoted and someone brand new might as well be a gap between a white and a black belt, we seem to forget about it immediately when it comes to giving people of certain rank advice. This is especially true for white belts.
First of all, it is the coaches’ task to be aware of this and not try and give out universal advice, especially not to white belts. Those white belts that have been training for years and those brand new ones shouldn’t even be in the same training group, provided that is a possibility.
The mind of a “seasoned” white belt works much differently than that of a newbie. hWHIle survival is still in the focus, there’s a much clearer picture of what is going on. On the other side, a grappler with a few months of experience is still lost in the complexity of it all and as such, requires different guidelines.
So, just like not all white bels are the same, all BJJ white belt tips should not be the same as well.
BJJ White Belt Tips For Newbies
Let’s start with some of the most important things a brand new Jiu-Jitsu white belt should have in mind. That said, the selection f tips here s what I share with my white belts in my academy, and these tips have been proven to yield results.
Consistency
The most important thing for people starting to train is staying consistent with their training. For a newbie white belt, nothing beats consistency. .Begin thrown in a new environment is hard enough when everyone in the environment is not trying to kill,. In BJJ, people are not just trying to but can do whatever they want with you, and there’s so much information in classes that it is paralyzing. So, the more consistent people are with their training, the faster they’ll be able to refer to the second portion of BJJ whit belt tips in these article.
Ask Questions
Another huge one that has seen people get through white belt level quicker than any other tip. The simple act of asking why something works the way it is shown will not only make people better when they get the answer but also gets them thinking about things early.
Roll With Different People
A huge thing for me white belts that they need to overcome is the fear of rolling. It is normal to be afraid to go sparring with anyone when you don’t have any tools to use in such a situation. That, however, just means that you’ll get experience when you roll with different people as opposed to just rolling with a few of your peers. Seek out everyone in the gym and roll with every belt level on regular basis. This is one of the most important early BJJ white belt tips I can give you.
Have Fun
While this is a piece of advice that goes for everyone, white belts in particular need to stop taking everything so seriously. Just mess around, have fun, and enjoy training. If you are waiting to go to training and learn something in a single BJJ training session, you’re in for a disappointment/. At that level it is all about the experience, having fun, and perhaps trying to understand the general chaos of things in the BJJ world.
Think About Competing
This early in your BjJ career, going out to compete would probably be a bad idea. You simply need a bit more idea of what is happening in a BJ exchange to be able to grasp the demand of a match. However, thinking about competing is a great way of getting a clear direction in your early day,s and eliminating a lot of the clutter.
Trust The Instructors
I know it doesn’t make sense. I also know you probably think you should be doing other stuff, more exciting stuff. However, if you do what your instructor shows you, and stick to their system early on in your BJJ Journey, you’ll advance much faster than if you’re the one determining what’s the best thing to learn as a white belt.
Tips For Experienced White Belts
More experienced white belts, on the other hand. have slightly different things that they should focus on. Conversely, the BJJ white felt tips you’d give them should not be the same you give to someone that just walked through the doors of the gym. You wouldn’t give them both the same details to a move, so why think that you should guide them the same through the maze that is Jiu-Jitsu?
Don’t Try To Avoid Mistakes
The first thing you will understand after spending a year or so in BJJ is how many mistakes you are making. Naturally, your first instinct will be to stop making any. First of all, you can’t. Second of all, you shouldn’t aim to stop making mistakes in BJJ. In fact, embrace them. Mistakes are one of the best learning tools in our sport. Make sure you make the most of the opportunity to learn both off of yours and those your opponents make.
Have A Purpose When Rolling
While most people claim they have a purpose when rolling, when you ask them what it is, you get a very broad answer. Control or submission are great examples. One of the best BJJ white belt tips for experienced white belts is to have precise purposes when rolling. For example, trying to figure out every time a sweep happens and also recognize every opportunity for one. Understanding why that purple belt is always heading in what seems like a bad spot and ending up with a submission. Those kinds of things will make a world of difference.
Figuring Out When To Tap
Most people will say tap as early as often. That is perfectly fine in your early white belt days – it will keep you safe. However, later on, if you tap the moment someone gets a hand around your neck, or gets into the spiderweb position, you’re not really accomplishing anything, you’re not learning how to defend, and you’re also denying your partner the chance to learn how to get actual submissions. Before you become a blue belt, you need to figure out taps and how to get the most out of each and every one of them.
Warm-Up!
I guess this es piece of advice is more at home for purple belts than among BJJ white belt tips. but still – don’t skip warm-ups! While most seasoned white belts won’t skip the warm-ups intentionally, they’ll slack through them.
Drills
The one thing you will have a lot of time to hate on later on in BJJ are drills. As a white belt though, they are the one thing that will help you prgoress extremely fast. The best part is that at that point, you don’t have to come up with how to do them – just listen to instructors of more experienced training partners.
Try Competing
The emphasis her iso, not the word “try”. Going into a competition preparing like you’re going to fight for a UFC belt is a great way to start hating competitions as early as a white belt. This is basically building upon the have fun and think about competition BJJ white belt tips. Simply go and give it a try. One tournament regardless of the outcome is worth as much as a year of classes in the gym.
Set Goals
Your goals as a white belt will be humble, even if you’re just weeks removed from becoming a purple belt. However, it is the first time you should set some, and with that, do the first step towards developing a game for yourself. By goals, I mean things like trying to do one move more than others, whether it is a pass, sweep submission, or takedown. Even if ti is a defensive move or escape, you need to make it a priority. If you start setting goals at this level, you’ll have no trouble keeping up with setting and reaching multiple of them further on.
Don’t Rush
This has to do mostly with techniques. I understand the flying submissions and spinning leg lock entries are what the “cool kids do”, but at this point in your journey, you should still figure out the basics. If you can’t re-guard from the turtle, pass the legs, sweep or be able to submit people with at least one move, you should not be looking at the fancy stuff. It just so happens, this is on the BJJ white belt tips people chose to ignore the most.
Stop Thinking About The Blue Belt
The hardest thing to do, I know. In fact, it is so hard I will only ask you to do it sporadically. How? SImple. Every couple of months set a goal not to think about the blue belt that you already feel is coming. Simply enjoy BJJ, look at your goals, roll with a purpose, etc. Do anything but think about promotion. it is imperative to learn who to do this at white belt, because you will need it later on. A lot.
In Conclusion
BJJ white belt tips need to evolve as the game does. While it may have been easy to just tell people to suck it up and roll a decade ago, today we have a different approach to BJJ. the reason is simple – the sport has evolved and so must our approaches. One of those new things is considering the gap within a given rank and treating people in that rank accordingly so that we can help them grow as fast as possible.
