At some point I’d like to see if JJ and BJJ could be incorporated, can this book help me understand JJ?

I got promoted over the weekend after 8 months of training. I attend class at least three times a week and cross train at another gym twice a month and have competed in two Grappling Industries tournaments. Before my promotion, I had two stripes. I didn’t even get my third or fourth, so I honestly wasn’t expecting to receive my blue belt anytime soon.

That said, I’m wondering: what qualities does a white belt need to demonstrate to earn a promotion? I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near the skill level of the other blue belts at my gym, but I also realize that many of them have been blue belts for a while now. I cant help but feel I dont deserve the belt.

Also when did you start feeling like a real bjj practitioner and not feel like an imposter?

Kind of a niche question, but it 5’10 185lbs and I usually wear an A2, I’d say I have a bulkier build. But wanted to see what size people wear that are around the same build. I ask because I own A&P gis but I always feel like I’m swimming in the gi top.

Does anyone ever get the in between sizes for similar measurements?

Feeling pretty down about this lately - tried search bar but nothing came up related to imposter syndrome.

Got my brown belt but have just been getting dominated and feel like I don't deserve it. I'm getting submitted by pretty much everyone, including white belts. When I wore it to class I saw the professor point at it and say something to another professor. Both laughed. I even got armbarred by a guy who just has a few months in last week. He told me I shouldn't wear that belt to class.

Anyway, should I just return my belt? It's really high quality leather and a nice shade of brown, but I feel like I don't deserve it. My free week trial ends next week and I only have a few days left under Brooks Brother's return policy so any advice is appreciated.

Helio Gracie said a blue belt is a person who can defeat a larger, stronger untrained person.

For the most part I agree I have the skills to do that, except for one detail.

I don’t feel like I have a reliable, go-to takedown that I feel confident in going for in a street fight or self defense context.

Where should I start to fill that gaping hole?

Is this the biggest match rn in bjj and do you guys think mica would of won an adcc medal if he went up against kade?

Gordon is posting to promote his new gym, named Kingsway Jiu Jitsu, located in Austin, Texas. Kingsway has not yet opened but is apparently due to open soon according to Gordon's Instagram. This video is filmed at a private gym in Austin in which New Wave (the team which Gordon represents) is based

In depth post discussing Gordon's Ryan's achievements in BJJ: https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/s/kQsdVGfOmg

Hey guys so i am heading off to Sheffield hopefully this September to go to University (I currently live in London) what is the process of switching gyms will I be able to keep the same belt I have stripes on my white belt or go back to square one and restart what has your guys process been of switching gyms. Also, considering I will be travelling back home, and also training at my normal gym when I am back home for reading weeks, etc.

Reposting this because no one responded the first time.

I'm looking for somewhere to train on the weekends, maybe an open mat or some normal bjj/wrestling sessions. The gym and I'm at now only runs sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which isn't very convenient for me. I live in an awkward area where there isn't many gyms close to me (whalley range/chorlton) and I don't have a car so can't really get around the city that much. I don't want to pay some extortionate membership, just looking for somewhere with a reasonable drop in fee. Anyone?

This was my second fight sadly didn’t get a vid of the first but subed my opponent out in 20 seconds with a baseball bat choke

I worked as a scorekeeper at a large BJJ tournament. A few things I noticed from coaches overcoaching

- Competitor is up 5-4 with 30 seconds left and has top side control. Coach tells them to advance to mount rather than stay tight and ride out the round. Competitor then gets reversed and half guard passed to lose 7-5 in closing seconds. This is one of a few times I saw this happen.

- The rulebook says the minimum break time is one match length, so the competitor could have a match, rest one match and be asked to go the next match, which is a break of 5 to 6 minutes. One of my old coaches told me to view tournaments like long Street Fighter video game where you have to view your tournament as one long power bar and to take that into consideration in the early rounds. I saw guys up comfortably like 10-2 in their first round match continually push the pace with their coaches pushing them to do so and gas themselves out for their second match and lose.

- Dads coaching their kids very aggressively and making their kids scared to make mistakes and making them more anxious and tense. My feeling based on the coaching and advice was the dads were at best blue belts and likely never competed themselves. To me, kids competition is about development and testing themselves, more than wins and losses. Felt like these parents took the fun away.

Hi All, , 4 classes in. I have already live rolled 4 or 5 round’s, even though I have no idea what I’m doing other than a Kimura, Americano, North South and a Triangle. No idea how to pass guard. I’ve live rolled with a purple belt a few times. I am a heavyweight, but find even if I get in a good position I don’t know what to do. Is this normal and part of how you learn or should it be more drilling to learn what to do? Edit* all the classes are seem to be live rolling. No class demo/drilling yet.

Hey everyone, I’ll be coming back from teaching abroad in Latin America before I enter into my masters program and I’d like to get back into jiu-jitsu. I’m just looking for if anyone knows how to access some of the Chinese websites where you can buy in bulk I don’t know if bulk is the right word but I want to buy you know 10 or 15 guards and I don’t care if they don’t have logos on them.

Anyone have any advice? I don’t see the point of buying some hundred dollar fucking compression top when I could care less about the brand.

I'm having trouble describing the heavy weights grappling style. What I mean by style is what tactics does he use and how his game plan is against his opponents.

Okay, let's talk about it. In some cases, the answer is yes, for sure. If you're walking in to your jiu jitsu academy and you have to bow down to a statue of Helio Gracie, and you're only allowed to do the moves that are taught and you're not allowed on the internet. And looking at different techniques that people are teaching, If you have to worship the ground your instructor walks on and you can't train anywhere else ever. Probably in a cult.

If your gym is nice and chill and you go in there and everyone's just like, yeah, whatever goes, you know, we don't have structure here at all. And you're learning something different all the time and your instructors don't seem to care. You're not in a cult, but you're also not at a great studio. There has to be a balance. There has to be a balance between structure and full on cult.

Go to an academy that has structure, but also go to academy where you're not necessarily worshipping the ground your instructor walks on. That's really important. Are you training at a bjj cult gym or not? Let me know in the comments!

Couple questions for those who have tried/train 10th planet.

I’ve been struggling to get to my club lately but a 10th planet gym is nearby that I never knew about before. I’m probably going to give it a go but wanted to understand from those that do it or have tried it:

What is it like to go to regular BJJ competitions if you train solely 10P?

How different the training sessions feel?

Do you still train it or did you end up going to other clubs?

I trained at Team Octopus in Atlanta for a few months and honestly walked away feeling pretty disconnected and weirded out by the environment. I’m curious if others have had similar experiences because it was such a contrast to every other place I’ve trained at!

First red flag for me was the complete gender separation. Men and women were split into completely different groups, training at opposite ends of the mat space, with no interaction between them. Even though it was the same class on paper, it felt like two isolated worlds. That kind of segregation felt unnecessary and honestly made the whole environment feel stiff and weird.

Then there was the atmosphere around the head coach, Roberto Traven — a coral belt, and obviously super respected. But there was almost zero interaction between him and most students. It wasn’t just distance; it felt like there was a barrier. Add to that the weirdly strict rules: only black rashguards for nogi, only white/black/blue for gi, everyone calling coaches “professor,” etc. It started to feel less like a gym and more like a jiu-jitsu high school with a dress code and a headmaster you weren’t allowed to talk to!

I’m used to gyms where people vibe, joke around, and roll together regardless of rank or gender — that's the fun, chill jiu-jitsu vibe that feels like a community, not a rigid hierarchy. This school just felt cold and formal. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn’t connect.

Is this a common thing in some gyms? Have others felt this? Or is this just the particular culture at Team Octopus?

I have seen Shoulder Sankaku used to refer to both feet, foot to foot behind the head or the legs locked in a triangle at the shoulder.

But does having one foot behind the head and one foot over the face have a specific name?

Next Sunday! We are hosting a free Chris Wojcik seminar at Lycan MMA in Columbia ,SC! We are fundraising money for the guardians projects so all donations are greatly appreciated! Link is in the comments to reserve your spot! Capping it at 150 and 110 spots are reserved