White belt's common mistakes

pamsbjjjourney
Nov 28, 2015
2 min read

What I’m going to talk about today is based on my personal experience and I’m still working on it everyday. I always heard the same stuff repeatedly from my coach at the gym cause at first beginners don’t really know what to do when they are on the mat. Even me, sometimes when I sparred with a big guy or higher belts, I didn’t really know where to aim or how to get out from their guards. The key for beginners is to SURVIVE, don’t try to submit when you are in their guards. I repeat, don’t try to submit while you’re in the guard cause that never worked. Basically, you just need to relax, it’s OK to get tapped out bunches of times cause that’s how you learn not to do the same stuff again. When I roll with new comers, I noticed how they used up all the energy. It’s actually not good for you at all, you need to take a chill pill guys. You know why? Because they don’t know how to control their breaths, some people forget to breath while rolling. If you want to know how breathing is important in BJJ, check out how Rickson Gracie, an 8th degree red and black belt in Jiu Jitsu, practices his breathing technique.

You need to handle the pain and weight that is going to happen. Try not to tap because of the heavy weight that is on top of you but try to tap from the submission instead. The first time I got knee on belly was the worst feeling ever, it was a lot of pressure on my stomach and I felt like my stomach is going to burst. But once you get the hang of it, then it will be just fine. Don’t try to go so fast when you first start, it’s better to take it slow first. I recommend you to learn and observe from the higher belts when they roll.

Sometimes you don’t realize you’re giving the arms to the opponent, you have to keep your arms and elbows tight, try to defend as much as you can.