BJJ Blue Belts Are Like Teenagers With A New Car

In today's BJJ Q&A video I answer a question from a competitive BJJ Blue Belt who says that he is enjoying the variety that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu offers, but he says that with all this variety he is struggling to determine his best techniques and finding the balance between experimenting with new techniques and sharpening the old ones. He's hit with dread information overload!
When you watch the video you'll hear me talk about some main points.
The 1st one being that as a White Belt your job is to survive and do what you can. During this phase of BJJ training your options are much more limited. But as you progress you get a new found freedom almost like a teenager when they get their first car. At this point you can explore and do all sorts of things you couldn't before.
At this point it becomes like a prospector from older times who would sift through dirt and sand to find gold.
So as you progress in BJJ you expand your techniques and sift through what works to find the best techniques for you.
I hope this video and the ideas I share in it are useful to you and your ability to develop your BJJ game.
Thanks for watching.
-Chewy
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Intro/Outtro Music : bknapp.bandcam...
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[@CharlieHuckson197]

I’m a BJJ blue belt and I’m 17, just passed my driving test as well😂 the title is literally me

[@jw045]

Enjoy that freedom my brother 👍

[@CharlieHuckson197]

J1mmy W4tto been enjoying it so far, so nice driving to the gym

[@love2fight205]

@@CharlieHuckson197 14 here, I await the day when I get my license then I can hit all the classes at my gym 😂

[@chipclip5019]

Grappler Guy bruh I’m turning 15 next month I too can’t wait until I can go to all the classes

[@UserName-ii1ce]

Golf Wang

[@CrashTestSkater]

Hey Chewie, just wana thank you for being a huge inspiration for getting me over the mental barriers of starting BJJ, suffer chronic anxiety for many many years and finally built up enough courage to go on 12th of Jan, i've been 5 times since and love every minute of it. Definetly what i needed, keep up these videos, they're doing alot more good for people than you might have first thought!

[@Chewjitsu]

Thank you so much for the message Stephen. Appreciate you!

[@CrashTestSkater]

@@Chewjitsu Starstruck, humble as hell of you to reply too man! Ty

[@triniortega4273]

"Keep the gold, discard the rest, and do it again." Exactly what Bruce Lee was trying to tell us about martial arts.

[@youngrevival9715]

Off topic but I just did my tournament this Saturday with only 10 weeks experience. No prior wrestling or anything. Got smashed by 4 strip white bell but it's all good I loved it

[@ronthemogul]

Shit happens. At least you tried

[@Gimmeabreak460]

I love being a white belt because no one expects anything from you so if you lose it’s not a big deal but if you win it is a big deal lol

[@Mittelmensch]

That's why I hope I'll keep my white belt for a long time. Too much pressure or else. Imagine being purple or brown belt and having a bad day on the mat in front of everyone, with the coach having all these high expectations of you etc. As a white belt each day can be a bad day LOL. In the end, you trained. That's the most important. Good luck to you. Maybe we'll get a few stripes but we'd better watch out ;-)

[@jasonarch2812]

It’s ok man. At blue belt you think everyone has expectations for you, but after 2-3 stripes you realize the only people expecting anything of you are the white belts. Lol

[@Demosc0ut]

@@Mittelmensch no one should be expecting too much from a blue belt either. You're gonna be pretty much the same skill wise no matter are you a 4-stripe white belt or a brand new blue

[@Empridon]

Same LOL

[@love2fight205]

Great video Professor! If I'm ever in Louisville I'd love to come by for a class with you guys, you're my favorite bjj KZbinr! :)

[@RyanJamesOfficial]

I find that when I got my blue belt 4 years ago, I thought I had to learn a ton of new moves to keep up. I decided to actually take away from my moveset though and focus on perfecting fundamentals. Now I'm beating purples with fundamentals and feeling like a much better BJJ guy

[@Gilbertmk2]

Just got my first stripe as a blue and came to the same realization. I've been chasing cool moves and my game has been suffering. Right now I'm focusing on doing fundamentals really well. Escaping and holding side control for now. Once I'm satisfied with that I'll move to another position.

[@MrTliving]

chewy: “whenever you feel full” My dumb self: so at the halfway point of class?

[@NickB1121]

I'm a 2 stripe white belt. Recently rolled with a 4 stripe white belt who I had never met before at my BJJ gym. I'm 180 pounds and he was roughly 250. He got quite frustrated he couldn't get side control on me (I'm solid at defense against higher stripe white belts and even some blue belts) Anyway, the fat ass proceeded to completely drive his shoulder into my ribs with his full body weight. He outweighs me by 70 pounds. I ended up getting 2 separated ribs. Missed 2 weeks of class and even when i went back last week I had to take it easy and not roll full on. One guy (a black belt who is a part time instructor there) congratulated that fat ass saying "your opponents will remember that in the future" I was pissed but said nothing. I can only imagine had I done the same to a small 110 pound guy (70 pounds less than me) I'd have been labeled a cancer and told to leave. And rightly so. What would you guys have done?

[@UserName-ii1ce]

Improve your defense more🤷‍♂️ shit happens. I'm 140lbs and I got thrown around by a show-y D1 wrestler and 200lb guys when I was a beginner. Keep toughing it out and you'll earn respect if you want to stay there. If you're not just a douchebag and the problem really isn't you then maybe find another place. Idk. But stay with jiu jitsu brah it gets fun

[@warbastard01]

Just tap.

[@Joe11Blue]

I have been through almost the exact same thing. Three dislocated ribs from a blind sided take down by a fat guy. I was so damn mad and in pain for weeks. My advice let them have the roll and just avoid them. Don't worry about what the others say about you. You're the person paying to be there for yourself. It's not a charity. You're putting in the work.

[@Joe11Blue]

Cute, I weight 165ish, 5'8". Will be fighting around lightweight.

[@Chewjitsu]

Depends on the situation to be honest. During a hard roll accidents happen. It could have been a case of he was a little reckless and your body got out of good defensive position which would have protected your ribs. However I'd probably lose the idea of calling someone a "fat ass." It's not going to be resourceful for you long term. Chalk it up as an accident and if you ever do roll with the guy, be very mindful of his body and yours and do your best to prevent it.

[@smokiebrains4101]

Love your analogies!

[@richardbartholomew542]

Nice video brother, good analogies 👍🏼

[@Chewjitsu]

Thanks Richard.

[@xxrhinoalbinoxx]

Hey chewy! I just wanted to personally thank you for all these vids because they help me mentally and physically over come all my challenges!

[@brandonmcninja]

Love the analogy 😂

[@seychasov]

That is the goooood advices. Thanks from Russia!

[@krt7736]

I am a 3 week blue belt!

[@Chewjitsu]

Congrats

[@MoooseBlood]

Chewy has that bump on his face again. NICK BLINK TWICE IF ADAM IS HITTING YOU THIS IS A SAFE SPACE!

[@seanaustin7674]

I have a competition coming up in 2 months. Do you have two or three Really good combos to progress to better position? Example: cross face (under head and far arm) digging hand under head to far shoulder. Make the attempt to go to their back / if they defend by bridging you take mount / if the bridge and defend mount by lifting their nearest knee you tip them over and transition to mount or S-mount. Simple things like this you’ll show to a white belt

[@Jmnp08]

Excellent

[@drslimldn]

Great advice, thanks Chewy Osss

[@Chewjitsu]

Thank you!

[@bobbydabutcha]

Great advice. I'm close to my Blue belt and started to naturally think this way. Which are my best positions and submissions? At this point it's side control and mount. Keep an open mind during class but really drill my go-to positions and subs during rolling to tighten them up more and more technique wise.

[@JB_58008]

Amazing advice

[@User-54631]

I’m a blue belt close to purple (fingers crossed) I recently rolled with a much larger black belt probably 80 LB difference. HE asked me to roll and we had a good time. When I asked him for a critique. “He said we’ll I wasn’t really paying attention. Nothing stands out” It got me thinking if it is worth the injury risk if I can’t get a simple critique.

[@ronthemogul]

Injury risk? A true black belt isn’t going full roll on you

[@User-54631]

thesmoothone He couldn’t full roll with other black belts either just based on his size. However, This was not my question. I’ll rephrase. If I couldn’t get a critique from a black belt after a roll. Is it a waste of both our time and energy?

[@boxman_ninja0819]

@@User-54631 Maybe ask him before hand so he'll pay closer attention. He might've just got in a zone where he didn't note the small stuff.

[@YELLINGINTOTHEVOID]

I think you learn a lot just feeling what a black belt is. Even if they were not focusing on your journey in getting better, it's worth it in my opinion.

[@dravvy]

John Morris you need to really re-evaluate how you look at grapplers, you have it completely backwards. The higher the belt, the less likely you are to get injured in a roll, the lower the belt, the more likely you are to get accidental injuries. I've given this response many times before to other students, the black belt was working on something of his own while rolling with you and not rolling to 'critique' you at all, his response was simply that he did not notice any major mistakes from you and likely respects your abilities as he can utilize you as a quality rolling partner, this advice from him simply means you're on the right track and to keep progressing or be more specific on your questioning next time.

[@OIFJESSE]

Great advise

[@ClipsFromMaine]

Is it weird that I was slightly disappointed there was no “amber-lamps”?

[@FinleyFuns]

Just absolutely fantastic advice and approach. Before I go to bed I kiss my girls good night, watch a Chewy video, say my prayers and then turn the lights out. Often i forget the kids and prayers!

[@Chewjitsu]

Haha. 😂

[@scottbolen3996]

Great video Chewy! Seems if you are doing BJJ that you would remove the wrestling techniques and get more experience with your BJJ and become proficient in those techniques. OSS

[@TheLastSaint7]

No lie this Bluebelt who came in the same time as me last year. I skipped a year of training. He flipped me on my arm!

[@SvenStadt]

Pass blunt, not guard.

[@salvatorezagra864]

To improve I purposely avoid my mastered techniques unless I'm in Hulk smash mode

[@Chewjitsu]

You’re a purple belt and you have mastered techniques?

[@bking6591]

Hey Chewie I don't roll but my son started training about a year ago. Since I have no experience with Jiujitsu or even with training at any martial arts academy I have no idea what is normal. My kid has a tournament this weekend and they haven't done a real roll in more than three months. They used to roll all of the time but last October or so some new kids came in and beat the best student they had and she cried like a baby. Then she beat someone else and they cried. Haven't rolled since. Is that normal or should I be concerned. I want my kid to get experience but I don't want to seem like I'm just here for the violence.

[@armymikeymike]

So I am 5’10” 225. 34yo blue belt. I have been working on small guy game. I work on doing all the the inverted shit and barimbolo junk, x guard, single leg x, etc. I have gotten super proficient at passing guard and smashing halfguard players, obviously I know jack and shit literally but I have been working on it all. Is it possible to be competitive using all of those games?

[@AVTBJJ]

This is funny because I'm both a BJJ blue belt and a teenager with a new car.

[@Chewjitsu]

Is it a 1988 Fiero?

[@AVTBJJ]

@@Chewjitsu nope! It's an 07 Yaris. Its color navy, and it's my baby, so I named it the navy baby.

[@AVTBJJ]

@@Chewjitsu I might start saying I have a navy belt.. its blue.. just calling it navy instead.

[@fearedhorizon808]

I'm a white belt, so I'm still struggling to survive lol. But I definitely feel this in my boxing styles right now

[@randomclips8575]

what

[@fearedhorizon808]

The struggling to survive as a white belt part was a reference to the video. And when I said I feel it in my boxing styles I'm referring to how he said as a blue belt you get sucked into all the different techniques and kind of get lost instead of becoming proficient in just a few moves. In my boxing I kind of did the same thing I fight southpaw, orthodoxed, a counter striker style, aggressive style, defensive style, I'll fight long, fight short etc. And I'm lost and dont have a main style that I'm fully comfortable in

[@romelominga1980]

My car is in the repair shop

[@markd2797]

How come the title changes when I click the video

[@MrFreakinAwesome20]

This is me as a white belt . I'm trying too many new things and getting beat by everybody .

[@JohnnytheTechnician]

Pontiac Fiero you are so cool. 🤪

[@Chewjitsu]

Hahaha.

[@marcodeolivedeoliveira7172]

Was the Fiero a 4 or 6 cylinder?

[@Chewjitsu]

It was a V6

[@Mittelmensch]

Hi Chewy, I'm a 39 year-old fat bjj white belt from Belgium (started a month ago). Background in judo (I stopped at the age of 13). I quit smoking but I still drink wine, even after training. I believe it's good for the blood flow. Does wine and bjj match, in the long run ? (ps : thanks for your inspirational videos)

[@ronthemogul]

Lmao

[@TheHYENA87]

Mittelmensch the best in the world prefer to smoke the MJ, wine isn’t gonna cut it. You gotta open your horizons bra!

[@warbastard01]

All alcohol makes you less effective at every sport.

[@Scoobydude2002]

Write in a BJJ journal while you sip on a nice glass of red. Relaxing sleep is crucial for recovery. Good luck with your training, Oss!

[@0fficer_friendly]

Hey guys I have chosen bjj to become good at. If i wanna get to the top is starting at 16 allright? Or is to late?

[@internetpeople1064]

I started at 40. It's never too late.

[@ryang9973]

Nah bro Gordon ryan started at 15

[@robert_8586]

16 is a great age. Do it you'll regret it if you don't

[@tomersivani4347]

Gordon ryan started in 15 and hes arguably the best NO-GI grappler ever

[@flavoredchin]

One stripe white belts are people with learners permits.

[@PHOBOS300]

I feel like I have the opposite problem I feel like I have one main move I can tap anyone with and one back up move and everything else kinda sucks

[@IBleedBolts]

90% of y'all looked up "undulate". 😂

[@conornurmagomedov2025]

Every other person who trains any martial arts are like teenagers to us.

[@Crystals10000]

Haha

[@Cw3_6294]

🥋

[@TheSideProject]

Chewy🤤😍

[@MonkeyHop]

I thought that white belts are babies was a great metaphor , this is so much funnier

[@Chewjitsu]

Glad I can keep em coming.