That is correct.
I appreciate the advice, man. I think I'm used to seeing big improvements with new sports straight away (except basketball, never play bball unless you're 6'6) and with bjj you only see little moments of improvement which gets frustrating.
I'll try it out, haven't attempted a standing pass yet and definitely haven't got a niche (did I use that word right?) for my passing yet.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
Think about it this way. Every time you roll with a training partner, you get a little better and they get a little better. While there are a lot of things that contribute to improvement, at the very basic level, you're all improving. So, you won't see a lot of improvement because you're trying to pass your partner's guard and every tmie you try you get a little better. He also gets a little better at defending.
Stick with it. What's going to happen is, somewhere in between 3 and 6 months of training, some new guys are going to join the school and you'll be sparring with them. All of a sudden, things you've been trying to do for months actually work.
Point is, you aren't seeing your improvement, But you are. Guaranteed.
You probably won't notice the improvements until - as someone said - a few months down the road when a new person joins and you realize they are easy to deal with. Or when you start thinking the guys ahead of you are all having "off" days, because they aren't tapping you out as often as they usually do.
Keep training. The more you roll, the easier it gets. This is not just about physiological adaptations to increase your cardio - it's also about psychological adaptations so you relax, keep breathing, and don't waste energy.
Your teacher can show you details about how to escape the individual positions you mentioned. You're not really describing them clearly enough for me to give you a detailed counter. Best approach is to not get in them in the first place. When you are in someone's guard, focus establishing a solid base and good posture first. After that, fight for superior grips. It doesn't matter what kind of guard pass you try, it won't work if you have bad base, bad posture, and inferior grips.
Nope. Top position is better. You'll get plenty of practice being put on the bottom anyway.
Use your entire body. Start with base, posture, and grips.
Remember that you are pretty much a complete beginner yourself. Of course you're going to lose to other beginners.
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Going to change sparring partners, I think he had something like 5 tap outs in 5 minutes before stopping and asking if he could practice and teach drills (he's had about 5 lessons) to save me the embarrassment of going for another 10 minutes but just made it so much worse. It came from the right place (I think) but it was just cringey. 90% of his 'teaching' was gym-related and he said at one point to "squat bigger weights". What's worse is that I couldn't even get a damn tap out in the drills!
Anyway, I've probably complained about this poor kid too much here. Thanks again!
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I've never properly understood what base meant. Is that just referring to balance?
Anyway, I've probably complained about this poor kid too much here. Thanks again!
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I've never properly understood what base meant. Is that just referring to balance?
Pretty much. It refers to the proper body positioning and structure which allows you to have good balance in a given situation. Your instructor should be able to advise you on what your proper base and posture should look like when you are sitting in someone's guard and should be able to correct all the little things that you don't even realize you are doing wrong. None of your guard passes are going to work until you can establish solid base and good posture.
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