Ultra Newb BJJ tips

**kcvmac** · Posted On: 9/22/2011 1:22pm

Thanks man, just downloaded it. Very useful.

**Stampy** · Posted On: 9/27/2011 5:54am

Great thread!

Deserves a sticky

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 10/03/2011 1:21pm

Got another one today. This is especially true for muscular/athletic white belts. Stop basing only with your hands. I see beginners do this all the time. So much that when I roll with them I only practice breaking their arm base.

Here is the situation: someone goes to sweep you and you immediately post out on a hand so much that is slaps the mat and everyone in a three block radius knows you just posted. Then you use all your strength to press on the mat and resist the sweep. This works on other white belts because they give up on the sweep. Anyone with experience will just break down that post and sweep you anyway.

Why this doesn't work: It is another form of white belt tunnel vision or all eggs in one basket syndrome. Most of the time when newbs do this it is literally all they do. They ignore positioning and their hips and where their opponents hips are to base out and stay rigid. Its fine to base out just to gain your balance but staying on that arm and hoping the sweep is defeated doesn't teach you anything and eventually won't work anyway.

Instead do this: Base out just to buy time. Instead of stiffening up and making that arm tired try to move your hips away from the sweep and regain your balance so that hand can be doing something useful like breaking a grip or transitioning to a pass. So stick your arm out then then immediately reassess your position. Is your opponent compromising your base with their hips? Are they lifting you with an under hook or a grip?

ADVANCED SECTION
The idea here is that instead of answering a sweep with statically stopping the sweep answer with a pass or a sub or a new position. Eventually you want to be able to recover from a sweep attempt quickly and immediately put your opponent on the defensive. If you are only stopping your opponent from doing things to you you are only treading water.

**beardedtaco** · Posted On: 10/04/2011 2:36am

WhiteShark.

Totally agree with that.
Just to add to it, if I see someone bases like this, I love to set up to bring my leg over for the triangle at the same moment that he bases his hand on the ground, leaving him completely exposed.

**ermghoti** · Posted On: 10/07/2011 11:30am

Is there a decent online reference for the beej? The fundamental moves are still pretty technical, and I certainly can't remember 5-8 step setups a week later. I'd like to note what I've gone over, and be able to refresh my memory, or look for details while off the mat, which is where I obviously spend the overwhelming majority of my time.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 10/07/2011 12:16pm

Taking notes in class is the usual recommendation. Beyond that I use classic memorization techniques. When I'm learning something I only focus on the parts I do wrong when I first go for it. If you get a portion of the move right you already know it. Memorizing 2-3 tips for what you did wrong when you tried it is easier than remembering every nuance of the entire move. This doesn't work for everyone but it is what I do instead of taking notes.

As far as online references there are a few online "schools" but no solid free resources that I am aware of. As mentioned earlier Stephen Kesting's email "spam" list is a good option to keep you thinking about BJJ.

**ermghoti** · Posted On: 10/07/2011 1:07pm

Cool, I'll bring a notebook. Fortunately, I'm not senile enough to forget what I'm told until at least a few minutes after class. So far.

Originally Posted by Whiteshark

As mentioned earlier Stephen Kesting's email "spam" list is a good option to keep you thinking about BJJ.

Right now, a legion of aching muscles, and a tender spot on the front/right of my trachea keep me thinking about BJJ.

***jnp*** · Posted On: 10/24/2011 9:54am

Missing posts moved here: http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=110064

**Prone** · Posted On: 11/24/2011 6:40am

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

My third tip for Ultra Newbs is the simplest. STAY OFF OF YOUTUBE!

This is really important. I can't stress that too much. I nearly did the same mistake when I started because I wanted to see everything there is. But it's not helping, it doesn't work. Your trainer will know when or how to show you what to do.