On Becoming a Blue Belt

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By Rick Ellis

I was recently awarded the blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Mr. Roy Dean.  While things are still fresh in my memory I thought I’d share my experience with Jiu Jitsu thus far.

When I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu a year and a half ago I knew very little about the art, except that it had proven to be highly effective in mixed martial arts competitions.  I didn’t know the positions, transitions, or finishes.  I had done Japanese Jiu Jitsu for a few years when I was younger, so I knew what chokes felt like, and I knew a few joint locks and throws, but still, having techniques applied while sparing in a way that resembles a real fight is a much more visceral and intense experience.

The most shocking aspect of Jiu Jitsu for me was the physicality of it.  I remember feeling absolutely crushed under the weight of my opponent during my first roll on the first day of class.  It was as if my ribs were being split apart at the seams.  That first roll only lasted a minute before my heart was racing so fast I thought it would explode.  There was an intensity to it that I had never experienced before, having never wrestled or participated in sports.  And I loved it instantly.

It became crystal clear to me on my first day of class that Jiu Jitsu is hard.  There are no pretenses in this art; no inflated sense of ones ability.  If you want to be good you have to prove it—every single day you train.  If you step on the mat to roll I can guarantee you that someone will want to test you.  Sometimes the person wanting to test you is you, of course, but that’s the beauty of it.  Few martial arts have such a built in reality factor.

I trained Danzan Ryu Jiu Jitsu for about three years.  Danzan is a form of Japanese Jiu Jitsu that blends traditional stand up Jiu Jitsu with Judo.  It’s a cool art and I enjoyed doing it.  One problem, though: No sparring.  As a consequence, no reality check.  After a while you start believing that the choreographed moves you practice in class will be effective in a real fight.  In your own mind you become a killer who wins every battle.  It wasn’t until BJJ that I realized the folly in this.  Even though there are some great techniques in that art, unless you can apply them under duress, you’re not really learning how to be effective.

The first six months of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for me became about one thing: Survival.  I was tapping constantly, so if I could learn to defend myself enough to prolong the battles, and more importantly, not get hurt in the process, I would consider it a victory.  To an equal extent, the first six months also became about physical adaptation.  Grapplers are among the best conditioned athletes in the world, but until you try to grapple yourself you’ll never truly appreciate what that means.  On my very first day of class I ended up bent over in front of a toilet on the verge of puking, so if I was going to do this art I needed to get serious about my fitness.  Again, the built in reality check.  You can’t fake it in BJJ.

After my sixth month I began to broaden my game by incorporating elements of offense, rather then only defense.  Instead of immediately jumping into the safety the guard I started trying other positions.  I began attacking a little more, getting more aggressive.  I calmed way down too.  When you first start out you expend way too much energy, ironically, because you don’t know yet where to apply your energy.  Should I push here or there, should I pull, hook, or grab?  As a consequence, you flail about and burn out quick.  Over time you learn to relax within the game, and expend energy more efficiently. 

As I improved, my movements got more focused, they gained purpose and trajectory.  When you watch a high level player you’ll notice most of all that their movements seem so precise and calculated, with no wasted energy or needless motion.  As I approached the end of my first year I could begin to see that my movements were getting better.  Although far from graceful, it could be said that I was starting to look like I played Jiu Jitsu.

Once I hit the one year point I felt like I understood the basics of the major positions; guard, side-mount, and mount.  In fact, my positional game seemed to be developing faster then my submission game.  When I expressed concern about this to Mr. Dean he told me that attaining a blue belt is not about being good at submissions, it’s about proper movement and position.  The submissions, he said, would come later.  Although I took that to heart, it still bothered me that I wasn’t getting the tap as often as I wished.  Then I found an article written by Mr. Roy Harris where he sated:

I have seen too many blue belts begin their journey into submission too soon and often become frustrated because they just can’t finish their opponent. They get so close, but they often fail at finishing their opponent. This usually leads the blue belt to seeking out more and more submission techniques. He thinks that the “new” and “sneaky” techniques will make him more skilled at submissions. However, what he doesn’t realize is that his inability to finish his opponent is directly related to his inability to positionally dominate him.

According to Mr. Harris, the most important task of the blue belt is to begin to master positional escapes.  After that, positional dominance.  Once a good grasp of those are in place, submissions can be focused on.  I felt much better about my game after I read that.

After about a year I also began learning how to apply physical pressure, a very important component in Jiu Jitsu.  If, for example, you weigh 180 pounds as I do, theoretically, if you could focus your entire weight on one spot you would be able to apply 180 pounds of force.  And if you could enlist you pulling muscles into the equation as well you could in theory generate more then 180 pounds of pressure.  You’ll never be able to focus all that force on one spot, of course, but that’s the goal.  As my game began to improve I began feeling where that pressure needs to be applied, and I began understanding how to apply continuous pressure in order to advance my position and make my opponent work harder.

I had the honor of rolling with Mr. Roy Harris on one occasion.  They call him “the boa” because of his crushing pressure.  Over years of training he’s learned how to focus his weight like a laser beam.  He can literally crack ribs and submit you just with his pressure.  It’s impossible not to moan when he cranks it on.  He told me that rolling with Rickson Gracie first opened his eyes to the pressure game.  Rickson, he said, had incredible pressure, despite not weighing much.  Mr. Dean has pretty mean pressure too, although his game tends to be so light, quick, and fluid, that most of the time he doesn’t need to utilize it.

One of the unexpected benefits of Jiu Jitsu that I’m enjoying the most is the camaraderie and friendship.  The brotherhood of Jiu Jitsu, if you will.  Unlike most martial arts, it takes about ten years to get really good at BJJ, so unless it becomes a lifestyle, you’ll never make it.  It helps a lot to have classmates you enjoy hanging out with.  It’s those friendships that will help you make it through the low spots in your training.

I’ve had my share of frustrations with the art.  One of my biggest is that it takes so damn long to get good at BJJ.  Often, weeks go by with seemingly little progress.  In reality there is progress, but your classmates are progressing too, making it seem like there isn’t any.  But then, when you least expect it, you’ll have a breakthrough moment and the door into the art opens up a little bit more and you’ll be incredibly excited.

For me, becoming a blue belt has been about laying a foundation.  At blue belt, you haven’t built the house yet - heck, you don’t even know exactly what type of house best suits you, but you’ve poured the slab, and hopefully reinforced it with some rebar.  I still have a very long journey ahead, but I feel that I’ve reached my first major milestone.  And thanks to the incredible fortune of having an elite level instructor in Mr. Dean, I feel like the sky is the limit.