More On That BJJ Blue Belt

This is pretty good. I was just reading a BJJ post written by a fellow practitioner named Dave. He trains out in Cache Valley Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Logan, UT and is pretty thorough with his writing. He was talking about basic techniques vs. advanced techniques via the one-leg x-guard, which I thought was a good example. In his post, Dave mentioned that he demonstrated the guard and sweep in class and afterwards, a few people, including his instructor, while agreeing the whole thing was “cool,” thought it better to primarily focus on the basics. Dave, like me, wondered (and probably continues to wonder) why some choose to focus so much on certain situations while virtually ignoring others (Dave, I apologize if I am misinterpreting things here).

Please read his article and then read my response to it.

Here’s what I think is going on – when people say basics, they mean “places you end up more often that not.” Forget about the percentages of success or ease of execution. It’s like a young child practicing a cartwheel instead of practicing what they should be, and that’s walking. Even if the child has a proficiency at doing cartwheels, his parents know he’ll most likely be walking down the street, walking through the hallway and walking in and out of the kitchen for a glass of water.

“But mom, I’m really good at cartwheels and they aren’t difficult at all.”

“Yes son, but trust me on this one. You’ll be walking through life a heck of a lot more than you’ll be cartwheeling through it and I want you to get really good at walking.”

It’s frustrating, because I’m one of those cartwheeling kids. And if I listened to everyone who told me to stay behind, I’b be nowhere as good as I am today. So take things with a grain of salt, even if they do come from your instructor. But please, listen to them when they’re in your presence. It’s their school and they’re doing you a favor for having you in. Just do as they say and practice what you will during live rolling.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. What I found interesting is what I read on the same website as I was browsing through the pages. Remember when I wrote my post on having a target on your back after you get a new belt? Well, check out Dave’s post on the same topic. I guess I was right on the money because apparently, he feels the same way. Funny how similar things are, no matter where you are in the world.