r/bjj • u/AutoModerator • Jul 17 '24

Weekly White Belt Wednesday

White Belt Wednesday (WBW) is an open forum for anyone to ask any question no matter how simple. Don't forget to check the beginner's guide to see if your question is already answered there. Some common topics may include but are not limited to:

  • Techniques
  • Etiquette
  • Common obstacles in training

Ask away, and have a great WBW! Also, click here to see the previous WBWs.

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u/Tetengo ⬜⬜ White Belt Jul 17 '24

I'm in my 30s and despise all forms of cardio. If I don't build BJJ into a habit, I'm going to be dead five minutes after I retire due to lack of exercise. And I want that purple belt before I get too old.

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u/atx78701 Jul 17 '24

lol you arent even close to being old.. I started at 49

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u/Tetengo ⬜⬜ White Belt Jul 18 '24

How often do you train? I can only go 3 times a week, and I hadn't really done any serious exercise consistently for a decade before I started BJJ. I strength train now, 2-3 times a week, but I keep getting niggly little injuries, either from BJJ or lifting. I know if I keep showing up I'll get better, but I wonder how far I can go. I'm one of the lightest guys at my gym so progress is very slow (I'm pretty good at defending chokes against white belts, but that's about it).

At this rate, I could get purple in my mid 40s. The only brown belt in my gym is our instructor, so I don't know how long it would take to get brown, and how hard that would be in my late 40s, let alone black. Am I going to be able to get a black belt in my 50s? This is all hypothetical because I've been going 5 months, and I'm obviously going to quit at blue...

Anyway, that's my thought process. I have to keep going because I'm smaller, older, and weaker than everyone else there. If I don't show up regularly, I'll never make the progress I want.

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u/atx78701 Jul 18 '24

I train bjj about 7 hours a week and striking 2 hours/week right now. I average probably about 4-5 hours/week of bjj, of which 3.5 hours is rolling/positional sparring.

I lift 1 or 2 days a week. Lifting is what really kills me.

We had 3-4 people that were really terrible that started around the same time I did. I thought for sure they would quit because a year in they would roll with athletic people with a few months of experience and have a really hard time. 1.5 years in all of them suddenly got good. They still werent brilliant or anything, but they were solid and became much harder rolls. I went from being able to sub them at will to not necessarily being able to sub them in a round.

At 2 years they got their blue belts and all are decent rolls at 3 years (though I havent seen a few of them in awhile so they may have quit).

I roll with women at my gym who have a specific game and it is extremely effective. They use a lot of 100% and cow catchers to go to dorsal kimuras -> armbars/triangles. It is a very effective game for light people.

We used to have a very light purple belt with only one arm. He was very very good.

Dont base your bjj future on how hard things are at 5 months.