I need help with some techniques

Today i rolled with a newcomer. He was way bigger than me and i got him in the rubber guard. He broke out of it with pure strength and we scrambled and got into a weird position that kinda looks like when you're about to leg lock. Anyways, he hyperextended my arm but with my thumbs down. I almost tapped but then i broke his arms free as i got one leg over and pushed it away. I don't get how I was so closed to getting owned by a newcomer after I've been doing 10th planet for around 3 months. Also, I rolled with another guy today and I got him in the lockdown. I had double underhooks and was about to kick him up and get into the dogfight but he managed to stop it. I know not all techniques work every time but I feel like nothing is working out for me. My ego's not hurt but I give it my all and still I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. I don't feel like dealing with trolls today so get out if you are one.

noticed this on facebook earlier ;-)

http://i50.tinypic.com/15qdjx4.jpg

Just takes time bro, be patient, we will get there in the end. :-)

Lots of questions man i have asked myself its all good we have bad days sometimes good wrestlers are very good at smash and passing basic rubber guard stuff or a good stack also just gotta remember when something happens flow with it and keep moving that i dont know how much i can say always keep moving. I hate being trapped in side control so i have forced myself to keep shrimping learned to get back to guard and put alot of time into sweeps and such just keep your head up and look at it from the outside to see if there was possibly anythign you could of done different.

Even as a blue, purple, and brown, we have days were nothing is working. Example, lately i'm working on quarter clinch, to lockdown, to prison guard, to the back, and then to spiderweb. That's all i will work on for a month. The first week, I stop everyone with it, they aren't used to my new half guard play. They are looking for sweeps, etc. Then in weeks 2 and 3 they shut me down and smash me. Even the blues sometimes. They are keen to my game now and know that's all i'm going for. Its during this time when frustration sets in, I ask myself questions. How did they stop me from using my mini stop, how do i make it better and fix it. Or maybe they keep breaking my lockdown, or not letting me get my perfect dbl unders.

Point being, you will always face this days as long as you do jiujitsu. It will get easier the more your experience increases, but no matter what. You will do the same thing to progress. You must ask questions and evaluate how to solve the puzzle. So look at it as a fun challenge. And when you succeed, you will find something else to improve. By the way, during weeks 4 and 5, after finding ways through the blockades to prison guard. I started smashing with it again. So hang in there and you will succeed.

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Originally Posted by Brent Alvarez

Point being, you will always face this days as long as you do jiujitsu.

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and it's these suck days that build you up for the sessions when your invincible, and land everything

Sorry to go off subject but awesome avatar Keith.

Jason, you need more reps! Just keep plugging away at it.

A few great quotes that i love, There is no losing in Jiu Jitsu, In Jiu Jitsu you either win or you learn,
and, A black belt is just a white belt that never quit
i most likely dont have hthe quotes exactly right but you get the basic idea
The more reps and mat time you put in, the more progress you will gain
Keep training hard brother

It sounds a bit like you worry to much about your opponent, if someone smashes out of your rubber guard think about how you can make it tighter for next time that's all.

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Originally Posted by Jason Koh

Today i rolled with a newcomer. He was way bigger than me and i got him in the rubber guard. He broke out of it with pure strength and we scrambled and got into a weird position that kinda looks like when you're about to leg lock. Anyways, he hyperextended my arm but with my thumbs down. I almost tapped but then i broke his arms free as i got one leg over and pushed it away. I don't get how I was so closed to getting owned by a newcomer after I've been doing 10th planet for around 3 months. Also, I rolled with another guy today and I got him in the lockdown. I had double underhooks and was about to kick him up and get into the dogfight but he managed to stop it. I know not all techniques work every time but I feel like nothing is working out for me. My ego's not hurt but I give it my all and still I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. I don't feel like dealing with trolls today so get out if you are one.

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The bolded is important. You've ONLY been doing it for 3 months. That's not really a long time. I've only been doing it for about 9-10 months. A lot of times I can have my way with newcomers. Other times newcomers are tough as nails. Especially the guys with wrestling back grounds. Their toughness has nothing to do with your progress. Your progress is individual. It's unrealistic to expect to beat every single newcomer dominantly. Especially when you've only been doing it for 3 months.

Another thing I picked up from your rant is that you need to think of back up plans. Lesson learned, you won't be able to hold everyone in your rubber guard. So what's your plan b? What's your plan C? You said you tried getting up to dogfight but he stopped you. WHy aren't you working electric chairs or mechanics? Why don't you reset and start from the whip up/fat whip? From rolling with my Coach Zog and Scott Yockel, that's one thing I always notice. They never commit to a move because they have 10 more back up plans based on my reaction. Start thinking in back up plans and you'll see a higher rate of success.

I'm not giving you advice as a master. I'm speaking white belt to white belt. I'm giving perspective. I'm telling you what has worked for me. Perspective, realistic expectations, and work the series. When I say work the series, I mean the WHOLE series. There's a reason why 10th planet doesn't just teach a move and move on. We learn paths.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

All great posts above. You will do well if you take it all in and really digest it. Remember 3 mths is NOTHING in the grand scheme!!! If you can even run through the basic rubber guard path on a person resisting 50% at 3 months your doing great. Please don't take this next part wrong, it is only my personal view and offer it as help.... It sounds like maybe your EGO was seriously involved in this roll. Please DO NOT RISK INJURY from a strongman newbie, just tap. Newbie's do not know the limits yet and their ego may be raging when they get a "regular" in an armbar the first day, they typically use pure strenght, little technigue. They also are not your training partner yet and typically do not have your best interests(well being/growth)in mind. An injury can set your learning back far worse than a tap to a newbie. It is fine to work armbar escapes, but that is best done when rolling with someone with more experience. I would have tapped, asked him to stay in position, said" good armbar,this little tip will help the armbar be more effective for you" then showed him how to turn the thumb up for a more effective armbar. Then asked him to go slow and reapply again, then tapped again. Go back to knees, shake hands, and tried it all again. EGOless roll.

That image posted above is AWESOME. Should be shown to every white belt. Yeah man, stick with it. If you could learn to be a black belt in 3 months, would BJJ really be worth learning?

What makes it so amazing is that, if you put in years of work, no beginner can just get lucky. It's not like puncher's chance in boxing, it's like chess. You just can't beat a grandmaster, ever, because there is too much skill involved, and they are WAY ahead of you in what they are thinking about. Think about the karate master in 70s movies, who always just calmly anticipates his opponent and handles them like a child without breaking a sweat. Karate almost never looks like that in a real fight ... BJJ almost always does.

I myself have have recently changed schools, to a place where i have gone from being one of the large ones (i walk around at 170) to basically one of the smallest. The guys in my new gym are huge, mostly 200lbs+ and i have a VERY low success rate with RG stuff, most of the guys can just blast out of my mission control still. I have many HORRIBLE sessions, in fact 75% of my sessions i am just getting minced, i go home and sulk. However, i take comfort in knowing/telling myself i am in there at every jj session and not all of them are, so it is just a matter of time, i will get there eventually. I will be the best guy on those mats. That is the plan.
I think one thing all us white belts can do with a little more of, is patience. :-)

Every time you get "minced", think of it this way: the thousands of sessions of getting smashed are part of your repertoire of experience. They are what you draw from when you are behind in a tournament, when you are out of position, when you are near tapping. You can think, "I've been here a million times, and I've been in worse spots against better fighters a million times. I can handle this." These experiences are the difference between you and lesser fighters. Each of these sessions is another piece being added to your experience. When you fight someone who has not gone through it, that experience will be the difference.

I have been doing the gracie combative course and when I mix that with the rubber guard I do much better than just staying with 10th planet moves. I am very small at 5'5" and 125 lbs when I get people in the RG they can just pick me up and smash me. RG works best for me when I start wearing them down which doesnt take long when they keep trying to pick me up.

Thanks for all your stories and advice's. I know being a white belt is tough and depressing but I'll continue to roll more, and hopefully I'll be able to see some progress.

Just keep training, you're a newcomer also

When I first started using rubber guard I thought this rubber guard shit is garbage and will never work. Some 3 to 4 years later of hard drilling it is just beginning to work for me and only now after getting smashed hundreds of times and being told that I'm wasting my time by various people, do I realize the mistakes I was making at first. The main 'mistakes' were my clinch wasn't developed enough and my flexibility wasn't ready to go. There's no magic bullet I'm afraid, only through trail and error and effort will you achieve your goal - it will all be worth it in the end. Good luck with your journey and don't be too hard on yourself, every time you fail is an opportunity to learn.

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Originally Posted by Jason Koh

Thanks for all your stories and advice's. I know being a white belt is tough and depressing but I'll continue to roll more, and hopefully I'll be able to see some progress.

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Consider your body is still growing too, take it as a chance to completely focus on flexibility and most of all technique. Rolling with larger guys or stronger guys will make you stronger and eventually you will be able to clinch and hold them down with rubber guard or the lock down whatever position you chose. But the ability to use and transition between techniques if one is not working that is how you beat the "smashers." Commit to the sweep, if you feel like you have Old School, drive into him if you can't get it go back to closed guard or work the Electric chair sweep. If you feel yourself getting discouraged just remind yourself, just because he is stronger you have more time in the books and you have techniques to shut them down. When you start feeling like it's not progressing the way you want just know Jiu Jitsu isnt a sprint it's a marathon. Refine technique and find what fits your game and talk with Scott, he will work with you and see what is best to fit your game. Good luck. Keep rolling!