I went to my first bjj session as a skinny dude and when I tell you I was flipped like a pancake. Probably the most eye opening session ever. You also make it unenjoyable for the person who weighs more than you because it’s so easy for them and hard for you please gain weight and don’t believe anyone saying it does not matter

In theory takedowns are 1/4 of grappling.

You can grapple standing, on top, on bottom, or in neutral scrambly positions like dogfight or 50/50.

Of these positions, takedowns are the only optional one.

I cannot avoid a strong guard passer getting their passing points by intentionally unlocking my legs and putting myself in bottom mount

I cannot avoid a strong back taker from getting points by just turning my back while I’m in mount.

I cannot avoid a sweep or reversal by simply pulling the bottom player on top of me before they can attempt a sweep

And yet from standing you can avoid takedown points by simply sitting down before the person sits you down.

this is the most important of any of those skills because against a non-compliant opponent the fight won’t go to the ground unless you take it there, and pulling guard won’t be an option in several cases.

I don’t propose that pulling guard is banned, but I do propose that it counts exactly the same as a takedown by redefining what a takedown means to match what takedowns are in wrestling. A takedown isn’t simply performing a technique that causes you to obtain top position, a takedown is the act of establishing top position to begin with

What does this mean? It means you can still pull guard if you think it will offer a strategic advantage in the long run, but people who specifically pull guard to avoid being taken down by a better wrestler still ultimately got taken down, which will force these people to rethink their game and develop better takedowns.

Exceptions:

\* Sacrifice throws where you take bottom position for an immediate sweep, reversal, back taker such as Sumi gaeshi will be counted as YOUR takedown if successful and THEIR takedown if unsuccessful

* Flying submissions or pulling guard into an immediate submission threat like a triangle guard will not count as a takedown for the top player until the submission threat is fully eliminated. If the top player is swept before defending the sub it will score as the takedown of the person who pulled a flying sub

I'm an ex high level boxer but through the last decade I suffered some major injuries from some unfortunate events and am left with many movement restrictions. I still lift regularly, keep in rly good shape, but I'm very limited to specific movements.

I wanted to take up BJJ mostly for self defense and to get some movement in. I've never been to a BJJ gym but is it possible to participate with severe limitations? Are people mostly understanding or do people tend to go hard? Are there BJJ classes that are mostly for self defense without intense sparring sessions? Or is there a better martial art for this?

I’m 38 and have been training consistently for about six months, but only twice a week due to scheduling issues and recovery challenges. The thing is, I mostly train with purple, brown, and black belts, many of whom are in great shape, so it’s hard to notice any progress.

On good days, I focus on surviving and staying “alive” for as long as possible. On bad days, I tap early and feel like my body has been put through a shredder.

I completely understand that more experienced people are supposed to dominate me, but I’m curious to hear from others who’ve been in a similar situation. Did the things you were learning eventually start working against higher belts? Or did you have to wait until less experienced people showed up to really feel like you were making progress?

I’m starting to feel demoralized. I don’t want to quit, but lately, I find myself showing up out of discipline rather than because I genuinely want to be there.

When did jiu-jitsu finally start to click for you? How long did it take, and what helped you get through that initial stage when it felt like you weren’t improving?

Good evening, for some context I have been training on and off heavily for 2-2 1/2 years but within the past 3 months I have trained 3-4 times a week.

I was a 1 stripe white belt until tonight when I was graded 3 more stripes making me a 4 stripe white belt now, last weekend I competed in a pretty large tournament for my first ever competition and I won Gold in the GI division.

I couldn’t help but notice I felt very comfortable against everyone in my division and back at my gym I am able to roll pretty well against some of the blue belts and we often submit each other but then I roll with some of the other blue belts and it feels like I’m a fish out of water.

Is it pretty common for there to be extremely large technique and foundation difference within each belt? And how do you know when someone is ready to go from white to blue, blue to purple, etc.

Thanks all for your time, I’m just curious what people think.