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Showing posts from August, 2023

About the Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

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The purple belt is one of the most rewarding belts in Brazilian jiu jitsu but at the same time one of the most frustrating for many people when they don't see the brown belt coming. In our opinion, the fundamental problem with the purple belt is that it requires the development of a personal game, where each person begins to choose and perform certain techniques and combine them to make them more efficient. Whereas a blue belt knows the basics and has an arsenal of  techniques so to speak, the purple belt begins to specialize in some guard passes, takedowns, sweeps  and submissions. It is at this point where it is necessary to understand that the development of this game of combinations is something very personal and that it takes a different time for each person. Many purple belts ask teachers what they need to do to get to brown or believe that evolution depends on learning more techniques instead of polishing their techniques and combinations to make them more efficient. Sometim

Concepts and principles for defense in brazilian jiu jitsu

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For everyone who starts practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, one of the most challenging things but at the same time frustrating, is the number of times we have to give up. Stronger, younger or heavier people have to give up with lighter or older people. If you add to this that generally having experience in other martial art will not save save you from tapping a lot, the frustration of losing too much in the begining becomes one of the fundamental causes of quitting for many people. Understand that giving up is the way to learn and progress in Brazilian jiu jitsu. It takes time to understand that losing is one of the most important aspects for learning and progressing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and that it is more important to learn to defend than to learn to finish early, not only because without a good defense you are more vulnerable, but also because it must be understood that the defense is the most solid and lasting foundation and resource you will keep. As Helio Gracie pointed out many t

About the black belt requirements in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

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The black belt is the goal of many of the people who start the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey but unfortunately it is said that only one in 1000 achieve it. Many factors are involved in this process, ranging from motivational factors to life changes that occur during the 10 years it takes normally to earn a black belt. In this article we want to offer our points of view on some of the most important conditions to complete the path and on the requirements to access this precious moment. About the conditions: Staying in training for ten years on a regular basis, overcoming injuries, illnesses, family and work events is something really difficult and requires a very important passion and determination. That is why in many cases any of these factors end up causing the abandonment of jiu jitsu. From our point of view it takes a great passion for learning and for jiu jitsu itself to overcome the obstacles and difficulties that arise during that time. Most of the people who start the practice of

Jiu Jitsu and how to progress faster

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and types of training to progress faster: When we start learning Brazilian jiu jitsu we feel a big gap between what we have been taught in class and the possibility of using those techniques during sparring. It is true that starting with some kind of Fundamentals Program helps to minimize this feeling and frustration but it does not reduce it completely. This is due to the large number of areas that make up the Brazilian jiu jitsu game and the difficulty of being able to quickly learn all the techniques and resources necessary to fight efficiently. The reality is that in the first few months we spent a lot of time in disadvantageous positions, trying to escape from them and defending the opponent's attacks. One thing that will help you get through this phase of initial frustration and lag is to understand that there are different types of training  and that each will help you in a different way.   Understanding that they are all useful and that it is best to co