What advice would you give to yourself as a white belt?

Featuring appearances by ADCC veterans Lachlan Giles and Craig Jones, we asked some of our color belts what advice they would give to themselves as white belts. Here is what they had to say. Their responses are shown here in their entirety and they do not necessarily reflect the views of Absolute MMA, its coaches, or their sponsors. Feel free to post any advice that you have for white belts in the 'Comments' section below.
Follow the links below for detailed instructional series by Lachlan Giles
The Guard Passing Anthology: Half Guard can be found here:
Check out my half guard DVD "The Half Guard Anthology" here. Which covers all things half guard
lachlangiles.net/the-half-guar...
My No Gi Chokes DVD here: Focusing on the guillotine, arm in guillotine, anaconda, darce, Japanese necktie, North South choke, and how to link these chokes together.
lachlangiles.net/high-percenta...
You can check out a detailed instructional on my butterfly, shin to shin, single X, X guard game on through the Grapplers Guide. There is also heaps of content from other world class instructors!
Use the Coupon code LACHLAN to save 30% and also to help me out :)
Follow this link for Grapplers Guide
lachlangiles.net/grapplers-gui...
I have a GI half guard seminar available for just $17.50. Get that here:
gdf.thinkific.com/courses/lac...
Lachlan is a second degree BJJ black belt. He is the 2017 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship Bronze Medallist, 2014 Australian Jiu-Jitsu Grand Prix Champion, multiple time Pan Pacific and Victorian Jiu Jitsu Champion. He has represented Australia twice at ADCC, the most prestigious submission grappling competition in the world, represented Australia three times at the World Pro Championships and competed at the Eddie Bravo Invitational where he submitted former ADCC Champion Rani Yahya.
In 2014 and 2017 he completed a clean sweep of the black belt division at Australia's most prestigious competition, the Pan Pacific Championships, winning 4 gold medals. In 2016 Lachlan was ranked as the number 12 lightweight BJJ competitor in the world. He is also the 2016 Australian Freestyle Wrestling Champion.
He also works as a physiotherapist and in 2016 completed his PhD.
My butterfly and single leg X game can be found on the grapplers guide!
grapplersguide.com/
Lachlan is a second degree BJJ black belt. He is the 2017 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship Bronze Medallist, 2014 Australian Jiu-Jitsu Grand Prix Champion, multiple time Pan Pacific and Victorian Jiu Jitsu Champion. He has represented Australia twice at ADCC, the most prestigious submission grappling competition in the world, represented Australia three times at the World Pro Championships and competed at the Eddie Bravo Invitational where he submitted former ADCC Champion Rani Yahya.
In 2014 and 2017 he completed a clean sweep of the black belt division at Australia's most prestigious competition, the Pan Pacific Championships, winning 4 gold medals. In 2016 Lachlan was ranked as the number 12 lightweight BJJ competitor in the world. He is also the 2016 Australian Freestyle Wrestling Champion.
He also works as a physiotherapist and in 2016 completed his PhD.

[@neonseacow]

"do what your coach says, not what youtube says" but I've learned so much through KZbin with out the biasness of a coach

[@mattburns545]

Bias

[@traviscumbest3946]

take both with a grain of salt and find what works best with your game and body type. just know that like all things your gym has a meta and somethings you might not see as much at other gyms

[@happylarry7533]

bjj found me on KZbin 🤔🤔

[@canihaveasodaandamcchicken6487]

1. Dont be over aggressive 2. Listen to coaches 3. Dont believe you have it all figured out better than other people 4. Dont just use power

[@bullfrogjay4383]

I am working on all 4 of these right now. Definitely relaxing, breathing and thinking more during a roll.

[@bizill1984]

This is a great idea for a video. Thanks for sharing this. It's inspirational for all us beginners.

[@emanl84]

1) show up 2) give up your ego 3) find the right gym It's enough for the first 5 years.

[@bullfrogjay4383]

I keep telling myself, "Just show up, everything will fall in place" on the days I don't feel like going.

[@michaelcorcoran3942]

I am doing all of these yesss!!!!!! I played guitar for feckin years and its finally paying off in ways I never thought possible. Any skill learned you stick too will help you learn any other skill. Learn how to learn.

[@Wodenthrall]

awesome vid. cheers for putting this together!

[@brabhamfreaman166]

I think this should be filed under "youth is wasted on the young".

[@Alex-hc1ls]

1. Improve flexibility to reduce time off with injuries. 2. When you are tired keep rolling this is when muscle memory kicks in. 3. Tape your fingers and strength your grips.

[@jesseascriven]

Super good video!!Thanks a bunch!

[@paddle_smith]

A year and half into my journey, I'm definitely feeling this advice

[@sp6990]

Great vid. Thx for posting.

[@TheDomLouis]

Did Craig Jones say "tap regularly"?!?! Good advice to not get injured, then learn and come back stronger. Well look where he is today!

[@goku-pops7918]

After every class think of what you did bad, what you did good and what you can experiment on for next class

[@SwampCityRadio1974]

Six years as a white belt. I now view it as a way of getting out of the house and working up a sweat and that way I no longer get frustrated. I've more or less given up but attend because it's still fun to roll around.

[@stevenconnolly28]

I am a white belt with zero stripes. Really enjoying it and listening to each and every person in the gym. Any advice at this stage has to surely be good advice. Training 4 days a week for 6 weeks now. It's an amazing experience so far

[@sambaugh9251]

Week 6 and training 4 days a week, does the soreness ever go away? Lol

[@c.fodder2444]

Purple belt now?

[@jacobbarling]

Great advice. Cheers...

[@ravenrpg3865]

When I first started in 2005. as a white belt, I wanted to learn so many submissions that it was hard for me to really focus on core fundamentals. It took me a few years to slow down and focus on the basics and just focus primarily on one submission and learn to use that submission from many different positions. It's once I started focusing on that one submission that I started to notice a significant improvement.

[@Sinekyre14]

Love how at 3:00, the people in the background come through LOUDER than the guy being interviewed, then they stuck MUSIC on top of it to make it harder to hear. xD

[@craigtribolet7266]

What a great gym that must be. Sounds like a party

[@flesheffigy875]

Learn concepts and techniques will follow naturally

[@NuevoVR]

ii would go 5 days a week if the warmups werent hardcore military training

[@thomasorchard]

Agreed. If I ran a school, I'd do 30 min of techniques and 30 min of rolling per class.

[@NuevoVR]

@@thomasorchard I said this then i started training 4 hours a day 6 days a week lol now im injured permanently

[@lewis5079]

@@NuevoVR what injury you get bro?

[@daredevil3598]

Change gyms. At my gym the warm ups are chill but we focus so much on technique and all the small details with lots of reps

[@bw5187]

Real Insights

[@cogen651]

My advice is, don't worry about the belts, just go and do the best you can. Famous BJJ expert said "A black belt is just a white belt that didn't give up." It helps if you have a patient and understanding teacher.

[@kennymarvel8311]

Craig Jones looks like Owen Wilson of Jiu-Jitsu

[@samuelmayo3923]

read the title and liked

[@Leo-iq7um]

these are all next level champion

[@Dbunkr55]

Would be great to hear this but the fucking background noise AND music drown out everything.

[@michaelcorcoran3942]

Use anything but your phone, or 10 euro/dollar headphones

[@DigitalPsyche]

A cheap lapel mic and audacity would do wonders for the audio.

[@phx4closureman]

Esp at 4:57

[@kyleg4d]

Go elsewhere then you ungrateful fuck

[@RandoTransform3r]

Lol why complain

[@dodgesportsman772]

Enjoy life and roll with the punches

[@mmaforever594]

lol Craig Jones had alot to say

[@SindreEide93]

Blue Belt, but still watching this =)

[@TheGodfather101]

what I would say to myself? "don't talk during training". you lose focus. I talked to much....

[@CO8ism]

How come there's blue belts with cauliflower ear and black belts without it?

[@BrunoOliveira-xn7yr]

and some people may just drain it

[@TheProdigy260592]

Genetics play a part but also style of grappling. I see most pressure passers are more likely to have it

[@superiorperformingstocktra6437]

Craig Jones looked very handsome back in the days!

[@DefinitelyDean]

3 deserts in 1 sitting 😜👌🏽🍦🍰🍩

[@slamdunktiger]

FundamentalGuitar #goals

[@cro-emils783]

I tell myself as a white belt in Jiu Jitsu just starting out a week ago... that I really suck! :(

[@voin3186]

keep going. I have been training for 7 months out of the year, and still don't have a stripe. But I love the game.

[@mr.henderson367]

@Greg Lurik I hope they are

[@r.b.4611]

That audiovisual vs kinesthetic divide is nonsense by the way. We all learn using all available methods (unsurprisingly).

[@TheSocHero]

Hey I just started training like 2 weeks ago. Made it into a show. When is it too early to start tournaments? 6 months from now?

[@getfitwithme8405]

TheSocHero never too early

[@Capitan_Chaos]

Are you still training?

[@brophymusprime593]

slow down. I came from a background in modern army combatives which focuses alot on violence of action, which jiu jitsu obviously does not. also, I would have trained more in the gi.

[@jasonmitchell6534]

Eat peas

[@healingleafwave6963]

The belt tells you what you need to learn to get to the next one also shows how much you know or should have known intellect..wise. And experiance. As a white belt no stripe been in for 1 year do to traveling. As of late. Im not worried about submissions or being super spazzy anymore. I would tell myself on day one. Lern how to pull all guard. Butterfly spider exetra learn how to spin back into guard ..passing guard in many ways as to keep them guessing. Sweeps and escapes are my favorits. I pull them off allot from being mounted. guard buterfly scizzor scissor sweeps half guard sweeps day la heva sweep yea am i forgeting sumthing thats it

[@cae744]

Wear earguard to avoid Mickey Mouse ears when you're a blue belt going up.

[@baranteyfur4800]

I have bben doing jujutsu for 8 months. I am still a white belt. Here is what I would tell myself: You can't just make progress by attending the dojo, doing shit, going back home and forgetting about it. You have to make an active effort.

[@Daniel-yo5es]

wrong... Ive been doing jiu jitsu for 17 years... just show up regularly for a long long time... it will come to you.

[@achunable]

Taking notes on techniques and reviewing them

[@ivantulumovic861]

I cant even apply any of the techniques. I train 8 months I cant do any submission and cant do head choke correctly. I tried entering aggressively that helps me sometimes but I still suck. I feel like my first day I just end up on the floor and its not possbioe for me to escape

[@baranteyfur4800]

@@ivantulumovic861 Think about the technique even when you are not in the dojo.

[@baranteyfur4800]

@@Daniel-yo5es why advocate laziness? You are putting time, effort and money into this. Your teacher as well. You are inheriting something important. So put effort into it.

[@aaronramsden1657]

4:57 best answer 😂

[@phx4closureman]

Can't hear shit sees saying over that loud BASS rap over her words 😲😲😲😲😲

[@PauIdenino]

Me taking notes: 1. ✍️😊 2. ✍️😊 3. ✍️🙃

[@fatgirlboy9341]

Don’t hold spider guard too hard and fuck up the fingers not learning any techniques

[@w3thebeast669]

You fucked up the audio so bad dude .. did you even watch it back before posting it ? Great concept for a video though.

[@jacob262]

I am white belt. 1. smesh

[@mokonzi2K6]

I hear people say 40 is the new 20, well, i rolled on the mat with a 23 year old, let me tell you fellas I had a quick reminder to take it a notch down...Do not believe that mess player...40 is not the new 20...listen to your body my friend !

[@Medreg1983]

Im 40 . Im fine. No excuses

[@Daniel-yo5es]

just freaking train man.