In today’s Q&A video I got a question from a new Blue Belt who asked me what I would do differently when I was a BJJ Blue Belt. He asks because he wants to make the most of his time in Jiu-Jitsu and wanted to get some ideas from me.

So in this video I identify what I believe was my biggest mistake I made after I was promoted from White Belt to Blue. I’ll explain why I think this was my biggest mistake and my basic philosophy of the Blue Belt.

Now, you could use the ideas in the video regardless of belt rank. But I think it’s important for anyone who’s been promoted in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and has a higher level of skill than some of their peers.

Hopefully if you’re in a similar situation the video will be useful to you.

Thanks for watching the video.
-Chewy
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In today’s BJJ Q&A video I answer a question from a competitive BJJ Blue Belt who says that he is enjoying the variety that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu offers, but he says that with all this variety he is struggling to determine his best techniques and finding the balance between experimenting with new techniques and sharpening the old ones. He’s hit with dread information overload!

When you watch the video you’ll hear me talk about some main points.

The 1st one being that as a White Belt your job is to survive and do what you can. During this phase of BJJ training your options are much more limited. But as you progress you get a new found freedom almost like a teenager when they get their first car. At this point you can explore and do all sorts of things you couldn’t before.

At this point it becomes like a prospector from older times who would sift through dirt and sand to find gold.

So as you progress in BJJ you expand your techniques and sift through what works to find the best techniques for you.

I hope this video and the ideas I share in it are useful to you and your ability to develop your BJJ game.

Thanks for watching.
-Chewy
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Today’s questions is a unique situation where our Blue Belt friend Marc is able to effectively hit the Triangle Choke on most people he rolls with inside his gym. His worry with this is that because he is always using the Triangle Choke submission his BJJ game is going to become 1 dimensional. So in this video I talk about sharpening up is Triangle attack while keeping his Brazilian Jiu-jitsu techniques diverse.

When I was a Purple Belt I went through a specialization phase with my Half Guard. I began learning how to sweep almost anyone I rolled with and it’s still one of my best Guard positions in Brazilian Jiujitsu. What was important about this were the lessons I learned to develop a razor sharp game that I could then take and implement for every other technique and position in my BJJ training.

In this video I talk about how Marc can diversify his attack and create more options that will help him specialize similar to how I did as a Purple Belt.

If you’re in a situation like this or even if you aren’t I believe it’s a sound idea to take into your BJJ training.

Thanks for watching!
-Chewy
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This is a topic that comes up at some point in all BJJ Discussions.
Should there be tests as part of the Belt Promotion process?

I recently saw this topic brought up again in a forum and was debated with the usual arguments.

Here, I give my opinion which hopefully goes a little more in depth into the debate.

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Blue Belt Blues in BJJ doesn’t really exist. I’m going to just start with that. In Brazilian Jiu-jitsu some new Blue Belts get very attached to this idea of The Belt Blues as a reason why they’re having trouble being motivated.

And I guess if you put too much focus on the Blue Belt it could be tough. But I think the idea of attaching yourself and identifying with something is dangerous.

If you believe you are something, you’re that. So if you think you have Blue Belt Blues, then you have it.

But if you just look at it like a short lived funk in your Brazilian Jiujitsu training that you need to shake off instead of some sort of “condition” you’ll probably find it lasts a much shorter time.

In this video I discuss this topic as our friend is struggling with competitions and has become gripped by this idea of Blue Belt Blues.

If you’re struggling as a new Blue Belt in BJJ. I hope this video helps!
-Chewy
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Recently I got a question from a female BJJ Blue Belt who was recently asked to help coach with a female only class. She is excited about the prospect but also nervous.

She’s nervous 1st because she is still beginning herself and so she’s wondering how to go from the mentality of a student to an assistant coach. She’s also curious about how she can help women stick around with training. She’s the only woman currently and she’d like to have other female training partners.

In this video I talk about a few things.

I discuss how I was in a similar situation when I was a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and was asked to help. I go through how I did things in the hopes of helping our friend.

The big idea I share in this video though is about the way we learn as humans. Which is through modeling others and then creating our own style.

We do this through speech and even our BJJ training. I liken it to coming up to a forest and having a blazed trail. Someone has to blaze the trail.

And by carving a path for women in her area I think Karin will accomplish her goal of helping women stick around but also becoming a better teacher.

If you’re in a similar situation I hope the video helps!
-Chewy
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Is getting a promotion in BJJ simply about winning competitions and medals? I don’t think so, but belts are also very subjective.

In this video we have a question from a BJJ Blue Belt who has a strong wrestling background as he’s been doing it since he was 11.

Since transitioning to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu he’s found that he’s been very effective in BJJ competitions. Medaling or winning every single tournament he’s done.

As a Blue Belt he’s continued this winning streak and recently when his coach began to give out promotions he was for sure that he would get promoted.

But he didn’t get promoted and he’s not sure what gives.

In this video I explain how I think a big part of his promotion, or lack thereof, is based upon his reluctance to play Guard or from any bottom positions in BJJ.

As a coach, I think it’s imperative that every person have the ability to play off their back. It’s one of the defining characteristics of Brazilian Jiujitsu. But it’s also something very unnatural to people from a wrestling background.

So if you’re a wrestler or someone resistant to the bottom game in BJJ, either during rolling or competition. Then I hope this video is useful to you!

– Chewy
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Have your ever rolled with someone outside of a traditional Brazilian Jiu-jitsu background?

Maybe someone who has done MMA, Sambo, Wrestling, Judo, etc?

If so then you know that they grapple a little different

A different sort of cadence or style of rolling.

I found this out during my White-Purple Belt days where I began to be introduced to MMA training and would roll with people who only learned grappling through MMA.

In many cases I would get caught with submissions even through my knowledge of grappling and Brazilian Jiujitsu was superior.

Because their style and rhythm of grappling was different than mine, I had to adjust. Because where BJJ players typically fight more for position, they would just go crazy for submissions.

And I believe this is partly due to the fact that when you use grappling in and MMA situation. You have to have a sense of urgency with your techniques.

In today’s video I discuss this idea in response to our friends question who is struggling with a situation at an open mat where he feels a bit taken back by the people inside the gym.

If you’re ever grappling with someone outside of a traditional BJJ gym, then I hope this video is useful for you!

-Chewy
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If you are worried about your BJJ belt promotion, if you are not sure if you deserve it or are ready for it, watch this quick story about my crazy white belt days and how I got promoted to blue belt.

Hope that gives you some hope 🙂

Professor Gustavo Gasperin

Being a BJJ Blue Belt who can submit Purples , Browns and higher belts in the gym and competitions is a great thing right?

Yes, but it does come with some potential issues.

Recently I got a message from a young Blue Belt who is struggling when he visits other BJJ gyms while traveling.

This is because when he goes to these Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gyms he’s able to submit or outmaneuver many of the higher belts on the mat. Especially when in No Gi.

Again, this should be a good thing. But he finds that many of the people inside these gyms take offense to it.

They will get angry at him for beating them.

This isn’t right, and people shouldn’t take it so harshly. But it is what it is.

When dealing with people’s egos and the pecking order of their BJJ gym. People have a tendency to get up in arms and upset at times.

I’m better about this now. But I was guilty of this kind of stuff at one time in my life. So we can choose to point the finger if we want. But I don’t find that very helpful.

Instead, in this video, instead of condemning the people that our friend is rolling with. I try to give him some practical advice about feeling out the people he’s rolling with, before he kicks up the intensity.

I share this by touching on two separate situations. 1 was with my poor mindset as a young BJJ Blue Belt.

The second was how I approach going to gyms when I visit now.

Hopefully if you ever get into a situation like this in your own Brazilian Jiujitsu training this video will be helpful to you.

Thanks for watching!
-Chewy

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What you I focus on as a Blue Belt? This was the BJJ question I received from Twitter. Recently one of the viewers received his BJJ Blue Belt and he’s not wondering “What now?” What should he focus on to progress.

As I share in this video. Ultimately, it would be wise to consult your Brazilian Jiujitsu coach or instructor to determine their requirement for the belt. Because they may be different than mine.

One of the beautiful things about BJJ is that it’s treated in many cases like an art form. With certain, at times unwritten, rules that govern the system and a self-regulatory aspect to fakers. But ultimately, we are free to sort of go about it as we please.

With that said, there is no standardization amongst the whole of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu coaches about what each belt should be exactly.

A lot is left to interpretation.

But if you were one of my Bjj Blue Belts, as I say in the video, I would jump on the technical buffet line.

Now that you have a strong foundation that you built as a BJJ White Belt, it’s time to experiment and see the different things that could work for you. Instead of being focused solely on surviving, as is often the objective of white belt.

You can now test out all the stuff that’s out there. Keep the things you want and discard the options that don’t seem to be for you. Which will set you up nicely as a BJJ Purple Belt. Which is where I think people begin to specialize to some degree. The only way you’ll know what to specialize in is to test out as much as possible.

Also, be careful not to be too worried about the newly acquired target on your back as a Blue Belt. It’s no secret that when we roll with higher belts. We judge ourselves partly based on our performance with this higher ranks.

So as a new Blue Belt, BJJ White Belts are going to be pushing themselves to do well against you. Make sure you don’t get too wrapped up in the need to always win against your jr training partners. Because in order to develop new weapons and test out all of the options. You’ve got to become ok with failing and making mistakes. It’s simply how it is.

There’s more information about my thoughts as a BJJ Blue Belt in the video.

I hope the video is useful to you. And Thomas, thanks for the question brother!

-Chewy

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Getting your BJJ blue belt is huge achievement; in this video Stephan Kesting and Rob Biernacki discuss a modular approach to learning the skills, techniques and movements required to get there. Download Stephan’s Roadmap for BJJ book on this topic for free here: http://www.grapplearts.com and also grab his free app for your phone or tablet here: http://www.grapplearts.com/roadmap