Biggest Insights On The Way to Blue Belt

redrobot5050

Guys,

What were your biggest insights on the way to blue belt?

Matt200goal

As a relatively new & junior blue belt, my thoughts:

- Best quote on the topic: “A blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu really means that you are a serious student of the art. Nothing more, nothing less. When I see a blue belt I know that is someone who has put in a significant amount of time and effort towards improving their game. It doesn’t really say anything about their ability to fight, or how many moves they know. It simply means that they are a serious student.” — Bill Thomas (I don't know who that it is)

- Trust your instructor to know when you're ready. I suspect every instructor has their own standards and they may or may not be "published." I didn't even know I was being tested for blue belt. It was an open mat night, instructor just grabbed me & said "Let's work" (which is a normal open mat night, folks just pick partners and work on whatever you want). We ended up going through "everything" (also normal for an open mat night). When it was all over, he said, "Congratulations, you're a blue belt. Let me know when you want me to put the belt on you (he knew I'd want to wait for a class when my sons would be there too)."
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- Recent class when it was only blue belts and the instructor: One of the blue belts said, "Teach us some secret move so we can surprise the purples & browns." His reply: "I've already taught you everything. It's just a matter of you figuring out the timing, situation, etc. where it will work for YOU." While I don't think that's exactly 100% true (some of the advanced, "cute" moves), it is - in terms of the fundamentals (and what you see being performed successfully in MMA) - actually true.

TL;DR version: Just put in the time, it will come.