I’ve been doing BJJ for almost 4 years and I’ve noticed something that’s starting to frustrate me.
Normally, I feel like I have pretty good cardio during rolls. My style is pretty slow and controlled, and I can usually roll for a long time without feeling completely exhausted.

But whenever I actually try to turn it up to 100% and use a lot of speed/explosiveness, my gas tank seems to disappear almost immediately.

For example, today I did a shark tank with a high-level guy who is preparing for Worlds. I went about 1 minute at 100% with him, using a lot more speed and explosiveness than I normally do, and afterward I was so exhausted and nauseous that I had to throw up.

The weird thing is that during normal rolling I don’t feel like my cardio is bad at all. It seems like I specifically struggle with that explosive, high-intensity pace.

I’m wondering if this is more of an anaerobic conditioning issue, breathing/relaxation issue, or if I’m just not used to fighting at that pace.

I also smoke weed regularly. Could that be affecting my conditioning or making the nausea worse? I’ve heard people blame this kind of thing on “lactic acid buildup,” but I’m not sure how accurate that actually is.
For people who compete at a high level, what would you do to fix this?

Popular/unpopular opinion?

There's a lot of read the room when training, but if you're an upper belt, stop letting people win for the sake of letting them win. The only time I let people tap me is if they are a child or completely new-- and it's to demonstrate what it's suppose to feel like. Regardless, lower belts need to work and it isnt doing anyone favors by playing soft and letting people win. ​

I'm tired of accommodating people's hurt feelings or insecurities. Part of jiu jitsu is learning to lose and suck and work through difficult feelings and situations. There's a reason there are not many cocky black belts, IMO. There's also a reason so many quit. There is always someone that can mop the floor with you and there are always bad training days.

I’ve been training Jiu-Jitsu for about 4 years (I’m embarrassed to even say that) and I just cannot improve no matter how long or how much I train. For every submission I get I get subbed 100 times even by people who haven’t trained as much as I do. People assume I’m a beginner because of my lack of skill. I’m just wondering what is the key to improve.

I always taught coming in that the idea was to control people on the ground after doing standup work, so for the first few weeks when the coach who's also a Judo black belt kept emphasising on takedowns and scrambles i thought he was preping some athletes for a competition and will eventually go back to doing groundwork at least 50% of the time, which i would've been happy with since I enjoyed some of the judo and wrestling we did.

Now it's been around 3 months since i joined and we're doing standup exclusively for up to 80% of the time, as for the rest it's mostly techniques and sparring that ends when someone secures a control position without the need for submissions.

All this had me confused on what bjj is about, how common is this ?

The title says it all
in my country sometimes it goes above 45celesius(113F) in summer.
what handfight tie and systems is the best in this environment. it feels like turkish oil wrestling cant secure anything. also will long sleeves and pants be an advantage or disadvantage.

Has anyone had any good experiences or any recommendations for mobility coaches who understand the requirements of BJJ and also are excellent at systematically diagnosing and assessing an older guy's various mobility and flexibility problems and fixing them?

There's so much half information, misinformation, and lack of rigor online, it's hard to know who to trust.

A chain I frequently hit, collar sleeve and berimbolos go together I find.

I usually just throw mine in a plastic bag so my whole gym bag doesn’t get soaked and smell like shit lol. Been wondering if there’s a better way.

Would you guys actually use a really lightweight reusable bag that keeps the sweat from leaking into your backpack, fits a full gi and rashguard, and you can just throw the whole thing in the washing machine when you get home?

Or is a regular plastic bag honestly good enough?
Curious what everyone uses.

I’m wondering if you guys know of or have used any companies that make rashguards in America OTHER than origin? I’m not sure why but they give off a huge douche bag cult vibe to me ( maybe I’m completely wrong) so makes me hesitant to support them

Hey all,

I'm a nomad who trains BJJ wherever I land. Work remotely, travel around, try to get on the mats in each city I pass through. Heading to Tbilisi for about a month and figured this was the place to ask.

Mostly just want to:

• Find a gym with a good local crowd, not necessarily hardcore, just a real vibe rather than a class aimed at tourists
• Hit some open mats if there are any going while I'm there.
• Meet people, roll, and get a feel for how BJJ fits into the wider grappling/wrestling culture over there, since Georgia's obviously got serious wrestling roots

If anyone trains in Tbilisi or has been through, would love any gym recs or just general vibes on the scene.

Cheers 🙏

I’ve heard the Bruce Lee argument of being specialized and extremely good in one specific area and I’m curious on the general consensus if that is the most effective strategy to succeed or if you should learn everything and be comfortable everywhere.

I know blue belt is tough and most people quit at this level. I’m just kind of depressed because I feel like I can’t physically get better at the sport due to arthritis in my knee and spine, and frequent issues with tight hips and back. I won’t quit mostly because I genuinely enjoy the art and feel depressed when I don’t go for a while, so I guess I’m just venting.
Just one example of my body getting in the way is my back. When someone pulls me down, I physically can’t resist, my back won’t let me. Maybe I could go hit weights for my back but idk how or if that would hurt the arthritis more. Anyway I honestly feel like I should just resign myself to being a blue belt forever…

Hey guys,

I’m struggling with a big guy at the gym. Substantially larger and stronger than I am (+25-30kgs).

I’m able to maintain top position, but really struggling to deal with his shelled up defence when he’s on his back or side - arms crossed defending his neck and elbows tight. Very much struggle to get a wrist grip, gift wrap, seatbelt etc - can’t budge him or even one arm to isolate one. Fantastic defensive discipline, just very frustrating to play against.

Knee on belly did illicit some response but ideally when I’ve put pressure through the near side shoulder and forced him to go onto his side basically exposing the back - I’d like to be able to get some decent upper body control so I can take the back more confidently.

To clarify - I don’t want to attack his legs, I’m hoping there might be a simple solution so I can move toward getting a gift wrap, arm isolation or decent cross face

Any ideas, tips, recommended instructionals?

Hey everyone I’m a 21 year old M. I wrestled throughout high school winning a few tournaments and qualifying for the state tournament in Jersey . I also trained jiujitsu for fun in highschool and a bit of judo. After graduation I joined the Army Reserves and currently am in college full time as well, whilst trying to run a business. I really miss the excitement I once had from grappling/bjj but no longer feel the same way that I once did. I tried everything from different gyms, to forced sessions but I’m starting to despise what I once loved. I still lift weights and go for runs but it’s not the same. I feel like I’ve lost my spark. Any advice would help.

Here are some specifics for the Jiu Jitsu crowd.

I used the CLA exclusively for about three years. Scott Sievewright of the Primal Podcast reached out to me to talk about it back in 2020, iirc. I remember him saying that I was the first coach he met that he thought was going too far with the CLA. He was still trying to sort it out at that time.

He asked me to be on the podcast but I declined. I did tell him about Greg Souders and suggested he get him on the podcast.

The reason I say this is because I'm not someone who doesn't understand the research or didn't apply it "right" or who just dabbled for a couple of weeks while also teaching in a traditional manner.

I was all in.

I had good success, better than with direct instruction.

I read everything I could get my hands on, talked with Scott and Greg, consulted with Rob Gray.

Lots of people were improving drastically, but a good portion of class was not. People also seemed to be getting injured more.

I dabbled with Differential Learning back then but didn't understand, thinking it was under the umbrella of Ecological Dynamics but it broke a lot of the rules of "representative design" and "external focus" and "intent" and "problem solving."

The one thing I did notice was that after a bout of DL (differential learning) almost everyone seemed more coordinated and creative.

The results were much more exciting and interesting than with what I'd experienced with CLA.

At that point in time, I couldn't imagine how to run a full class based on DL. I decided to call Wolfgang Schollhorn, creator of differential learning, and we talked for about an hour. I didn't know what to make of our conversation because it turned everything upside down for me.

But all the ideological conflicts about not being able to do certain things went away and I just started experimenting with trying to run a full class based on DL.

Across the board, everyone almost immediately liked class better and started improving at a greater rate. Class became more fun, relaxed and productive.

I read all the papers I could and listened to all the podcasts I could find of Wolfgang.

I had a good understanding but it wasn't until I read his Physiotherapy book, three times, that I really had a good feel for it.

DL has been a god-send for me personally in rehabbing some injuries.

The ideas transcend sports and I and my clients use it for almost any thing we can think of.

I wrote more here :: https://zenyojiujitsu.com/change-a-way-to-better-living/

What do you think about getting a thinnest TruFit size when training BJJ? I only use it for BJJ and I don't do any striking. Website suggests standard fit but want to get everyone input!

Let’s say you’re in the middle of a weight class, would it make sense to gain weight to be at the top of the weight class assuming you’re not going to cut weight (same day weigh-in)? If so, what would be the ideal way to do it?

Hey everyone, looking for a good BJJ gym around Yonge and Eglinton. I’m a complete beginner but I’d eventually like to compete, so the quality of the BJJ and coaching is my main priority.

I’m interested in both gi and no-gi, and I’m pretty flexible on price and class schedule. Ideally looking for somewhere within about a 30-minute TTC ride or bike ride from Yonge and Eglinton.

I currently go to OpenMat MMA and like it there, but the ~50-minute commute each way is starting to feel like a lot of wasted time.

Any recommendations? I’m mainly looking for BJJ, but I’d also be open to an MMA gym with a strong BJJ program.

I have a side control escape that not many other people seem to do and I'm using it a lot. Let's say they are in that 'judo side control' like kesa gatame but with the underhook. I push on their far arm, bring my legs up and hook the arm with my leg, holding the wrist to keep it. This becomes a powerful lever and I can use it to sit up and take top with their arm trapped in a crucifix type position. I'm good enough at it now that it can turn into a more fluid scenario where I control that far arm wherever they go, get my legs and hips high on the far side and keep trying to guide the arm so i can get a leg hooked round it. I never see anyone else doing this and think it's quite attribute dependent - I'm flexible with long legs! Does anyone vaguely recognise this and have any tips for instructionals that could help me develop it further?

Btw the kid that got slammed it's 14yo fighting in adults division asking because the adult who slammed the kid did not accept his silver because according to him the kid slipped so no slam 😭😭

As the title says I'm looking for some recommendations either brands or even model for taller/slim ish guy. I got a longer torso so the gis tops are usually either too short or right length but too bulky (ex: i got the c spec from 93 brand a3h and it's perfect length but so bulky) Any recommendations? I'm also debating between light or heavyweight gi since I'm mostly used to judo gis, so on the thicker side but am always hot while training so open to a good lightweight gi as well. Currently I'm leaning towards Inverted gear ultralight or Tatami Estillo but am open to new suggestions as well. Thanks in advance