Three things I wish I knew as a White Belt

When you start Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it feels like being dropped into a foreign country where everyone speaks fluent violence and you don’t even know how to say “hello.” I remember those early months extremely vividly. The constant sense of drowning, sometimes literally in sweat. Looking back, there are a few things I wish I’d known at the start. They would’ve saved me a ton of frustration, helped put my training in to context, and accelerated my development if I took them seriously.

1. Progress Isn’t Linear

One of the hardest truths to swallow about Jiu-Jitsu is that progress doesn’t move in straight lines. You’ll have nights where you’re on FIRE, everything clicks and you’re crushing people. And others where you feel like you’ve forgotten how to tie your belt. And that’s normal. It isn’t like weightlifting, there is no linear progression in gains.

As a white belt, I used to think a bad night meant I was regressing. I’d beat myself up thinking that I wasn’t any good at the sport, I’d question why I was even bothering. What I didn’t know, was that progress in Jiu-Jitsu resembles a long term view of the stock market. There will be volatility in the day to day, week to week value, but when you zoom out, you’ll see the upward trajectory over time.

Those days where you feel like you’re not improving, you are, it’s just subtley. You’ll level up in timing, awareness, grit, and composure. These things are crucial to your development, they matter way more than your submission count, but they can’t be easily taught. They only get better through consistently showing up, even on the days you’re getting smashed, and accepting that progress isn’t linear.

2. Drilling Isn’t the Same as Learning

When I started, I thought drilling a move a handful of times was enough to “learn” it. I’d copy whatever my coach showed, try to memorise it, then forget it completely once someone started resisting.

It took me ages to understand that learning in Jiu-Jitsu is more complex than just passively repeating what you’ve been shown ad infinitum. You need to drill the move in different contexts. You need to know when and why to do it. You learn that through trial, error, and constant feedback. You need to drill in 4 dimensions, playing with timing, intensity, resistance, and variation. You need to work the move into specific, positional, focussed sparring games.

So don’t just “drill” moves. Experiment with them, change the speed, ask your partner to add pressure a bit at a time, try different grips, ask questions. Use narrow focus sparring games to amplify your understanding. Learning is an active, not a passive process.

3. Guard Is Not a Resting Position

For a long time, I treated guard like a safe little bunker. Guard to me meant closed guard. I’d hold on for dear life, wait for my opponent to make a mistake, and breathe while I recovered - or more likely, burnt my arms out while they eventually passed and I got stuck under side control.

Then I started rolling with people who could actually play guard. They didn’t give me a second to breathe, and I realised something profound: despite the name “guard” the position is not some defensive bunker in which you hide and wait for the inevitable end. It is an active, aggressive, attacking weapons platform.

The best guard players I know are constantly threatening. They break posture, off-balance you, attack, recover, and attack again. You feel stretched out, constantly compromised and struggling to keep your feet under you while also trying to protect your limbs and / or neck, they are a tornado of knives. If you are not attacking, you are defending, and if you are defending, you are playing your opponents game, not yours.

Final Thought

Despite the specific advice above, if I could roll back time, I’d sit my white belt self down for a post training beer and discuss three more philosophical things things I should know. To be patient, to stay curious, and to stop trying to win every round. Jiu-Jitsu rewards those who can zoom out and see the long term view, who fail with enthusiasm, and who learn to love the process of learning.

That mindset, the one that makes you dangerous and happy on the mats, is what inspired Cheat Codes: The Secret Guide to Winning on the Mats. If this resonated with you, maybe that’s the next step in your journey. Links on the site to get your copy.