BEST BJJ WHITE BELT TIPS | JIU-JITSU BASICS

Are you a beginner & looking to thrive as a white belt in BJJ? Have you been looking for an article centered on the essential Brazilian jiu-jitsu tips for beginners?

If yes, then this article is meant for you.

We understand that it can be quite tough and frustrating to be a white belt beginner in BJJ. Especially if you've been training and practicing for only a few months, you'll need to roll with a higher belt, learn a lot of techniques, and even get smashed. 

Sometimes you'll often feel tons of expression in your journey (like you're not making any progress). This is why a lot of athletes quit during their first year. 

We're positive you're more determined than most, right? 

The best way to avoid that is to train and think about the essential BJJ white belt tips that'll inspire you to improve faster and not give up. 

That's why we created this article. 

Here are some of the BJJ beginner tips that will make your life easier at white belt:

1. LEARN THE BASICS FIRST

The first BJJ white belt tip is to avoid the temptation of getting too caught up in the "flashy" moves when you're starting. We understand that it's exciting and fun to learn flying techniques. 

However, such techniques won't help when you're trying to escape a basic position like side control. It's always good to focus on jiu-jitsu basics first- eventually, the crowd-pleaser moves will come much easier.

If you don't have your basics down, it's going to be more frustrating and challenging to learn advanced techniques.

Trust the learning process and be patient.

2. ACCEPT THE WHITE BELT STRUGGLE

It's always good to admit that you're at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to BJJ white belt. It takes time, and there's no way around it. 

So, don't get deflated at your seeming lack of success. Even though you might consider frequent tapping to be a failure, you're growing with every second spent on the mats.

Sometimes, it's entirely reasonable to lose to higher belts and admit that you're going to be beaten by more skilled white belts. After all, they do have more knowledge and experience than you.

Potentially, you might catch up and even surpass them. You only need to keep improving and avoid getting discouraged.

Just like it works out in other facets of life, you need to start slowly and gain momentum as time goes on. 

Always remember this simple rule- nobody is perfect from the start.

3. EVERYONE IS A GOOD BJJ PARTNER

Whether it's drilling, rolling, karate, boxing, or just learning new moves, it's good to avoid being picky about who you train with. 

In simple terms, the point we're trying to drive home is that everyone is a good fit, irrespective of the belt level. You gain more experience by working with more people.

If you want to become a better BJJ white belt, try to work with as many different athletes as possible. Both lighter and heavier partners, advanced or beginners' students, members of the opposite sex. No one should be left out of the box.

When you work with several people, you'll eventually grow much faster and learn how to react in a variety of situations. It'll become a foundation for building your technique later on when you're able to gather more experiences.

4. RELAX WHILE TRAINING

This is perhaps one of the BJJ beginner tips that most people seem to miss in the beginning. 

In reality, when you train without the ability to relax, there's a high chance that you'll become overtrained, exhausted, or even injured. On a more serious note, you'll get to slow down your progress when you train with a super-tense competitive mindset.

Research has shown that people learn fastest when they're relaxed- the same applies to BJJ. 

The concept of relaxing and not getting tensed up is rare for a white belt – it's typical, and expectations need to be managed. Even at that, it's essential to learn how to be comfortable in discomfort.

It's also worth noting that it takes experience and time to learn how to use your energy well and slow down. In the beginning, you'll waste a lot of extra movement and energy, but you'll become more efficient over time.

5. DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS

In a real sense, it can be hard to determine personal progress.

Though there are several ways to improve your self-awareness- one good way to start is by comparing yourself with yourself.

This might sound a little wacky. But when you analyze whether you might defeat yourself two months ago or perhaps even three months ago, it becomes easier to ascertain whether you're naturally developing your abilities or improving. 

A lot of people fall into the trap of comparing themselves with others, hoping that it'll help.

When you compare yourself with others, getting a sense of improvement becomes difficult because these people are also improving just like you.

Your competitors are likely improving at a similar rate. Hence, it becomes difficult to "catch" those higher belts.

If you want to become the best, then it's good to compare yourself to yourself and not others. 

6. TAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF

Even though you might want to become a perfectionist, it's worth noting that you can never become flawless at BJJ. 

This is one of the essential BJJ beginners' tips that you need to understand from the start. After all, the idea of perfection is a moving target that can't be entirely reached.

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, everyone makes a mistake. Yeah, even black belts can make one or two wrong moves. Not to mention, the chances of mistakes are even higher for white belts. You can't expect anything different from a sport where your contenders are forcing you to make mistakes. 

Rather than getting angry with yourself for doing something foolish, accept it as part of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and push on.

When you choose to learn from your mistakes and not dwell on it, it becomes easier to improve on yourself and become better. 

CONCLUSION

That's it for now.

In this article, we were able to discuss some BJJ beginner tips, and we're pretty confident that when you follow these guidelines, you'll be able to improve your jiu-jitsu faster and enjoy more experience as a white belt. 

Now, we'll love to hear from you. 

What are your thoughts on this article? Are there other BJJ beginner tips you'll love to share? Do you have any questions? Please drop your views and questions in the comments section below.