One skill that I learned in college football that has helped me greatly in jiu jitsu is “being coachable”. Understanding that every critique is not a personal attack and that the person pointing out your flaws is just trying to help you. Understanding that helped me survive early in my jiu jitsu journey

I was a purple belt in 1999, when I lost my leg above the knee. I convinced myself that I couldn't do it anymore, and didn't step on the mats again for 25 years. One month ago, I started training again. I started back over as a white belt. I'm having the time of my life, and it's coming back to me quicker than I had expected. I can't believe I wasted the last 25 years

I'm 4 months into BJJ and even the newest guy is submitting me. I suck and I get humbled every class. But I ain't quitting because I enjoy the whole learning process. I will not quit and be in the 90% of white belts that quit. Let's go!

I’m still a 0-stripe white belt but learning guitar has DEFINITELY helped me realize that this is another “lifelong improvement” kind of hobby. Obviously guitar has nothing to do with jiu jitsu but just having prior exposure to that kind of life skill has been very helpful in preventing me from losing motivation.

9 years in, 40 year old purple belt here... some days you're the hammer some days you're the nail. Thats just the way it is. The road to success is ALWAYS under construction. Just keep showing up to class. 1% better everyday #oss

Sometimes we forgot the most simple thing about BJJ…..just show up and try your best. BJJ like everything else in life, will have its good days and bad days. Sometimes you’re the hammer, other days you’re the nail. Just show up and stick with it 😊

I’m a 46 year old 2 stripe white belt and I get it. It’s tough sometimes, especially when some 18 year old former wrestler comes in and taps you his first week. But I was at a brown belt promotion and the guy is a very respected grappler said this, “ I am not special or unique, this is simply the result of showing up day after day, year after year and putting in the hard work.” That definitely helps me keep going. OSS!

This is great advice. I feel like being a terrible guitar player for 10 years helps me see that aquiring a new skill in bjj will take a long, long time

I’m Brazilian and I did jiu jitsu for 1 year in 1996. I started to training again and I can’t remember anything I just get submitted by everyone in the gym. I’m 43 years old and it’s tough to don’t see improvement yet

I’m a white belt and I’ve been training for about two months now. There are days when I feel like I’m improving, and then other days when I just get smashed. But I know it’s a long process and I have never felt like giving up. One thing I’ve been trying to do to survive is to not get swept as much. When I get swept I usually get mounted, which drains so much more energy. So I’ve been focusing on keeping a stronger base. Thanks for the awesome videos!

I've been doing Jiu-jitsu for over 2 years now and I know I'm getting better. The only problem is, the people around me who consistently come to class are also getting better! 🙃 For anyone who is reading this and feeling down about their training and questioning whether they belong there, listen to Chewy. Take it from me, it might seem like you are swimming with sharks at times but just take the minor victories. For an example, I am a big guy and always spare with this black belt. He would just smash me. Gradually, I would last a minute before tapping, then 2. If I could make him work hard, then I know I am doing my job. Minor victories. You will be smashing newbies in no time!

My coach tells me that surviving is “training your spirit”. I’m about 4 months in and I can feel my “spirit” (whatever that means to you) get stronger every time I manage to not get submitted and the 5 min timer goes off. Just because I’m pinned and in extreme discomfort I will not give in. Obviously when the submission attack comes round and they get the better of you, tap. I think there is a lot of mental conditioning going on in those early stages that really affects how you live your life outside of jiu jitsu

At least for me, the hardest parts of white belt were realizing it wasn't my job to "win", slow down, being comfortable in uncomfortable positions, and that nothing works like training outside of training.

Thanks for this video. I just had my first class on Tuesday. I felt like a complete loser but I expected this and embraced every second of it. Every black belt had their first day.

I am a white belt and once I made my objective to just survive, life on the mat got a lot easier physically and mentally, and more fun and experimental. If I get a control position, I test myself to see how long I can hold it. I don't even care about submitting anyone yet.

2 months in now. It is rewarding to see changes in physique, in flexibility, in cardio in strength. Starting to feel more confident in my own skin and secure (things I have and still do struggle with)

Im a white belt. 6 months in and I feel like im starting to finally get it! Ive survived long enough to start to understand and piece things together. love this shit

Chew, thanks for the inspiration. I had my first BJJ class at 67 years young. Even though this was the older class, I am sure I had almost everyone there by 20 years. My shape is all right and I hung with the Whites I would say ok, the Blues and Purples, I was getting tossed like a kitten. I really liked you "goals as a white belt" stuff. I know nothing and am relying on strength currently. Keep the excellent stuff coming, it gets me geeked up for the next class. My short term goal is to get to where the Blue and above won't mind rolling with me and not thinking "please don't give grandpa" any advice would be huge, Thank you!

The one thing I concentrated on my first year in BJJ was my guard. If I could get a good guard, then I could survive. My submission game didn't really even come into focus until 6-8 months into my training. Once I had confidence in my guard I could start looking into avenues of attacking from the guard. Only after I had confidence in my guard and my attacks from guard then I started with sweeps and top game. Almost 6 years into training now, I still have a little ritual where I work on different positions and submissions from those positions constantly for a month or more straight. Hell, I'll even go back to some of the very first things I started working on doing when I learn a new little detail that may make things easier or smoother.

About 5 months in and I’m competing in my first tournament this Saturday, excited and nervous but I’m ready for this new experience!

I liked what Eddie Bravo said. Something along the lines of all he wanted to do was be able to do what was done to him on his first day to the new people who walk through the door. That's what keeps me going back!

Thank you so much for this video. Sometimes I feel discouraged because I run out of steam so quickly...so my goal is just to continue rolling with anyone so I can get used to the moves while I build up my cardio.

I needed this… 7 weeks in and I’m starting to question myself, but alas… it’s probably normal. Thank you.

I literally just started this journey. Today was my 8th class. I’m loving every second of training, good or bad. However, I can’t seem to shake this feeling of my instructors looking at me like I’m just a failure, even though I know that’s not the case. I learned right away, my goal as a white belt is to learn how to survive. Definitely needed to hear this. Thanks man!

Interesting. You also have survival of the blue rolling with purples. The purples rolling with browns. Browns rolling with blacks. And Black belts trying to survive vs higher level blacks. So on and so forth. There is never a point when you wont need the survival skill. It's just that you're more technically capable of using a new form of survival when rolling with upper level grapplers.

I realized this with learning guitar. I'm self-taught so it took me a long long time to get good, but I spent the first year trying to "play" things I wasn't technically capable of, and sounded really bad while doing it, like a white belt's techniques are all over the place. Sitting down to practice the technique is what eventually brought me to the point where I can pick up my guitar and play it for fun, create melodies and sounds that I intend to play. I'm no expert. Maybe I'm like the blue belt of guitar at this point in my life, but I totally understand where you're coming from when you say that once you get to a certain level of proficiency, it becomes very enjoyable. I similarly know some people who started learning guitar but gave up soon when they found out how difficult the journey to being "good" would be. But I stuck around with an intention to improve and I can at least play my own compositions.

Even as a later stage blue belt sometimes you just have to appreciate surviving. There are days I tap purples and browns yet struggle to get things going with a tough, defensive 4 stripe white belt. But, I can always survive.

The first few months will place a lot of questions in your mind, at least, they did for me. Chew is right, its getting past that. The "I'm not progressing fast enough!" moment. You gotta get past that one.

Getting to sleep soon but I’m up late fighting off those “white belt blues” a bit tonight. 😴 but my game plan is to be a half hour early to the gym tomorrow to stretch more focused and the stay for the full session til sparring is over. Thankful for your video and that watching the clock method has helped me a lot too! I’m about 2 months or so in and loving it.

Thank you for this video. I am about 2 months into my training and it is good to hear that everyone feels as lost as I do! I trained Soo Bahk Do for 12 years and obtained a 2nd degree black belt but had NO ground game coming in. The mental struggle is the same as when I was a white belt sparring, and always getting beat in Soo Bahk. I have a fantastic coach, Joel Bouhey, and the group of guys I roll with are all super helpful. They smash me, submit me but also work with me to keep me slowly growing!!! Loving it!

What I think people struggle with the most is believing the belt system too much. Maybe you're training for months, and a new guy comes in and submits you. Eventually, you WILL learn how to survive against pretty much any new untrained person, and probably dominate them. But, you have to remember it takes time to build the skill/muscle memory. And, you have to take into account your athleticism, age, prior experience etc. The belt just shows YOUR progress, not your performance vs another person's performance, at least, not by one belt separation. As long as you're getting better, keep going. Embrace the struggle, it will give you something back eventually. A 6ft beast with wrestling experience will not struggle as much as a skinny computer nerd... in the beginning. But, eventually, you will learn to be technical and experienced and if the gym beast isn't, they will meet their maker in competition when physical gaps are eliminated.

I've just started, so obviously I have no idea what I'm doing yet. For me, just experience of getting into a close "combat" with someone is worth it. I'm getting used to it. And that's a success. Doesn't matter that I get "smashed", everyone is friendly and careful anyway. I'm getting a feeling of what it feels to be in a struggle for life. That's invaluable. And over time I know I'll get better. Good! Usually when I get that close to someone it's for a completely different purpose... 😄

6 month blue belt, still having terrible days where I end up getting submitted by the bigger new guys. Work bad positions, never allow a tap to effect your mentality. Don't beat yourself up, give yourself the benefit of the doubt. Bad days come, good days come. Never give up.

My 9 year old daughter just started jiu-jitsu two weeks ago. This video is PERFECT! I love the message. I've said many the same things to her about improvement of any skill in life. Persistence, consitency, humility, mental focus, etc... day by day, she'll get better. It's great to hear it of of this from an experienced practioner such as yourself. We've also watched several of your technique videos, and found them to be fantastic!

I'm a white belt with 2 stripes but I still feel like this. I'm better now but I still feel like this. Your video's really help me.

I have 11 years in now. Fear of embarrassment/shame from quitting is what kept me going. Just keep showing up.

I can relate, and this advice/encouragement really helps. It's especially tough getting absolutely smoked by everyone after years of other martial arts training, so now I'm just trying to put one foot in front of the other, show up, practice, and enjoy time with my fellow students with the hope that things will start to come together.

Thanks for the encouragement, Chewy

I think this is a very insightful question for a White Belt with less than a year of training. Good stuff. 💪

Thanks for your content chewi. I started BJJ in September 2022 and might have quit had it not been for your videos. Feel I'm on the path for life now, all being well. You are doing a real service for the art, sir.

In my 3rd month as an older practioner, but had success at pro levels of other martial arts. I don't mind the getting smashed part. It's been clicking more learning the basic positions, etc. But getting sore or hurt a bit when I generally don't is what's most humbling to me. I used to heal fast, but ankle, fingers, shoulder, areas I never had problems in get really sore really fast in BJJ. I accept that too being older, and am more motivated that I'm still in relatively good enough shape to still do this pushign 50. Like you said consistency is key, our professors say that all the time "JUST SHOW UP" and we have a strong mentoring environment at our place. What I take away too is EVERYONE starting out is struggling, so when you see it's not just you, you are humbled more and realize the bigger picture. Just show up, set up small goals. I kinda chuckled when you said you used to look up at the clock and ball up not trying to get subbed the last minute. Yup that's me, but I'll also play with it like "OK lemme try to get to side mount on this guy and the last 30 seconds". Or "Nope I'm gassed, but lemme stay connected hard at least the last 20 sceond". Those small goals certainly work and they also prevent you from completely giving up

“Survive, it’s all you need to do…” 😂😂😂. Damn good analogies. Thanks for taking the time.

Love the compounding relationship!!!Man you rock!!

Dude - you always Speak on what’s on my heart.. much appreciated sir

I've been training for little over a year. During the first 3 months I was just a grappling dummy, everybody could caught me any way the wanted any time the wanted, but thanks to your videos I started to focus on small goals like: "Ok, this class I got tapped 15 times, maybe I can make it 14 next". So I just kept showing up with an open mind and a humble heart. Months went by and without even realizing I was surviving entire rounds without getting tapped, and a few months later I started to tap people myself. Now I see it's not magic, there are no secrets involved and no supernatural talent or athleticism is needed, you just keep doing the same thing over and over until you get better at it.

I studied traditional martial arts and combat related martial arts for over 20 years. My job required me to use much of what I learned. I had some highly skilled Bjj instructor practitioners who introduced me to Bjj and really opened up my eyes to the necessity of Bjj training. Unfortunately, Bjj was not popular or readily available in my early years of training. My only regret is now with two bullets lodged in my neck and a recent C6/C7 fusion I'll never get the opportunity to train Bjj full time in the future. It was a goal but it's no longer a necessity, as my injuries are forcing me out of my profession. I would like to train Bjj but the risk is not worth the reward. I do believe that every martial artist should train in Bjj, as well as other forms of combat. Especially, with the availability of many different types of dojos/gyms. I'm 48 years old but If you have ever heard of someone at my age realistically training with their C6/C7 fused let me know. I'd be interested to see what their experience was like and if the training could realistically be tailored so that they can train safely and effectively. Great channel, very positive, thank you for providing your videos.

Show up and work hard will get you far in life. I’ve been doing BJJ for ~ 2 years so I am very familiar with getting passed, smashed, and submitted. I love the sport so much that I keep going to class and that advice of “just show up” is working. Slowly lol but working. Love the channel Chewy 🤙🤙

Yeah, I struggle but fortunately I am motivated (I do not understand how, but I am). Still, this is a great video, excellent explanation.

This is so true what Chewy is saying, I'm 3 months into BJJ I compare it with my journey on KZfaq channel and of course the freelancer artist path I have chosen both are tough and takes time just like Jiujitsu!

I needed this one tonight, thank you.

Thanks, Chewie. Just what I needed to hear.

Great video chewy. Thanks!

I would add to a win column on surviving making them switch to a different submission because you successfully blocked the on they tried. You will then "sort of" get to know set ups for that submission and react to it a little quicker.

Damn Chewy, I'm right now exactly at this stage. It's tough my body is all sore, I get smashed constantly and submitted many times. It's hard but I'm not planning to give up. This video is just what I needed, thank u.

God bless you Chewie. This is so helpful for us white belts who forget that this stage is survival before anything. My very much younger and wrestler friend gave me a reminder yesterday in class though 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Thanks. I needed to hear this today.

The man who loves walking, will get further than the man wants to walk 100k. Learn to enjoy the ride.

11 month whitebelt at my local 10th planet and this is what I've been doing now newer people are coming in and I can throw decent white belt techniques at them at rolls and be pretty successful some rolls with more experienced color belts can almost be demoralizing it makes you feel like you're not learning as well but if you stick around and hold composure it does wonders for you going to compete in March :)

Going through the process now as a white belt! Been updating on my channel but I am enjoying the progress. I definitely relate on the random aches and pain of my body though lol

Ya boi just got his blue belt!

Mannn… thank you so much, you’re the only guy who keeps convincing me over n over again to keep at it. I’ve been doing bjj for 2 months now, n I get my ass kicked by EVERYONE! It’s so frustrating. I feel like I’ve learnt a few moves, but when we start open rolling nothing works for me n I wanna give up. But after watching your videos I feel I want carry on.

Great video thanks. I'm just over four months in since starting BJJ and really enjoying the process so far, even though I'm getting panelled by everyone in the gym three times a week. But tbh i didn't expect anything other than that. If it was easy everyone would be a black belt! Every submission is an opportunity to learn, and to talk with the more experienced guys to find out what you are doing wrong. Some things in life are about the learning process and not so much the end result and i feel BJJ is definitely one of those things.

Also just 3 months in and wish I had started in 2003 at 23! Started with keeping a notebook in the first 2 months and the fell off that for the last month, but I think I’m seeing the value. Keep a log. When, with who you rolled, what was taught, what did you try, what worked what didn’t.

This was helpful, thanks for putting this out. I recently began my BJJ journey, and while I'm loving it so far (only 3 classes in) I'm positive that there will come a point where I question why I'm doing this and how I keep going. I know the why, the how is the trick. This will help. Thanks again.

Love watching your videos.. A white belt from Philippines.

Brilliant Chewie 👏

Ive been doing jiu jitsu for about 4-5 months and the first thing I was taught by one of our brown belts was that it’s going to be difficult and all I needed to do was survive and he explained it the same way you did which is show up train consistently and to set mini goals to achieve

There REALLY needs to be some kind of structured beginners curriculum for absolute newcomers in Jiu Jitsu that covers safety and goes over all the basic positions, side control, mount, and closed guard. Basic submissions too. I think it’s counterintuitive for schools to throw new people into sparring *day one* when they don’t have any knowledge of the above. Not to mention it isn’t safe either. No s*** they’re going to quit right away. For something like Jiu Jitsu you really need to build someone’s confidence first and give them an understanding of what to do before you throw them into the fire.

I’ve been doing Jiu-Jitsu for 4 months now and I had to learn to not compare myself to others.we have white belts who were division 2 wrestlers who are competing and beating blue and purple belts.Not everyone’s journey in jiu jitsu is the same.

Great video. All about the mindset.

Chewy is awesome. He's like a solid bigger brother.

FWIW: IMO this is your best video to date, and I like all your videos!

Great question❤

Great advice!!

Dude you're awesome. Thank you.

I trained Japanese jujitsu for about three years, got hurt pretty good, and stopped. Life happened, but I always wanted to get back in the game. Twenty years later I'm a white belt in jiu jitsu and I've been training for about three months. I think being older has helped, because it's easier to be humble and take those opportunities when I'm getting just smoked by guys to learn where I'm going wrong. I get psyched if I pass a guard, or if I successfully escape a submission, or even if I just make the other guy work a little harder. Even when I just get my butt kicked the whole time I take some pride in sticking it out and at least being the practice dummy for another guy at the gym and helping other people get better. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

2:46 , 5:23 *"It may seem a million miles away, but it gets a little closer every day" -Sting & The Police, 'One World'*

Lesson 3 tonight and I've watched a bunch of beginner videos....don't get me wrong I still got crushed but I was trying to hang in guard more and trying to hold the Squirrel lol I felt I was a bit better. Sadly i also made a wild white belt mistake and annoyed a couple older blue belts. Genuinely didnt mean to but I need to slow down. Loving it either way and learning a lot

Just want to stop by and thank you for your content, its always good

I'm 4 days into my BJJ and have submitted people who are a month or 2 in, which is a bit weird, but I work out everyday (and have been doing so over a year now), so I know I'm fitter than most beginners, which is probably why I could submit other beginners in just 4 days of practice. My gym doesn't let novice beginners (6 months or less) roll with upper belts, so I'd definitely just survive if I'd roll with any veterans (even upper white belts)

Started BJJ two months ago, I’m 43 years old, I can relate to this question but I admit I feel Im improving at surviving on a technical way (or at least I like to believe that) the worst part for me is the pain in the ribs while trying to built that momentum and put me out of commission for a week is really sad.

You helped me with this video as a new beginner 4 month in. I’m soo bad at defence still.

The Art taught me a massive life lesson, show up work hard and the rewards will come.... White belt is all about survival. Thanks for the video!!

I am a 48 year old white belt, and I love Jiu Jitsu, but right now I can not afford it. Money is the only thing that keeps me from going to class. I do not have a vehicle and the closest gym is 20 miles away. That is why I am still a white belt, but I WILL NOT QUIT! Even if I can only afford a month out the year. I do Jiu Jitsu to be a better version of me.

Solid video brother. 👊 You can find a million reasons not to "but can you find the 1 reason to do it".

Learning to ride a horse was a great primer for learning Jiu Jitsu: if you don’t have all the details right, it’s wrong. The difference is that a training partner may or may not take advantage of your mistake, but on a horse, you are telling it to do things, whether you as the rider realize it or not.

Another WB here, 7 months in. I'm getting better, not that Im winning, Im just losing less, my body is in less pain and my breathing is changing, which is the thing that makes me prouder. Im learning to go slow, Im starting to feel the opennings... One class at the time. Thanks

Started a month ago. 5'11 180 lbs pretty athletic 29 y/o. - Ribs constantly hurt. - Getting tapped out by guys bigger than me, guys my size, guys smaller than me, teens, girls, yeah pretty much everyone. - Going for a submission never works because i'm too slow and blatant with it. - BUT my defense is getting better and I am able to survive a little bit longer now so I'm not giving up!

Such a good video for newcomers.

The term to look for is "intentionality"

Im a white belt. My sensei has been telling me to just survive, and now he says to learn how to 'manage'. I think he talking about positioning and basing. Oh yeah, I get sore, hurt, and feeling injured. As long as I do 0.01% better then it's still progress.

This guy speaks the truth.

I did my first day yesterday I saw my brother that's been going 6 months getting sauced up while rolling on the mat and I got scared then I got brave cuz I watched the 2 roll then tried to naturally defend against the guy and I spent 2 mins escaping then he finally got tired enough for me to get a cross color choke, got thrown off, another minute got side got side control then got him in a wrist lock, and he was super happy for me and surprised.

if u rly get to a low point of constant failure, I always feel better when I mess around with my friends who don't do bjj, It makes u realize that even though ur constantly failing over and over by people who are better than you, you are still gain from those failures and learning. Rolling around with someone uneducated really shows you the power of the martial art and acts as a reminder that it's worth it, even if you haven't even made it past 6 months or a year of training yet.

It’s crazy bc I feel like a lot of people would quit something bc they’re not instantly good at it White belt mentality goes a long way, I make music and looking back on it when I first started I wasn’t good at all but I got better just working at it

Thanks bro.

I officially have been training Jiu Jitsu for one year this week. I remember the first day that I stepped onto the mat and I'm the only girl in class and always have been for the first 7 months of my training (until my gym closed down -.-). Though I got destroyed on that first day, but i just knew that this is what I have been looking for and I just fall in love with it. Sometimes I felt awkward, sometimes I felt left out, sometimes it was frustrated and always got submitted but none of it could deter me from going to the class every day, 5 days a week. And I hate it when I had to do something that made me miss out on one of the classes. Now my current gym has only 3 days a week though T_T but people here are great, so I will stick around and see.

Thank you.

I like that humble response "of course, I knew I was going to be bad at this". Lol one thing I love about jiu jitsu is the humility it.

thank you this helps.