Why I shouldn't be a blue belt

[dunc]

I come from a non-belted system and the approach is different is different from me. It's like

Belt color doesn't factor in other skill sets and abilities that someone may have. People often get caught up on the belt instead of the skill. That's why why the white belt belt pranks work. If the had focused on the skills then they would quicky understand that the person they were rolling with has skills beyond the white belt definition.

When I did training with Tony, I didn't ask about his belts or ranks because it's his skill set that I have to deal with and the approach that he may use. To this day I still don't know the level of his skills other than it's not beginner level.

I have a new muay thai sparring partner that has been feeding me punches, kicks, and knees. I don't know anything about his skill level beyond what he shows me.

The only thing I know for certain is that if I raise my skill level that I'm currently showing then he will either match what I give or he won't. It's the same for me. I will either match his skill level or I won't.

A white belt prank in A traditional kung fu school would be like a joke that goes over their heads.

I know that belts are important to people. I get it. I really do. I still have my white and yellow belt that I earned when I was a kid. But I wonder if the experience and how one feels would be different if there was no belt color and the beginner beat the intermediate.

Hiya
I agree and one of the benefits of sparring a lot is that you deal with the person not the belt
I think the point I was trying to make is that sometimes the person with less skill/experince can still tap you out

 

[skribs]

Exhibit J
Rolling with a blue belt, get him into turtle. Try to roll to the back (just the basic one). He doesn't budge, I still roll, and I end up in side control.

We laughed and laughed at how bad that attempt was.

Exhibit K (for the defense)
Rolling with a black belt. He has me in side control. He's got his hips down so there's no chance of getting a knee on his hip, so instead I'm trying to get a leg into quarter guard. I managed, for a split second, to get my bottom knee under his leg. That's the closest I've ever gotten to getting in quarter guard against him. I call that a win.

 

[skribs]

Exhibit L
Professor made me fart.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Exhibit L
Professor made me fart.

As long as it was dry, it's better than hurling.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Exhibit L
Professor made me fart.

That's just that natural self defense mechanism working. Like a skunk.

 

[dunc]

Exhibit L
Professor made me fart.

I hope it was strong enough to make him tap!

 

[skribs]

Exhibit M
Rolling with a brown belt a few days ago. He catches me in a particularly embarrassing idiot sweep. He hooked my ankles with his feet, sat up and bonked me in the forehead with his palm, and I just fell over.

It took me a couple of days to realize what this reminded me of: faith healers. He touched his palm to my forehead and I just keeled over.

Yesterday I was talking to another brown belt about it. He said, "So he got you with a ki technique?"

I then told him about sparring with kids in TKD, and sometimes if I timed it just right, I could get them to fall over with a kiyhap.

Exhibit N
An hour later, I'm rolling with the other brown belt. As I reach for a collar grip, he shouts at me. Scared me half to death.

 

[skribs]

I hope it was strong enough to make him tap!

I did tap a purple belt once with this technique. He was knee-on-belly, I let one rip. He kept digging, I let another rip, then he tapped.

Yesterday I don't know what was wrong with me, but at one point I cleared the mat.

 

[skribs]

Exhibit O
Trying to enter SLX against a brown belt. I tried to shrimp. I missed the ground.

Exhibit P
About to be Kimura'd. Grabbed the nearest thing I could to protect my arm from being isolated. Submitted myself with the ol' D twist.

 

[skribs]

Exhibit Q
Yesterday, someone made me verbally tap. Not out of any pain, but because I was startled.

My opponent was doing the overhook from guard, and I was so focused on defending my arm. He transitioned to a punch choke. He didn't quite have it, but as soon as I felt his fist on my neck I let out a little yelp of surprise, and he thought he hurt something.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Exhibit Q
Yesterday, someone made me verbally tap. Not out of any pain, but because I was startled.

My opponent was doing the overhook from guard, and I was so focused on defending my arm. He transitioned to a punch choke. He didn't quite have it, but as soon as I felt his fist on my neck I let out a little yelp of surprise, and he thought he hurt something.

We all have to learn to avoid the "surprised yelp" tap. I still have to work to suppress it occasionally. It's good because it teaches us to develop the poker face that we want in a real fight.

 

[dunc]

We all have to learn to avoid the "surprised yelp" tap. I still have to work to suppress it occasionally. It's good because it teaches us to develop the poker face that we want in a real fight.

There's also the Brazilian tap....
A tap that's so small, so well hidden that no one sees it and it's entirely deniable

 

[skribs]

This one was included in the evidence, but rejected by the prosecution, so it does not have an Exhibit letter. However, it is worth noting for the record.

Today, I was rolling with a brown belt. Here was my thought process. Am I actually passing his guard? I think I'm passing his guard. Yep, definitely passing his guard. How did he get on my back?

 

[drop bear]

We all have to learn to avoid the "surprised yelp" tap. I still have to work to suppress it occasionally. It's good because it teaches us to develop the poker face that we want in a real fight.

I go the other way and do constant banter.

 

[skribs]

I go the other way and do constant banter.

I do that as well. I make my training partners laugh quite often, especially the upper belts.

Sometimes with me.

Sometimes at me.

Either way, they're laughing.

---

Out of curiosity DB, what rank are you in BJJ? I know you've been doing it a lot longer than me.

 

[drop bear]

I do that as well. I make my training partners laugh quite often, especially the upper belts.

Sometimes with me.

Sometimes at me.

Either way, they're laughing.

---

Out of curiosity DB, what rank are you in BJJ? I know you've been doing it a lot longer than me.

Purple

 

[skribs]

White belt tapped me yesterday, then celebrated.

I gave him a pass and struck this item from the record, which is why it doesn't have an exhibit label.

Reason I give him a pass on his celebration is because Blur - Song 2 had just come on, and he timed it with the "WOO HOO!"

 

[Darren]

I just got my blue belt in BJJ when the instructor was giving it to I told him I did not deserve it(and my instructor has a thing about doing it right and you have to know how to do it and do it well) he kinda laughed and asked how old I was, I said 59, of course I have several minor disabilities, he just looked at me and said well just might as well get your blue belt before you die, i said that’s true.

 

[skribs]

I did get my first stripe yesterday. Minimum at my gym for blue belts is 65 hours, I had over 150. One of my friends (who got Blue the same week I did) is already a 2-stripe. Every time it's obvious there's a promotion, someone would nudge me and say "congrats" only for me to not be the one promoted. And everyone who got one deserved it more than I did, I still barely feel I deserve the blue).

On the other hand, I have grown a lot since I got my blue belt. It's a lot harder for people to pin me down. I'm far better at take-downs and pulling guard, although I still have a lot of growth to go in both. I've found a guard style I like (either knee shield or closed guard with an overhook) and started to regularly threaten submissions and hit sweeps on white belts. I've found a dominant position I like (mostly built around side control) and if I am in a dominant position on a white/blue belt I can usually keep it for quite some time. If I lose it, I get into guard where I can often retain or sweep.

I feel better about this stripe than I did about the blue. Which is ironic, because I still feel imposter syndrome about the blue belt, but not about the stripe.

 

[isshinryuronin]

On the other hand, I have grown a lot since I got my blue belt.

I wrote some time ago in some thread that receiving a belt before it's time (at least in your own mind) can act as a catalyst to try harder to "grow" into your belt and meet your self-imposed standard. This happened to me when I first got 5th dan.

I feel better about this stripe than I did about the blue. Which is ironic, because I still feel imposter syndrome about the blue belt, but not about the stripe.

Forget your "imposter syndrome." Your stripe is simply proof of what I wrote above. It's attainment likely a result of you pushing harder to deserve the blue belt awarded to you earlier. The imposter syndrome served its purpose and you can now discard it. Good luck on achieving your purple (and don't feel bad when you get it!).