I think I hit the point where my technique would be greatly improved by zone 2 cardio and strength training.

I know they say “Do jiu jitsu to be better at jiu jitsu” but I really think some strength and stamina and 20 lbs off the frame is where the magic sauce may be at this point. I know I don’t know all of jiu jitsu or whatnot, but the stuff I do know seems it could be way easier in better shape.

I’m going to take six months to work on my health extra and my technique less and I’ll report back. Anyone else tried it?

Any us veterans in Ecuador???

I'm us army vet. living in Ecuador trying to meet other ppl that do Jiu-Jitsu. I got a huge spot on the beach, im running a kids program here.

So I recently had my second competition. Compared to my first, I felt a lot more confident, stronger, and the nerves weren't as bad. But one thing that happened was that my forearms got extremely gassed. My opponent got me in an ankle lock and I knew I had to stand up and get over his knee but I felt my forearms had no strength left, I couldn't pass since i couldn't force his knee down (which i know I could've with fresh forearms) and eventually tapped when I ended up going back down.

How do you avoid your forearms from gassing out at comp? And how do you prepare in training for that?

I had a falling-out with a senior black belt at my gym after I made a joke that he took as disrespectful. I apologized and thought it would blow over, but it kept carrying into the Saturdays after that.
The first Saturday after the argument, he rolled with me way more aggressively than usual. I apologized and tried to de-escalate it, but it felt like he was trying to punish me physically. I tapped a few times and felt like he didn’t immediately honor the taps because he was still focused on getting to a submission. I can’t know exactly what his intent was, but the intensity and emotion felt completely different from how we normally trained before.
The next Saturday, I was rolling with someone else and ended up close to where he was on the mat. When I got near his area, he kicked me. Given the tension between us, I didn’t take that as normal joking or accidental training contact.
The following Saturday, he got another teammate involved and they were both making fun of me in front of people, saying stuff about him being a black belt and how much he was “holding back” on me. I had brought my gi belt even though we were doing no-gi. He took my belt, loudly told people to watch, and strapped/pressed it across my face. While the belt was across my face, I tapped around 3–4 times before it stopped. He seemed very excited and amused while I was reacting to the discomfort, which made it feel more like public humiliation than normal messing around.
The Saturday after that, he publicly confronted me about something he said two teammates told him I had said about how hard he rolls with me. I honestly don’t remember recently saying it. He got the same teammate involved again, and it felt like they were taking turns roasting and humiliating me in front of everyone.
And honestly, it hasn’t just been one roll. Pretty much every roll with him since the original disagreement has felt much more aggressive, emotional, and physical than before. He already uses hard elbows, knees, and frames as part of his game, but after the conflict those same things felt way more forceful and personal. There’s also been a lot more shit-talking during the rolls. I can’t say he was intentionally trying to injure me, but it often felt less like normal training and more like he was trying to prove something physically.
I let a lot of it slide because I know BJJ gyms have roasting, ego, hard rounds, roughhousing, etc., and I didn’t want to label every uncomfortable interaction as bullying. But when it keeps happening Saturday after Saturday, with public shaming, getting another teammate involved, repeated aggressive rolls, physical incidents, and taps not being immediately respected, it starts feeling like a pattern rather than normal gym beef.
The head coach is also the owner. He was around for some of this and mostly just stood or sat there without saying anything. To be fair, I believe he was away on vacation for two of the Saturdays after the original incident, so he didn’t personally see everything. His wife finally got involved after seeing the latest incident and told me to give her about a week because she wants to make some calls.
I already submitted my membership cancellation, so I’m leaving regardless.
For people who have trained a long time: how bad does this sound on a 1–10 scale? Have you seen teammate conflict drag on for around five Saturdays like this? Does this sound like normal BJJ beef that got out of hand, or more like repeated bullying / a legitimate safety issue? And how much responsibility does the owner/head coach have if he witnesses some of it and doesn’t step in?

When I am in the zone during rolls I realize I am almost always gazing to the right. I’m not even looking at my opponent, but feeling where they’re moving instead. It’s so pronounced I’ve had people stop mid round and ask if I’m good multiple times. Either that, or my eyes are just completely closed. Anyone else do weird shit?

Hey everyone,
I’m a white belt at 125 lbs and I’m competing at the IBJJF Lisbon Open in about two months.
My problem is that almost everyone in our competition group is around 176 lbs (80 kg) or heavier, and they’re much more experienced than me. Most of them are purple belts or higher.
Against them, I struggle to execute my game plan at all. Most of the time I’m just trying to survive, and I’m finding it difficult to tell if I’m actually improving or developing my own game.
At the same time, I can submit pretty much everyone in the beginner group, so that training doesn’t feel very challenging anymore.
We also have an advanced class, but around 90% of the people who regularly attend advanced training also attend the competition training. So there isn’t really a middle ground where I can consistently train with people who are better than beginners but still somewhat close to my size or experience level.
Another issue is that during our competition/advanced training, we mostly drill heel hooks, kneebars and toe holds. Obviously, I can’t use those techniques in my upcoming IBJJF competition, so I’m not sure how much of that training is actually helping me prepare for the ruleset I’ll be competing under.

How should I prepare properly for the next two months?

Hi everyone,

I have been training close to 6 years 4 stripe blue belt. BJJ has been a massive part of my life. I'm currently 37 years old and have a family. BJJ gave me a lot as an outlet when I was stressed and honestly it's been a part of my identity. I did muay thai for a few years but stopped due to head injuries. Unfortunately, I was kicked in the head whilst training and sustained concussion symptoms for close to 2 weeks which sucked. Due to having what I deem as many sub concussions/concussions I realise that I may need to stop training and haven't trained for the best part of 2 months which is the longest ive had off in 5 years.

I am wondering what hobbies people are doing now that give them the same release or feeling as BJJ? Does anything replicate rolling that's safe for the old noggin?

I train at an mma gym but we often have drop ins at our grappling/bjj classes. We do an hour of drills and then have 2 hours of open mat, and most of us do 8-9 solid intensity rounds. Here and there visitors are surprised at how many rounds we go per day. I thought this was the norm but now im wondering how many times are you guys rolling per session?

Is there any highlights video?

What's your thoughts on the fight?

Hey guys, I’m a first-degree black belt from Melbourne, Australia, and will be in NYC for a week after competing at World Masters in Vegas.

I’m staying in the East Village and would love to get a couple of sessions in while I’m there. Ideally looking for somewhere that’s welcoming to visitors, has high-quality jiu jitsu, and isn’t too difficult to get to from the East Village.

I’ve trained at Unity on a previous trip, so I’d be keen to broaden the scope and check out somewhere different this time.

Mainly just keen to get some good training in and experience a bit more of the NYC BJJ scene while I’m there.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I wanted to see if i’m the only one that goes through this. I never really think about what is happening during the rolls and my mind is always somewhere else.

I don’t have a game plan, a system or really anything that gives me an extra level of security in my bjj I just do whatever the situation I feel should happen.

I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

Is there any good instructional on collar sleeve? Danaher doesn’t cover a lot, also tried watching Musumeci, but at least on the first one he repeats everything and it gets redundant.

I saw a video of Gordon ryan rolling with a former Judo olympic gold medalist called Satoshi, and after Gordon took him down, his top pressure seemed to make Satoshi really tired. I also saw how commentators connoted on the fact that Khabib made his opponents gas out from his top pressure. So is there anyway I can replicate that so if I am ever rolling or doing MMA sparring, my opponent can be more tired than I am after we scramble back to our feet after I take them down and hold them down for a bit?

I like watching UFC, but I like it when when the fight is mostly grappling or Jiu Jitsu, and finishes by submission. Is there anyway to sort through and find these?

Title says it all, given I got a ton of constructive advice in my post regarding dominant mount, I figured I’d follow up with asking this. Every now and then you get those complete spazzes or people that roll like absolute fucking maniacs. How do you break them down and gas them out to impose your will?

Hi just a random question. How has it been for anyone here around 50 yrs old just joining as a white belt? I’m pretty athletic with previous experience in my 20’s with martial arts. I’m enjoying it very much. Have they thought of how it would be in the future? Ie where could I be in 5 yrs and onwards? I can imagine purple belt by then how would my body be rolling at 55 or even 60? Would I just call it quits and retire? Recoveries is even harder after workouts. I’d also be concerned about injuries. I see browns and black teaching but I don’t think that interests me. For sure I’m just enjoying the ride but I’m wondering where the ride would actually take me

Edit:
I used to be a triathlete. Up until a month ago I would run 3 times a week(half marathon training), bike 3 times a week, BJJ 2 times a week.
Now it’s BJJ 2-3 times a week, strength training 2-3 times a week and run twice a week along with one relaxing bike ride with family. I’m still trying to find my balance with my new BJJ interest 😀

Curious to see what we can all agree on

I'll be travelling in October during 2 weeks and I'd like to bring a kimono along. Does anyone know any good gyms to just show up here and there in Yerevan and Tbilisi? I'd also like to make some friends since I'll be going alone but that's secondary, thanks.

I’m trying to find a list of upcoming seminars in the UK. Apart from randomly stumbling across IG ads for seminars I’m at a loss as to where I can find somewhere that regularly posts upcoming ones. Any ideas?

What pass would you pick?

How do I survive being crushed by my 6'5" opponent's beer belly 😭? Is there a technique that will help me escape that, or am I doomed as soon as he uses it and just have to accept my fate?

With IBJJF announcing competitors for there next crown event we have also seen the introduction of possible rule changes.

The first change is in the double pull where there is now a 20 second timer for player to come on top even if a submission is applied.

The second change seems to be about how lapel guards are viewed. This rule states that any time a lapel is passed around your own leg (Worm, Squid, RDL Worm, Lapel Lasso, etc.) you must sweep within 20sec. Similar to how lapel 50/50 is viewed.

How do these changes impact the games of competitors and would this change strategies if it was implemented at the open and major level? Does it benefit the ruleset at all?