By far, the people who read the most Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu related posts on the internet are white belts. They’re followed by blue belts, but blue belts trail behind by quite a bit. Once a student reaches purple belt, that student doesn’t care about articles and videos nearly as much as he or she did back when they first began. Why? Because when a student first begins training, the BJJ world is one huge unknown. By the time the student reaches purple belt, there’s not much left to the imagination. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that white belts know virtually nothing while purple belts know virtually everything. Well, everything within reason. There’s always something new to learn, even as a brown, black, or coral belt.
I thought I’d write a post for white belts that has to do with training BJJ in a club and about some of what occurs in said club – primarily rolling during open mat. It’s something I’ve been noticing a lot lately, especially as I get older and slower. Basically, this article will pertain to purple belts rolling with black belts and what to expect from both. The reason I say this article is primarily targeted at white belts is because their number one question has always been, “When am I going to get better?” Hopefully I can answer that question below. Hint: it has to do with being a purple belt.
I’ll begin by letting you know that purple belts are very, very proficient at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’ve already meandered through most of the ranks and I clearly recall exactly how I felt during each stage. I remember how I felt the moment I had my purple belt tied around my waist and I remember how I felt the day it was untied to be replaced by a brown belt. I was fairly young during this stage of my training. I had energy, agility, and I learned a lot. Purple belt is a strange time – it’s like I was good enough to roll with black belts at the beginning, but I’d lose nearly all of my matches. By the time I made it closer to brown belt, I won many matches against black belts. Purple belts are lethal on the mats for very good reason. I’ll explain that reason next.
Back when I first began training, it was like a bunch of guys in their 30s decided to get off their butts to do something. We were fairly young, but not young enough to compete against those guys who decided to begin training in their teens or 20s. But since we were the majority, the playing field was generally level. We trained, were promoted, and rose through the ranks to eventually achieve black belt; we felt pretty good about ourselves. The problem is…there is no problem. Well, there was no problem until recently. What I mean is if a 40 year old black belt spars against a 40 year old purple belt, the black belt will win the match almost every time. Of course, there’s always that off chance that the purple belt will get creative to sneak a submission in here or there, but by and large, the black belt will dominate.
Today, I notice that students are beginning their training during their younger years. My first club enjoyed a student body of fully matured men and a few somewhat matured (a little younger on average) women. That was 15 years ago. Today? We’ve got a lot of 20 somethings who are very strong and who are fast learners. What I’m finding is that these young students are absorbing information at lightening speed and then bringing that information along with their young bodies onto the open mat. And if that young, bright, strong student happens to be a seasoned purple belt, we older, slower, weaker black belts are finding it more and more challenging to find our taps as compared to when these students were white and blue belts. Rolling during mid-life isn’t easy.
That’s just my current predicament though – my own personal experience. The reason purple belts generally do so well against black belts still pertains to age, but in a much more insidious manner.
Consider this: Student A begins training BJJ at 35 years old. If it takes approximately 10 years to achieve black belt, that student will see that belt at 45. I’m here to tell you that the submission success rate between 35 and 45 years old drops dramatically, but nonetheless, Student A is a black belt at 45.
Now let’s consider Student B. This student also begins training at 35 years of age. If being a white belt lasts about a year and then being a blue belt lasts about three years, this student will turn purple at the age of 39. Give it a year of being a purple belt to acquire some more knowledge and if both belts go head to head on the mats, that 40 year old purple belt is going to give the 45 year old black belt a run for his money. That’s just the way it is. The human body begins falling apart at 45 and to have to deal with a fairly energetic and quite experienced BJJ player at that age – oh jeez. Now just imagine how awful the experience would be if the purple belt began training at 15 years old. Having him, at 20, go up against a 45 year old black belt – chances are the black belt would get destroyed. Unless, of course, that black belt is me. I’m very, very sneaky and I somehow manage to defend myself well.
So for all you white belts out there, here’s how it’s going to go: You’ll be destroyed the first few months of training. After your first year, you’ll become proficient and quite able to defend yourself against those who have never trained. Against those who have? You’ll still experience difficulty. That difficulty will begin to fade through the years until you reach purple belt. At that time, you’ll begin submitting other purples, browns, and some blacks. And right after you earn your brown belt, you’ll likely be on par with most black belts who are older than you. Older black belts don’t train nearly as much as they once did, are generally out of shape, eat more, have gotten lazier, slower, older, begin balding, are much uglier, and really don’t care about Jiu-Jitsu nearly as much as they once did. I don’t know one black belt over the age of 45 years old who’s still as obsessed with the sport and who’s watching YouTube videos as much as they were back when they first began. So if you’re looking to feel good about yourself and you happen to be a BJJ purple belt, go find yourself an older black belt who’s beginning to grow a belly and kick his ass. It’ll be the best feeling you’ve ever had.
