I am ashamed that I succumbed to blue belt blues so early after promotion. My husband, who does not practice martial arts, didn’t think it was possible to experience a plateau that early after a promotion. I’m here to tell you that it is possible, and I had the blues for months.
My dilemma: There were several local competitions with greatly matched opponents! Should I compete while experiencing the blues? Should I give myself time to upgrade my BJJ skills so I’m more confident?
I chose to sit this part of the year out.
PROS OF NOT COMPETING YET:
- Focus on improving my overall BJJ.
- Improve my mindset daily via reading, practice, affirmations.
- Overall GROWTH (confidence, skills, mat hours).
- Didn’t have to deal with competition anxiety WHILE dealing with blue belt blues!
CONS OF NOT COMPETING YET:
- Didn’t develop a competition game plan (so still unsure of what my A-game is)
- Missed opportunities to compete with evenly matched opponents (rank, age, size).
- By not getting in the arena, I’m missing out on gaining competition experience, which is a separate skill in itself!
Can you compete as a brand new blue belt? Absolutely, and I encourage anyone to compete when they can. Personally, I don’t think it was safe for me to risk entering a competition in the midst of a plateau. I’d already lost the match mentally before signing up. I didn’t want to put myself through that and end up feeling worse about my BJJ.
GOOD NEW: I SURVIVED THE BLUE BELT BLUES!
I’m happy to report that I am on the other side of the plateau and feeling so much better about BJJ overall. I’ve read that if you work through a plateau, you will experience a breakthrough. I think my breakthrough is that my guard game is improving! Most of my young teammates prefer to pass and play the top game, so I end up on the bottom defending myself, A LOT.
I’ve learned a lot about myself through BJJ by ending up at the bottom, getting submitted, and surviving in bad spots. Luckily, I had prepared a roadmap to get me through the blue belt blues stage! I stuck with it and made it to the other side. With that said, I would consider competing at some point this year now that I survived the plateau.
Would you compete during the “blues”?
