Training with Black Belts and White Belts

[K Madden]

I've hit somewhat of a wall...I'm either training with people WAAAAY better than me, or people I can roll through. Not much in between...

anyone ever have this problem?

[Jason Guest]

ask the black belts to slow it down or sandbag for you.
try things you suck at against the white belts.

[Muhammad Abdou]

the best thing to do is probably coach the lower level guys.. show em a few of your secrets so that they dont suck as much. its win win.

[K Madden]

ask the black belts to slow it down or sandbag for you.
try things you suck at against the white belts.

haha i think he'd get pissed if i asked this, but its worth a shot.
i hate the feeling when someone is sandbagging though, its freaking obvious most times... annoys me more than anything else.

i try to be as open as possible with my white belts. if i catch them in something they dont know, i teach them it right on the spot.
ahhh the joy of newbies... usually i give them any position/submission they want... with it about 75% locked in. forces me to defend better or try new thigns...but it really does feel like im beating up on a woman. which is really fun...obviously.

[Muhammad Abdou]

find someone young and talented, in the early part of their developmental cycle and make them your apprentice/servant/slave/no homo

[Max Hernandez]

Rolling with a Black Belt is probably the best learning experience possible... Not all black belts roll with their students... We get a lot of surprising looks when people from other gyms see or hear that my sensei rolls with all his students everyday.

[K Madden]

Rolling with a Black Belt is probably the best learning experience possible... Not all black belts roll with their students... We get a lot of surprising looks when people from other gyms see or hear that my sensei rolls with all his students everyday.

i learn a lot when i roll with him, but DAMN. didnt know if anyone had any trick other than just getting your ass whooped. i feel like a newbie white belt again getting caught in goofy stuff.

[Jonathan Wylie]

Why did you change your belt color?

[K Madden]

Why did you change your belt color?

i earned my purple belt about 7 years ago. about 6 years ago i was in a plane accident, had a bunch of physical and brain problems. (traumatic brain injury being one of the big ones)
when i picked up BJJ again, the school i was learning at didnt use belts or any ranking system. after the brain injury, i was essentially starting over. i knew some things, but my chalkboard of knowledge was pretty much erased.
now, i just reciently started learning from a 2nd degree BB under Carlos Machado- and I run the same level as his blues.
just being honest with myself now, im not purple belt level anymore. those injuries really knocked me back. I really battled back and forth with it, but I cant call myself a purple belt anymore. Blue seems fitting now. I'll work my ASS off to get back up there, but I really think this is the best thing I can do for myself. jumping back from an injury like that requires you to understand your limits. i still cant run after the accident either- so if i used to run marathons, im not gonna spout now that im a marathon runner, cause im not. gotta work my ass off again to get there.
if you know anyone with a severe TBI, just ask them...its like hitting the reset button sometimes.
it sucks big time, you are aware of it, but there is nothing you can do about it. So, for now, Blue is home

[VJ Bella]

Kendall, we can train on the cruise...I'm only a purple so I'm kinda in the middle. Looking forward to it!!