Robert Drysdale Seminar
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Click here! to register. Limited spots available.
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Things I've Learned While Studying Jiu Jitsu: Lesson 1
1. Size really does matter…Sorta… I don’t like starting off with this but we’d better get it out of the way first; One of the top benefits of BJJ most people tout is it’s ability to minimize size differences, going on at length about how great BJJ is for the smaller practitioner. On paper this is true, but anyone under 130 lbs or so can testify that climbing up the ranks in Jiu Jitsu is tougher when the average weight of their training partners is 170 lbs+. Technique and experience are undeniable equalizers, but at the end of the day a 209 lb body has an advantage over a 112 lb body. That said, another size- related lesson I’ve learned is that women and men both come in all sizes in the ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 2: You're Gonna Suck - For a Long Time
On some level most people begin almost any skill- based venture with at least a basic understanding that they will suck really bad at it at first. Jiu jitsu is no different in that respect, except that you will in all likelihood do poorly for way longer than you expected. That doesn’t mean you won’t have tons of fun in the process of becoming great, but don’t let the realty of inevitable ignorance spoil one of the greatest journeys you’ll ever take in your life. As a wise man once said, “Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something”. – Jake the Dog. Acquiring any nuanced skill set of course will be long and difficult, but many people underestimate the process ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 3: Ego Isn't Your Bro - There's No Shame on Tapping
Tapping is a fact of life in Jiu Jitsu. You will tap. You have to tap to learn. You will tap to someone better or quicker or more clever than you right up until the day you hang up your coral belt. You’ll tap to folks that you consider less talented than you. Eventually you’ll even give up a tap to the noobs here and there to help them learn. There’s no shame in tapping. Never. I can’t say this enough and any more firmly; There is no shame in tapping! Now that I got that out of the way, let’s talk about why we don’t tap. There are two primary reasons why someone doesn’t tap: Ego and inexperience. There’s different levels of ego on the mats, so for the purpose of this discussion, I’m not ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 4: Gym Hygiene is Really Important and Rarely Taught
I have gone to the bathroom in bare feet, and returned on the mats to roll. There. I’ve said it. I didn’t do it because I’m committed to being the grossest, most inconsiderate person I can manage to be, but because no one told me it was gross. It never occurred to me. I figured it out through the silent stink-eye fellow grapplers were giving me and through BJJ memes. I mean, it makes perfect sense…but I didn’t know. That was a little bit embarrassing for me, and I’d like try to spare you some shame by handing down some lessons on gym hygiene I’ve learned over the years. The first is the most obvious ‘wear-the-shoes-provided-to-the-toilet’ rule. Most gyms will provide a pair or two of flip ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 5: Belt Blues - The Struggle is Real
Most of you have heard of the ‘Blue Belt Blues’, a phenomenon many people will experience soon after getting their blue belt in which they begin to think they don’t deserve their new rank. The new blue belt might question their skill level, lose confidence in themself and often, quit Jiu Jitsu alltogether. Conservatively, for every blue belt that stays on the mats to purple, 2 have quit. Granted, life can also steer someone towards giving up on BJJ, but feelings of inadequacy can play a big role in why a blue belt leaves. The fact of the matter is that at every level you will question yourself. Every belt level experiences the blues, not just blue belts. How badly and for how long depends ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 6: The White Belt Spazz
You’re sitting there on the edge of the mats, mouth guard at the ready, eying potential rolls. To your left a tiny, shy voice breaks in: “Hey, uh, you, uh, you wanna roll?” It’s a new guy, eight weeks into training, looking meek. “For sure!” you say. He doesn’t know what he’s doing yet, but he’s only about 160lbs, won’t be too bad, right? Let him work, you’ll work on your defenses. You slap, bump…and suddenly he grabs your wrist and throws his body into yours in his best attempt at a guard pass. You’re struggling to control him while you eat knees and elbows to the face, chest and shins, fending off every ounce of strength and exertion he can muster. This guy is going H.A.M on you like ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 7: How to be Cool and Avoid Making People Feel Awkward
This isn’t quite so much about being cool as it is minimizing any awkwardness we might inadvertently cause. I don’t really know how to be cool, so to say I can pass that skill on to you would be a wild and spurious claim on my part. That said, I’ve sat back and watched, sometimes cringed, while people come, go and stay at the gym. Some people know what they’re doing in a team setting and others need some help. A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym is home to all walks of life. Men, women, gay, straight, married, single, young, old and so on. Sometimes it’s tough to navigate all the corners of a heterogeneous team sport. This barely-cool blogger is coming to the rescue! I’ve laid out a loose dos and ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 8: Gear, Gis, and Endless Laundry!
I’ve never in my life ever had to do so much laundry than I have since starting BJJ. If I wanted to do this much laundry, I’d have kids. At least twice a week is darn unreasonable in my opinion, but I also think having 9 gis, 25 rashguards and a pair of spats for every rashguard is a little excessive too, so whaddaya gonna do? I’ve been the primary laundry-doer in a domestic arrangement and I still think I do more laundry as a single person training Jiu Jitsu than I ever did while trying to keep clean clothes on the backs of two grown adults. My heart to BJJ students with a bunch of kids, or worse, those who have a bunch of kids training. That must be a nightmare of a laundry day! But, as ....
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Things I've Learned Studying Jiu Jitsu, Lesson 9: Top 6 Non-Jiu Jitsu Things You Need To Learn When You Start Jiu Jitsu
Often we see articles outlining the top things we must learn when we start studying BJJ, like the Triumvirate of Tap (triangle, armbar, omoplata), RNC, how to break guard and how to regain your own guard. But what about the OTHER stuff, the things you weren’t prepared for, the little lessons out of left field that really test our character? Here’s my list of things that have no obvious link to BJJ, but you’re gonna need them if you’re going to survive. 1 Humility.
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Yeah, we hear this a lot, eh? “Stay humble”, “Ego isn’t your amigo” and so on. It’s absolutely true! Tapping sucks, tapping all day long sucks more, and knowing you’re going to show up to class and tap to someone better than ....
