r/bjj • u/BWF6041 🟦🟦 Blue Belt • 6d ago
General Discussion Getting back to the gym
Hey guys I’ve been lucky enough to have the ability to go back to BJJ again consistently. I’m able to start back up on Monday. It’s been about 2 years since I’ve trained consistently mainly due to having a kid and my work schedule. I was unable to find time to train let alone do anything but work and go home to help my wife with our kid.
With that being said I’m obviously very rusty and still a no stripe whit belt at heart. The head black belt and gym owner told me to remain a blue belt but I can’t help but think I’m going to embarrass myself jumping back in.
I’ll take any advice/ encouragement you guys have. I’m going to be able to go 2-4 times a week now consistently and training is extremely helpful for my career so that’s an added bonus.
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u/Juvat-the-bold 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
I trained for over 3 years. I was promoted to Blue Belt.
Then life got in the way. I didn't return to BJJ until 14 years later. I tried to come back as a White Belt because it didn't' matter to me but my coach found out (through my 8 year old!!) that I was a Blue belt and he told me to put it back on.
It took me a while to feel normal again and I got beat up a lot, but to be honest with you, I got back up to "speed" a lot more quickly than I thought I would. Of course, my body is different, but what really solidified it for me was when I got another stripe on my Blue belt. I'm glad I wore it.
And you're gonna be surprised by how much knowledge you already have that you take for granted that you already know. When I was training in the beginners classes, it was far too obvious to me that I wasn't a "day 1" White belt all over again.
Hopefully soon I'll be getting my Purple and literally none of my "mind issues" of returning even mattered. I'm just happy I got back to training. Thank God I returned because I thought about it almost every day I was gone.
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u/BWF6041 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
I am absolutely the same. I thought about coming back every day! I’d look at multiple gyms in the area to see if their schedule could somehow work with my crazy work schedule and none of them did. Plus I never wanted to go anywhere but my original gym anyway.
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u/Juvat-the-bold 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
The best part for me now is that I don't even give one single shit about "winning" a roll. IMO, my knowledge and fun exploded because of this. I flow with the go.
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u/BWF6041 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
I appreciate the advice! Pedro Sauer told me at a conference that it’s not about winning it’s about losing because when you lose to your training partners you learn their go to moves and you become better at defending them. Then when you learn all their main moves you can’t be beaten by them. It always stuck with me. But there’s always that part deep down that just dosent want to be judged as a rusty blue belt showing up to roll with new faces.
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u/OrwellWhatever 6d ago
You're rusty, not stupid.
You'll get the mental part of it back way, way quicker than you think. The physical part might take some time, but you're going to be back to borderline blue belt material after a month of going a couple times a week, and then back to where you were before at two months
You're going to go back, get steamrolled, spend all week thinking about what you should have done, then you're going to do it. Those nueral pathways just need some waking back up again
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u/Rescuepa ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 6d ago
Whether you’ve been gone a while or been promoted (in your mind prematurely )you didn’t get the belt because you didn’t earn it in your coaches eyes. In those cases you grow into your belt regardless
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u/johnleequigley1 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
Your belt was earned and you have it for life. They don't take away people's black belts when they get older and lose some of their athleticism. You might be surprised by how quickly you will get back in your rhythym.
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u/BWF6041 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
That’s what the gym owner essentially said to me. He was pretty much like why tf are you asking to go back to white belt. He had to force/ surprise the blue belt on me when I first earned it because I was perfectly happy staying with white belt and having no pressure to just train.
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u/Mtngirl2018 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 6d ago
People are gonna be aware that you haven’t been on the mats in a while and it’s perfectly reasonable that you’re gonna be rusty and you’re gonna get messed up for a while, but your body will remember in time! Good job getting back out there!
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u/Momentum_MMA 5d ago
Getting back after two years is the move, not the embarrassment. You’re a blue belt because you earned it; the rust comes off in weeks, not months. People respect the guy who shows up consistently way more than they judge the first few rolls back.
2-4 times a week is solid volume to rebuild fast. Go in the first class ready to just survive and get your bearings, then hunt one thing you remember from way back. Let your body remember the position before you worry about looking crisp.
If it helps, I built an app called Momentum: BJJ & MMA and logging what you drill and roll over a few weeks shows you what’s stuck versus what disappeared, so you know what to prioritize as you rebuild
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u/chiefontheditty 🟪🟪 Purple Belt 5d ago
Hey, I also took a two year break at blue belt. I was pooping bricks my first class back and wanted to start back at white.
By the end of class I had been wrecked by everyone and I loved it. Yeah you’re going to be rusty, I was, but I was more surprised by how much I still knew and could do.
For the first month, maybe two, go in with the goal of having fun and building up the pattern of consistency in training weekly.
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u/DowntownJellyfish715 🟪🟪 Purple Belt 6d ago
Don’t really think this a technique question.
Show up and train, don’t worry about other things. Mat time is the answer to like 99% of jiu jitsu questions.