Clickbait? A little, but I did earn my BJJ blue belt in 8 months after RETURNING to BJJ! Previously, I trained for about 6 months, 3 years ago. I had to take a very long pause due to pregnancy/babies but I found my way back in April 2021. Should I count half a year of training from 3 years ago? If so, it took a culmination of 14 months. If not, it took 8 months. 8 months of dedication, hard work, and self study. I will go through how I did it below.
During those 3 years away from the mats, I stayed active. I trained for races, weight trained, and dove deep into yoga. So when I returned to judo and BJJ, I wasn’t “out of shape” but I was NOT in grappling shape. I could barely walk for a week after my first judo class. After several judo classes, I worked up the nerve to try BJJ again and was hooked.
HOW I EARNED MY BLUE BELT:
LISTENED TO FEEDBACK:
Listen to what your teacher tells you. They’ll let you know what to work on when you’re getting close. Other schools use stripes on the belt to let you know how you’re progressing through white belt. I went from a ZERO stripe white belt to a blue belt, I’ve seen others go from 1-2 stripes to blue as well, so feedback from your teacher is what counts.
CONSISTENT PRACTICE:
I train BJJ 3 days a week (4 days if I can or when I trained for competition). It’s engrained in my family’s weekly routine, they know what mornings/evenings I will be training. Consistency leads to discipline. A disciplined athlete rises.
“X” marks the spot: I keep a planner in my bag and mark an X on the days I train. If you do this method, you will hold yourself accountable by seeing the gaps in training.
MAINTAINED HEALTHY HABITS:
As an ex-fitness trainer, I know the importance of strength training when it comes to sports, everyday movements, and aging. I run & strength train (run 15-20 minutes followed by 20-30 minutes weights) 2-3 days a week to prevent injuries and stay strong. I also fit in 5-10 minutes of yoga before class and at night.
TLDR: strength train 2-3 times a week and stretch daily. Try to fit in some cardio too! It is OK to keep it simple! Your body needs this to stay balanced, pliable, healthy, and injury free.
KEPT A JOURNAL:
I write down the date, who my training partner was, and what we did in class. For the sparring portion, I write down who I sparred with, along with what went well and what didn’t. This brain dump helps with recall of the class and helps me see what I need to work on. For example, I was constantly getting arm barred so reviewing notes showed me I was making a mistake not tucking my arms.
READ BOOKS & WATCHED VIDEOS:
I purchased the Jiu Jitsu University book and reading the white belt section helped so much! Watching videos on what you learned in class can help engrain the technique. Just try not to get carried away and go down the rabbit holes of videos and try to collect a bunch of useless techniques.
I WANTED TO BE A GOOD TEAMMATE:
Coming from a dance team background, I can’t help but think of my training partners as teammates. I even showed up at a IBJJF competition and cheered them on. I gave new sparring partners suggestions if they make mistakes, and I let the newbies know when I can tell they’ve made massive improvements. There are lots of running jokes like, “I won’t bother learning the new people’s name until they’ve been there 6 months.” because they’ll quit by then. Which is true, 90% white belts will quit, but how can we improve this statistic? BJJ is hard enough, I think we should band together to help them through the learning curve.
I COMPETED:
One of the best things I did at white belt was compete. It can be a scary experience and you’ll wonder “WTF AM I DOING?!” I had 3 months of experience back to the mats by the time the competition came, and I spent 6 weeks preparing. It was 100% worth it. Also note, both of the young ladies who beat me at the tournament earned their blue belts a few weeks after that competition! Competing helps you see where the gaps in your game are. The lead up to competition helps you sharpen your tools.
Bottom line, you will earn your blue belt when your coach thinks you’re ready. It can take 1 year-3 years. There is no rush. Stay consistent and chase techniques, not belts. Now go train!
