Most Common White Belt Errors
Posted by James Tighe on
White Belts: This One’s For You!
White belts who have just started or have only begun dipping their toes in jiu-jitsu – this one’s for you! If this is your first few months and you’re still learning but confidence is building, that’s great! In this blog, we’ll explain the importance of realizing that jiu-jitsu is a marathon, not a sprint, and highlight some errors that you’ll want to avoid as you begin your journey.
A Dangerous Habit: Lunging Into Submissions
Starting with quite a naïve but also dangerous habit some white belts have: lunging into submissions during sparring or drilling. This flaw will not only annoy those around you but will also lead to people avoiding you when in the gym. Rushing learning submissions will not only slow the rate at which you learn the move but also most likely result in something hyperextending your opponent’s limbs or worse.
You’re almost certainly not doing this maliciously, as learning submissions as a beginner and trying to remember everything that you’ve just been shown can naturally lead to rushing to ensure you’ve performed it correctly. But relax, take a breath. If you’re not sure, just wait, put your hand up, and wait for your coach to help! Performing submissions in a slow and controlled manner will not only solve these issues but will benefit you and your training partners.
Spazzing Out in Sparring
Naturally, as you progress in jiu-jitsu, your confidence will build, and you’ll feel comfortable trying new techniques. This will have sporadic success amongst fellow white belts where you’re both ‘spazzing’ out (spazzing is a colloquial term amongst the jiu-jitsu community for those who aren’t in control of themselves on the mat, not the derogatory term known to the wider public!). However, trying to go 350% against higher belts and fighting to the death would be a futile exercise. Higher belts have a wealth of experience and will likely know the move you’re about to try before you even do it.
That’s not to say you can’t give your all against these people, but try not to be overly aggressive. Otherwise, you’ll end up on the bottom for the whole round with nothing.
Focus on Survival, Not Submissions
Following on from lunging into submissions, this is not what the focus should be for a white belt. You need to focus on survival. Trying to master chokes and arm bars first won’t be useful when you’re stuck with someone glued to your back or inside someone’s guard. Focus on the four basic positions: side control, mount, back, and guard. Learning to survive these positions and delay the submission is the first step. These basic positions will serve as the foundation for the rest of your time in jiu-jitsu, so it’s vital to have these core positions down.
If you’re a bit of a bookworm, a great read that backs up this tip is ‘Jiu-Jitsu University’ by Saulo Ribeiro. The chapters are spread over different belts, and the book emphasizes how the white belt phase is all about survival. It’s a great read for practitioners of any belt color for that matter!
Don’t Teach, Just Focus on Learning
There’s nothing wrong with helping your fellow white belts along the way, but don’t be that person who tries to teach others a new move or tells them where they’re going wrong. Leave the teaching to the coach or much higher belts. Realistically, the chances that you’re teaching it wrong are high, and it will result in your training partner either developing bad technique or injuring another person when it comes to sparring. We don’t want that.
Maybe a pointer or two here and there would be okay, but try and understand this isn’t your field of expertise yet. If you are directly asked by someone else how to do it, be honest! Tell them you have an idea, but you wouldn’t want to share it as it might be wrong, and get your coach to come over and show them where you’re both struggling. They’ll help you out (it’s their job to, of course!).
Final Thoughts
We hope you find these tips useful and take them on board, as they’ll serve you well on your journey to becoming a black belt. As we’ve mentioned in other blogs, there’s no end point in jiu-jitsu, so trying to rush to a finish line that isn’t there will only demotivate you! If you feel this is happening to you at the moment, take a step back and enjoy the jiu-jitsu journey.
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