From the Mind of Babalu

Today I just have some random thoughts on this wonderful, never ending, always learning journey that is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.   Being involved in this sport for alittle over 6 years now I know my journey is still in the beginning stages, but I also know that I have acquired some very valuable knowledge that I love sharing with anyone who is willing to listen.  Today's audience just happens to be YOU reading this right now.  When I first started training it was always about smashing this person, submitting that person, or dominating this person.  Now as the years have progressed, every time I roll with somebody it is a chance to learn something new.  Whether it be about yourself, your teammate or opponent, and/or BJJ.  I always try to take something positive away from each session.  

For a white belt who is very new to the sport and training in general I want to make their experience enjoyable as possible.  The last thing I want to do is be THAT GUY!  The Purple belt who smashes all the new white belts, sends them home with their tail between their legs, and never to return because he just got manhandled.  People who tend to do this kind of stuff aggravate me to no end.  What most people fail to remember is that everyone of us had to start from somewhere.  Me, you readers, all of us were once that white belt with the deer in the headlights look.  Who came into the gym not knowing what to expect, but with the ambition of learning the art and hopefully someday becoming a black belt.  So when I roll with these white belts I try to give them advice/tips on some of the things I may see that can help them in the long run.  Not only this, but I do want to give them a little taste of what my game entails.  To me giving them this feel keeps them hungry for more knowledge and gives them something to look forward to if they continue to put in the time on the mats.

To me a new blue belt is someone who still in there infancy of their Jiu Jitsu journey.  Its funny to me that when you are a blue belt its almost like you are the hunter and the hunted.  The white belts all place a target on your back and the blue belts all place targets on the backs of purples. Trust me I speak from experience here on both ends of the spectrum!  What I feel that new blues should be focusing on is just learning about their own games and of course training Jiu Jitsu.  These guys should be taking everything that they have been taught and try and find out what it is that works for them.  Try new things, if you get swept or submitted in training who cares, its just training.  Start learning how to control positions better and figuring how to piece things together.  In the long run you will see that this will help you!  For those that are wondering, I don't recommend trying to open a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy just yet, but you should start looking into teaching beginners the basics.  This will help your game out a great deal.

As a newer purple, I feel like I have a good grasp on the things that I do well and the things that I don't do well.  My game is starting to take shape and now I just need to make fine tunes to it.  Of course you never stop learning so you are always looking to implement new things into your game that you know will fit.  So of course you are always trying out new things, some will work and some will not so don't be discouraged just keep training Jiu Jitsu.  For the stuff that you don't do well, you don't just throw it all away and forget about it.  I know for me, I still try to work on that stuff and make sure I have it down so if I have to use it I can or, I know enough about it and can do it well enough that I could show someone else how to do it.  As a Purple if your interested in teaching the art later down the road you should inquire about doing so now.  You should be able to easily teach a fundamentals class with confidence and no body should walk away from that class with confusion.

Brown belts.... its my next goal.  I don't know what they should and shouldn't be doing since I don't have the experience with one around my waist yet.  I do know that they should be respected for the time that they have put in on the mat and they should have a broad knowledge of BJJ.  Of course they should be teaching any BJJ class they can, Fundamentals or Advanced.  May be if a brown belt reads this he/she can give some insight to what they believe that belt level should be focusing on.

Black belts.... the pinnacle of your BJJ journey!  Its WAY to far off for me to even think about right now....

I hope you guys enjoyed this post.  Remember this is JUST MY OPINION, it is how I feel about my experiences that I have enjoyed on this journey.  Feel free to share your opinions!

Babalu