Learning structure for a beginner
I've been using the GG for 2 years now, only been actually training for 6 months. I'm a 1 stripe white belt that's studied the Fundamental courses so far and they've been enormously useful. As those courses are not yet completely done, I'm wondering: What would you guys suggest to learn next? If you had to give a completely new student some structure to follow by using solely the GG (and going to class, of course), what would it look like?
I'm looking forward to your responses, as a structure is what convinced me the most about the GG and I do believe it's one of its strengths. Cheers.
8 Comments
I've been reading a lot about this stuff. I'm a blue belt and fundamentals are still holes for me too. A bunch of people agree (e.g. Saulo Ribeiro, Lachlan Gilles, John Danaher) that working on defense first is vital because with a strong defense helps you feel confident to attack because if you end up in a defensive situation you have your escapes etc. dialed in. Saulo Ribeiro puts the white belt's focus at 'survival.' Ensure your defensive postures are strong and you can escape bad positions and re-guard. I'm still working on side control, back, turtle, north south, and mount escapes. Tom DeBlass, John Danaher and Lachlan Gilles all seem to agree that the first guard to focus on should be half guard/knee shield since it's easy to end up there a lot and it's part of guard retention. Start with getting out from smash half guard and switch base half guard, then I would check out some knee shield/z guard stuff. The first thing to learn is the defense of the weave pass IMHO too, since that is so many people's go to for half guard. I'm 44 so that guard is often recommended for older grapplers. Jason's Z guard stuff is top notch here, some cool attacks from there. Hope this helps. It's the boiled down version of me reading and listening to a lot of podcasts trying to find the answer to this question. It seems a tonne of people agree. Also, go to open mat and ask people to work specific positions instead of free rolling and find some new white belts to prey on for trying out your new techniques.
I agree that fundamentals starting with defense will be the most helpful concepts to learn. Beyond that, I think identifying the areas where you have no knowledge will help a lot too. Try to follow the logical path of a roll. Since you're going to class, you should be learning techniques already. Identify the positions surrounding those techniques that are unfamiliar then ask people and find videos on those positions. For example, if you learn a hip bump sweep from guard into top mount, it might be a good idea to learn mount attacks. If you already know some, learn to take the back from mount. If you can already do that, learn to attack from the back. If you keep learning this way, you should hopefully build a set of fundamentals that doesn't have any glaring holes.
My only tip for this as a blue belt is when you have slip ups don't be afraid to go back to the videos from fundamentals again and study them again. I find it really useful and often find I end up putting in my own bad habits and this is helping me identify that to help keep my fundamentals golden.
As WillowRN said, having rock solid defence is important and will open up many possibilities. For example if you don't fear getting your guard passed because your defence is good and you have solid ability to regain guard, then you can commit more to sweeps and attacks from guard.
I think beyond the basic fundamentals it becomes entirely subjective. So what do you have the most trouble with? What is your biggest weakness? Now, at the beginner stages until about purple belt most things are weaknesses, so just pick the one biggest glaring hole that frustrates the hell out of you. Then type that thing into the search box and start working through the structured courses on it.
For instance when I very first started, I was getting held in side control (even from complete beginners like me) with no means of getting out and getting really claustrophobic. So (not having grapplers guide at the time) I turned the the Jiu Jitsu University book I had and worked through the side control escape/survival section. Now I couldn't be more comfortable in side control and it's become a strength of mine. Once something else becomes a bigger gap in knowledge/capabilities I will start studying that. Your BJJ will organically grow and become it's own thing from there.
This is a difficult question, because you can build bjj in many ways. Easiest is to follow your instructors advice and thinking. Learn who they see and understand grappling.
More difficult is to think for yourself. Go to problem solving and brainstorming course and start to figure out options and how things work. When you build your own understanding there is no worries about remembering techniques -:)
Art123, post: 63941, member: 36751
I am brand new to GG site. Agree with most, focus on survival posture and escapes. Don't overlook the Solo Drills. Do more time drilling technique than rolling. Have fun with your journey.
Very good asnwer! Just want to add something. First all comes to why you are doing bjj. You need to train so that you get better for the goal you have. Survival start from grips and tieups. You need to understand when you are in a position to attact and when you need to fight for a better control. Drilling is KING, but you need to find a good way to drill for the learning goals you have.
Mostly its a journey. There is always a next mountain to climb.