RE: Musings from the BJJ GI #12, lesson 13, clinch (conservative opponent), & take the back from the mount, R.N.C
I really like how the Combatives curriculum is clearly structured! E.g. in my gym we don't have that clear structure - means you don't really know what you missed if you couldn't come to class. We're doing one main position per month + some its modifications.
Also, I really like that you think about orthodox/southpaw stance in there. That has never been mentioned in our gym.
What I don't like a bit though is that person is guaranteed a stripe after 20 classes. I mean - people develop and learn in different pace. We are not all winners. I doubt everyone is on the same level after 20-40-60 classes, yet it sounds they are just awarded with stripes categorically based on number of classes, rather than skills. Also, I'm wondering - so you basically get first stripe after 5 weeks if you train 4times a week? That's kind of too fast IMO or? I've been training for 1 year, 4-5 times a week and I'm a 2 stripe whitie :D And there are guys who started with me and have just 1 stripe...We're a bit old school gym though, so dunno....
Good luck with your progress!
Thanks for the comment man! Yes that's how the whites stripes are given out in this curriculum, but only the white belt stripes, Combatives belt, blue belt, and every stripe thereafter has it's own grading test. But for white belt, it's equally as much about giving newbies incentive and encouragement as it is about recognising their skill. Because the Combatives curriculum is all about self defence, there's absolutely no sparring/rolling or sportive BJJ included, and so I can see how offering incentive to absolute beginners; people of all ages, quite a few with zero martial arts experience of any sort, it's a good way to encourage them to keep going.
In a previous lifetime (around 2000-2004) I trained BJJ in the more traditional/old school way, with the first half of a class allocated to technique, and the second half to rolling, from lesson 1! And we had no stripes in our academy either, just solid belt colours, and I was a white belt for like 3 years or so, and got my arse handed to me and many injuries in the process in so many different ways until I eventually got my blue belt. And that was fine for me at the time, as a 20-something year old male, quite willing to get thrashed for years. But there was also a high turnover of students there, many people quit, or tried it and never came back, and certainly no older people or people with health issues or injuries/disabilities, or even people who were just intimidated by the whole 'getting thrown in the deep end' thing would have even given it a second look. But those are exactly the sort of people who need BJJ! The vulnerable people who are intimidated easily and have no idea how to defend themselves.
So anyway, that's the utility in getting the white stripes quite easily in my opinion. I know lots of people wouldn't be a fan of it, preferring the traditional model of BJJ academy training, but I really dig the idea of BJJ being made more easily and safely accessible to the people in the community who want it and need it, but would ordinarily be too intimidated or concerned about injury to ever sign up. The Combatives belt, and blue belt, and every stripe from then on has it's own highly challenging grading though. I think that the classes you attend are still documented on a card like this, and there's a bare minimum required before you can attempt the grading test.
Good luck with your training too man!
Oh yeah for sure...I didn't realize you're not aware of the discussion I had 2 days ago haha :D I praise this system quite a lot, especially cuz it keeps beginners interested...here my comment, just so you have my full point :) Also, what do u mean by "past life"?
Comment:
Oh wow, didn't know that these Combatives Belts even exist in this grading system. Interesting...I honestly dont get it why R&R brothers are getting so much shit for their way of promoting bjj. I mean...they've just introduced more system into those first loong years of being a whitie. Whole bjj community is kind of proud that just 10% of whites get it to the blue. I've always found it a bit weird...I understand that it makes those blue and purples proud, cuz they are part of that chosen 10%...but at the same time, lets just think if all those dropouts would make it to blue as well. The whole bjj would get into much wider audience...and I guess that's the positive thing of what R&R are doing. People have a clear path ahead of the. E.g in our gym, our sensei is a brown and he's not allowed to give us stripes nor promote belts. So we always just wait till the main sensei drops by in our town and then we almost all get stripes :D bit weird but I wouln't change my gym even if I could...but with this approach you've just described, people have it clear, what they need to do.....e.g I have no idea what and when my next promotiion will be :D And I mean, I don't care one bit, cuz Im doing it for the fun of it. But might be pretty discouraging for other people...Spending first 8 months without any stripe at all..so they leave...hope u get my point haha :D
Absolutely man! I totally get it, and I think it's awesome to have a variety of types of BJJ club and teaching/grading methods around to fit everyone's wants and needs :) Apparently when BJJ first started, not only were there no stripes and it took forever to grade, but there were also finite numbers allowed for belts, so to grade up from white to blue, you also had to wait for a blue belt space to be vacated by someone grading up to purple, and so on. Intense!
By "past life", I didn't mean it literally haha! I just used that phrase because my first venture into BJJ was so long ago now that it seems/feels like a past life to me. I trained from 2000-2004, starting when I was about 21 years old, competed twice, got a bronze medal in one of them, and got my blue belt sometime in my third year. But then the academy closed down unfortunately, and I had nowhere to train anymore, so I had to stop training for a period of almost exactly 10 years due to having no accessible options. I then resumed training BJJ again via Gracie University on mats in my garage with a friend in late 2014, and continued training like that until early 2018. We passed our Combatives belt grading via Gracie University online (filmed 5 grading test videos each and emailed them to Gracie HQ in California), and we trained in the Master Cycle (blue belt stripe 1 curriculum) for about 2 years.
And now I train at a Gracie certified training centre. I was welcome to continue wearing a Combatives belt, or even a blue belt given that I'd earned one before, but I chose to start from the start again as a zero stripe white belt, because it's a perishable skill set, and I no longer felt that I was skilled or able enough to justify wearing either a blue or Combatives belt. Plus, I just love the process, and love getting a good handle on the basics.
Given that there's no rolling/sparring at this academy until after you have your blue belt, and I'm certainly not entering any competitions anymore, there's no problem with me starting from the start again as a white belt, and I'm also always completely open and transparent with my instructors and training partners about the level of my past training experience. This process of starting over from the start again was the reason for starting this blog actually, as I wanted to document the journey, and I've documented my BJJ story so far in my earlier posts if you're interested :)