White Belt Survivor Series w/ Mike Pinero

The White Belt Survivor Series is going to be an on-going series of guest posts from those who have survived the White Belt stage of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and have words of advice, encouragement, and/or a unique story to tell to help inspire off of you to keep going through the valleys and get back to those peaks. In this inaugural post, BJJ Blue Belt, Mike Pinero who trains under Josh Griffiths of Clockwork BJJ (650 Broadway, 2nd Floor, NYC) talks about how he got into BJJ and how it lead to him losing 120 pounds. So, without further adieu, Mike Pinero...

At the end of the day, we all start Jiu jitsu for a reason. Some of us for personal reasons, some of us for athletic problems, and some of us because we watched a UFC and said: ‘hey, f*ck it, I wanna try this out.’ At the end of the day we all do this for one reason or another; and some days this thing we do is going to hit us in the face like a brick wall. Your time off the mat is going to feel off. Your training that day you come back is going to feel like you can’t do anything right, everyone is tapping you, or your getting caught up in side control or half guard all the time. It sucks I know, I have been there too. I have had those days where I want to do is go home and bury my head and quit, even now after 2 years.

I recently had a visitor from another school come in and roll with me; and choke me out—I mean out like lights out. He caught me with a choke I had never seen before and he put me out. When I came to I was light headed and sat out for a few and then kept going. That night, after I left class, I felt embarrassed and very discouraged; because I felt like I had let my coach and my team down. Like, how the hell do I let someone who doesn’t even train with us come in and do that? It’s as if some stranger came into my house ate my food and put his feet up on the table. And also because I know I am better than that, to just let that happen. 

So for a few days after that, even when I came back to class, I felt like my world had stopped. I was letting myself be discouraged mentally over something that, in reality, happens A LOT. A couple of days later I sat back and then remembered why I joined Jiu jitsu and what got me to where I am today—hard work and determination.

I remembered I once weighed 310 lbs and now had lost 120lbs. I remembered that at the end of the day, I worked really hard to get to where I was; and I wasn’t going to let this one little thing get me down any more. And sometimes it’s okay to have a bad day on the mats, and it’s okay to feel helpless or that things aren’t clicking the way you think they should be. But always remember why you got into this, remember what motivates you, what drives you to be here day in and day out, and remember that one day you will achieve the things you need to with this sport. Then, when you do, you’ll look back like I did and laugh about it. Because at the end of the day, it’s all one big learning lesson; all black belts, brown belts, purple belts, and blue belts were once white belts. And this thing we do is evolving day in and day out. So everyone is always learning, just like you. Some days are going to be better than others but dig deep and remember what brought you here in the first place and stick with it.

Check out Mike's testimonial in the YouTube video above. Truly, his story is an inspiring and motivational one. We all do this for one reason or another, and like Mike says: "rememeber what brought you here in the first place," and keep going. For more of what Mike has to say, check out HIS BLOG HERE and tell him how much you appreciate him sharing his story with us and letting all of us know that we can do it. Mike got his blue belt last August, and truly is a White Belt Survivor. 

When Hugs Get Dangerous: Guys Rolling w/ Women

Up till now, your contact with women has (probably) not involved trying to avoid chokes and joint locks. You’re probably used to exchanging hugs, handshakes, and other forms of non-aggressive contact. But now you’re in an environment where all of that is probably going to happen with the inclusion of avoiding being choked or submitted by a joint lock, and you’re not sure how to handle it. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is getting comfortable in the uncomfortable and adapting to the situation; and for a lot of us, rolling with the opposite sex can be a point of voyaging into weird waters. First of all, that’s a normal feeling, so don’t feel like you’re the only one who doesn’t know how to roll with a female. In this post we’re going to take a look at different approaches, schools of thought, and my advice for getting comfortable with the new situation.

When you’re asked to roll with a female by your instructor, remember that they are pairing the two of you together based on closeness of size and rank. If your instructor feels confident in pairing you with someone (regardless of age, ranks, or sex) you should feel confident in their decision too; and go with it. But what if you’ve never trained/rolled with a female before? Relax. Don’t lose sight of what makes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu work—by design its purpose is for the smaller/weaker person to be able to get into positions to win. Even if you’re roughly the same size as the female you’re working with, as a male, you have more muscle and skeletal mass than your partner—which means you’re going to feel heavy. It also means that while you’re about the same size, you’re probably a lot stronger. That’s just science. In those cases, remember to be fair. The purpose of training is to perfect your technique and not have to use all the muscle anyway. 

I’ve asked a few of the women that I train with about some advice they’d offer to newbies (like yourself) on how to train/roll with a female. I wanted to know if they preferred the guy to scale it back and ‘let them work’ or maybe they felt like that was a slight. Maybe they didn’t want the guy to hold back. The answers I got were a mixed bag of both. Again, you’re about the same size anyway, but I think that it’s your job as the (stronger/heavier) guy to keep it even and fair; and if that means holding back sometimes maybe that’s the best option. But don't do anyone any favors, either. Fellow white belt, Rebecca Reuben who trains at Romulo Melo BJJ in San Francisco, says “We are stronger than you think! And [we] will let you know if you are being too rough, personally I don’t mind the roughness; it’s good preparation.” Which is worth considering because taking it too easy on your training partner isn’t helping them get better or learn to help them train against larger opponents—or attackers.

(Rebecca Getting to Work!)

I think the best way to approach a training situation with a female that you’ve never trained with before is to start off my introducing yourself. Even if you’ve been training in the same classes for awhile now, a polite introduction will help you both feel more comfortable. Then ask your partner if there is anything that she’d like to train or drill with you. If so, great! But if not just reassure her that you’re going to do your best not to ‘Hulk out’ on her and focus on technique, but not let her have any gimmies, either. If you’re able to accomplish those simple steps in the time you have between getting assigned the new partner and when the roll starts, then you should be able to expect a good, fun, quality spar with a new friend and training partner.

I’m sure you’re also worried about the taboo topics of accidently grabbing/touching a breast, butt, or any other uncomfortable body part—I am too. It’s something we as male training partners have to be aware of. Accidents happen and our female training partners know that, too. It’s our duty as good training partners to always be considerate, but going back to the previous points, don’t avoid going for a collar grab because you’re too scared of brushing up against a boob. As in all things BJJ,you’ll get better at it with experience. As long as you maintain a high level of respect for all of your training partners, you should never run into any awkward problems. But most of all, treat your female training partners with the same respect you’d give anyone. Otherwise you might end up like homie down here…

The White Belt's Guide to Good BJJ Books

I’ve always been a believer that putting in the extra time would produce better results—in anything. So, as a newer guy, where do you even start to supplement your training with books? Yes, I said “books.” In today’s modern age, there are a wide variety of media sources to which you can get your information—things like DVDs, YouTube, and athletes own subscription-based websites are all great—and we’ll cover some of those on future posts; but books are always going to be a foundation of supplementing your training with resources outside of class. Books are also, traditionally, going to be more cost effective than some other choices, too—and considering that you might have just dropped a couple hundred bucks on your first gi and membership dues, your BJJ Budget might not be ready for an expensive set of DVDs. But a book is (usually) cheap, and not nearly as cumbersome as loading a DVD or online video.

     Now, I’m not suggesting that books are the be-all-end-all of Jiu Jitsu education; because they’re not. Nothing can replace the training from your instructor or time on the mat. But what’s difficult is that sometimes you learn something in class that plays to your game well and you might not be able to make the next class where the follow-up technique is taught. Or maybe you really want to learn more on developing a good closed guard and how to retain it, but it’s just not being taught at your academy at the moment. That’s where, and why, supplementing your training through books comes in handy.

     There’s been an explosion of books on the sport in recent years. If you were to just Google Search "Jiu Jitsu Book" you’d see there’s enough books to fill an entire bookshelf in your study. So what books are the best ones for beginners? Well, there is no official grading system; but there are some that are always in the conversation. Now, I admit: I have not read every book out there on the subject; but I have looked into the topic enough to know what books are always brought up and suggested by people way smarter than I am on the subject—and for that reason I’m suggesting these four books as starting points to supplement your training.

Recommendation 1: A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu By Stephan Kesting

 http://www.beginningbjj.com/BJJ%20Roadmap%201.3.pdf

I’m sure you’ve have to seen Stephan by now. His ubiquitous presence on the Internet has made him one of the main faces of the community for at least as long as I’ve been paying attention. In this FREE online PDF, Stephan gives a detailed introduction to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by identifying positions, defines terms, reviews direction to take/look for from each position (hence “Roadmap”) among other things. Sincerely, a printed out version of this PDF should be handed to each new student with their white belt.

Recommendation 2: Mastering Jujitsu By Renzo Gracie and John Danaher

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Jujitsu-Martial-Arts-Series/dp/0736044043

If you’re new to the sport you probably know who Renzo Gracie is—or at least his famous last name is recognizable enough to lend credibility. But you might not be so familiar with John Danaher. John’s a black belt under Master Renzo, and generally considered to have one of the best minds for BJJ, receiving praise from such grappling minds like Greg Jackson and Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes. Not good enough? Danaher is Georges St. Pierre’s submission coach. This book will go over fundamentals, principals, techniques, tactics, and strategy. Considering the source, it’s what I consider another ‘must-have’ in any BJJ library.

Recommendation 3: Jiu-Jitsu University By Saulo Ribero

http://www.amazon.com/Jiu-Jitsu-University-Saulo-Ribeiro/dp/0981504434

Saulo recently shot back into the spotlight with his match in Metamoris 4, but before all of that, Saulo is one of the best BJJ competitors that the sport has ever seen. He’s a black belt in both BJJ and judo, a 5x Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion, and won the ADCC (the biggest/most important submission grappling even in the world) twice. And here, he’s also wrote one hell of a book. The book covers theory for every belt level—ascending from white belt to black belt—speaking to where your focus needs to be at that development stage. In the white belt portion, Saulo speaks to a lot of the simple techniques that often get overlooked in classes (since there’s no day/class dedicated to guys taking their first class) because they might be considered ‘too simple’ or ‘common knowledge.’ But here, Saulo focuses on teaching the white belt how to “survive,” something I find close to my heart—and I hope you do too.

Recommendation 4: The Cauliflower Chronicles: A Grappler’s Tale of Self-Discovery and Island Living By Marshal D. Carper

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cauliflower-Chronicles-Grapplers-Self-Discovery/dp/0982565879

     This is the leisure-reading portion of this post. You can’t focus entirely on technique or you’ll go mad. In this non-fiction selection, the author breaks up with his long-term girlfriend and moves to Hilo, Hawaii to train with BJ Penn. Not sold on that yet? Consider this: Marshal’s co-authored with Marcelo Garcia, Matt Kirtley, and Neil Melanson; and The Cauliflower Chronicles is on Gracie Barra’s list of Great Books for Jiu Jitsu reader. The book follows Marshal’s exploits and misadventures on and off the mat. He talks about his struggles to overcome injury, his time going head-to-head with BJ—and various local insects—as well as his off the mat time with colorful locals. It’s a fun getaway from life while still staying in the right (BJJ) frame of mind.  

So there you have it; four really great books to get you started. Pick one--or all 4--and get crackin' on your off-the-mat Jedi Mind training. :)