Blue To Purple Belt Questions - Mods Pls Mod If Necessary

[Dr. Gonzo]

hmmmmm. Everybody is different?

Yes, even seemingly genetic twins are different.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Yes, even seemingly genetic twins are different.

As a matter of fact, the me of tomorrow will be different than the me of today, and both are different than the me of yesterday.

[Omega Supreme]

Yes, even seemingly genetic twins are different.

Well this thread is so nuanced what would you like to say. I have guys who don't want to memorize the curriculum so I'm like "Okay, let's go to this tournament. If you have decent competition and you clean up the division then we'll talk." Then there the guys "Do I have to compete. No, show me you know the curriculum and show me you have the skills on the mat and we'll talk.....". Then they don't understand when I say "You're muscling all your techniques." Then they say "But I have the curriculum memorized".

Insert a dozen metaphors here?

[battlefields]

I think I should have been clearer that I wasn't looking for information on "how to get purple", more I was giving context as to where I am (end of blue and a long way into it too which has some politics issues attached to it).

I have spoken to my coaches and know exactly what is happening with my "official" rank, I am not concerned about the belt colour due to the politics, etc.

I was more trying to establish a "unofficial" understanding of what level I am grappling-wise for the real questions, ie, the two schools of thought.

Apologies for the confusion.

[Kravbizarre]

I think both your coaches are right. Like the strength thing i think relates well in competition where you will be paired with somone of your size. You could be stronger, or he could but either way trying to out muscle will burn your energy out. Obviously if you combine strength and technique you will be near unstoppable but that wasnt the point coach 1 was making i think. Second coach i think is also right because from what i hear, when you hit purple belt thats when you really start developing an actual ‘game’ or personal style. Perhaps the answers were infront of you the entire time.

[Raycetpfl]

The other side of the coin about using strength all the time? You can slam your way out of two or three submissions, then you're exhausted and get strangled by somebody much smaller. See Rampage Jackson for examples.

1.: learn the techniques properly regardless of size,strength and speed. For instance:A lot of self defense techniques are silly for me due to my size and athletic ability. Who the fuck is gonna pin me against a wall and strangle me? Shaq ? The Mountain? However learning to deal with those sorts of things without muscle allows me to better understand body mechanics and to teach those that can't snatch 90% of the population by their hair with their left and Dim Mak them on the chin with their
Right.

2. Depending how big you are you may actually need two games. I am big. I am not huge. In the absolute division I may be out weighed by 50 to 100 lbs. My guard is pretty sick because I have worked on it a lot. That's been a conscious decision of mine. Not many people can force me to play bottom so in training I make sure I play both daily.

[battlefields]

Yeah, cool, I hear you. If anything, I probably have played underneath too much, my top game is restricted because rounds are 4-6 minutes.

I start from under side control/ mount/ guard, although I fully admit my full guard needs work - I am comfortable that I will eventually get on top due to my half and Z guards for the most part. It's browns and blacks that are able to keep me down, but they're having to work to do so. Purples, blues and whites, I kinda let them get on top so they can work on their attacks, and I can test out escapes, sweeps, etc.

Also, it gives them the opportunity to set the pace and tone for the roll. If they want to grind their elbows into me or get into knee ride, I'm happy to oblige, it means I can give myself permission to knee ride them when I get on top, a position nobody wants to be in with me.

Realisation from Rayce's comment: work on closed/open guard.

Cheers.

[Kravbizarre]

How is 4-6 mins restrictive to your top game? If you start from knees you can play soon as you Get grips. If you start standing well it’ll depend how quickly the other person goes to the ground but by default you start at ‘top’. 4-6 mins is a very long time to be standing trying to throw takedown the other person, props to the judo guys that do this on the daily.

[battlefields]

Read the very next paragraph, kravbizarre. I might be good at escaping and sweeping, but I still have to set it up and execute. That can be anywhere from 30 seconds in for a white belt, to 5:50 for a black belt.

[Kravbizarre]

Read the very next paragraph, kravbizarre. I might be good at escaping and sweeping, but I still have to set it up and execute. That can be anywhere from 30 seconds in for a white belt, to 5:50 for a black belt.

Starting underneath is not playing top game. Top means that. You are passing or on your feat while the other person generally is on the ground.

[battlefields]

Dude, just leave it. You're missing the point completely and it isn't helping the thread in any way.

[battlefields]

I reflected on that reply and realise that it probably wasn't clear to everyone except the higher level belts why I'm dismissing your comment.

I can Hulk Smash. Easily. That's not an issue. My top game is strong, you do not want me on top of you. I am working from the bottom because I need to bolster that part of my game before I continue on, otherwise I will end up being a turtle, fucked when I'm on my back.

This was implied.

Quick question, kravbizarre, what belt are you?

[Myn]

I think the issue that you are running into here is that a purple belt should be good in both top and bottom, but also with a specialty. Take the best blue belt in your gym (unless he's medalling at worlds) - your guard should be able to kick his ass. Your top game should also be able to kick his ass. In whichever game you prefer to play (top or bottom) you should be able to kick his ass MORE. You should be competitive against purple belts if you were to become a purple belt. You should win pretty much every match against those of your belt level or below.

Bernardo said that his coach's advice for strength is to use it as much as you want if it's not making you tired. Smaller guys have different advantageous attributes. Just don't cheat your technique and muscle through it.

I would suggest that a factor of just as much importance as your rolling ability would be your overall grasp of jiujitsu. A purple belt, (to me), is someone with about the same breadth of knowledge as a black belt, but lacking the same depth of knowledge and understanding. You should be an intermediate student and capable of threatening those higher ranked than you, and also capable of killing white belts and blue belts with kindness and finesse.

I would also suggest that while you spend a good investment of time in your weakest positions, that you also play sometimes from your best positions to take advantage of your attributes, otherwise you are just a guy who wastes his natural attributes.

[battlefields]

I think the issue that you are running into here is that a purple belt should be good in both top and bottom, but also with a specialty. Take the best blue belt in your gym (unless he's medalling at worlds) - your guard should be able to kick his ass. Your top game should also be able to kick his ass. In whichever game you prefer to play (top or bottom) you should be able to kick his ass MORE. You should be competitive against purple belts if you were to become a purple belt. You should win pretty much every match against those of your belt level or below.

Bernardo said that his coach's advice for strength is to use it as much as you want if it's not making you tired. Smaller guys have different advantageous attributes. Just don't cheat your technique and muscle through it.

I would suggest that a factor of just as much importance as your rolling ability would be your overall grasp of jiujitsu. A purple belt, (to me), is someone with about the same breadth of knowledge as a black belt, but lacking the same depth of knowledge and understanding. You should be an intermediate student and capable of threatening those higher ranked than you, and also capable of killing white belts and blue belts with kindness and finesse.

I would also suggest that while you spend a good investment of time in your weakest positions, that you also play sometimes from your best positions to take advantage of your attributes, otherwise you are just a guy who wastes his natural attributes.

Fucking great answer. Cheers bro.

[battlefields]

Update, I received the purple. There were a few things I took on board from this thread but a lot of it came down to mentality. I was playing a lot, testing a lot, trying to "figure shit out", but ultimately I think it came down to the attitude for a number of things.

Let me explain.

I was training with a similar group of guys repeatedly and was kinda always going up against people who were of a higher rank, so always played this game of start guard>half guard under> half guard over> side control> mount/submission but with people who knew the game and shut it down.

I didn't realise it at the time, but they were shutting down the individual techniques, more on this later.

Then I moved gyms for the second time in 2 years. Why? I couldn't get to it without a car, so when the ex moved out at the end of last year, I found it difficult to make the trek, despite it being a 12 minute car ride, the location was not well serviced by connective public transport.

Basically there was a gym on the bus route home that had recently opened up, so I started training there and as they were new to the area, they were desperate for some colour in their ranks.

This essentially meant I had this gym full of white belts that I could just straight run my game on. The gym is a franchise, so regularly there would be black, brown, purple and blues in from other gyms, but ultimately it allowed me to run near pure offensive game, which then resulted in me wanting to run an offensive game with as little physical effort as possible. It was great.

I got the purple after 7 years, and recently went back to the other gyms. Turns out, when you chain techniques, in that you run your game with as little physical effort as possible, you tend to be able to execute more techniques. I realised as I was transitioning from one sweep immediately into another sweep that capitalised on the opponent's reaction to the first sweep that he (a long term brown belt) wasn't able to shut it down because it wasn't an individual technique.

Anyway, still training hard.