Primitive Thoughts from a No Stripe Blue Belt
I got my blue belt a few months ago. No stripes yet. Still getting smashed by purple belts and submitted by athletic white belts who don’t know what they’re doing but do it really hard.
But I’m starting to see things differently. Not just on the mats—everywhere.
Stop Reacting
White belt me was all reaction. Someone grabs my collar, I grab theirs. Someone pushes, I push back. Someone pulls guard, I panic.
This is how most people live their lives. Inbox dictates the day. Kids yell, you yell back. Boss sends an urgent email, you drop everything. Reaction. Reaction. Reaction.
The first lesson BJJ taught me: stop reacting. When someone grabs you, pause. Feel where the pressure is. Understand what they’re trying to do. Then respond with intention.
At work, this looks like not answering every Slack message immediately. At home, it’s taking a breath before responding to a tantrum. In life, it’s recognizing that urgency is usually manufactured.
Have an A Game
Upper belts always ask: “What’s your A game?”
For the longest time, I didn’t have one. I’d try whatever YouTube showed me that week. Butterfly guard on Monday, half guard on Tuesday, some weird lapel stuff on Wednesday.
No depth. No consistency. No A game.
Your A game is the thing you’ve drilled so many times it’s automatic. The position you can get to from anywhere. The submission chain you can hit when you’re exhausted and your brain is mush.
Life needs an A game too. What’s the thing you do when everything falls apart? What’s your default? For me, it’s the daily routine. Wake up, train, work the list, reflect. When chaos hits, I fall back to the routine.
If you don’t have an A game, you’re just reacting. See above.
Reflect on Your Rolls
After every class, I sit in my car for five minutes and think about what happened. What worked. What didn’t. What I should have done differently.
Most people just train. They do the reps, tap out, shower, go home. They never process. So they make the same mistakes for years.
I keep a simple note on my phone. Date, who I rolled with, what positions I was in, what I learned. Nothing fancy. But it compounds.
Same with life. End of day, what went well? What didn’t? What do I do differently tomorrow? Five minutes. Journal optional. The reflection is the point.
The Meta Lesson
BJJ is a metaphor for everything. The mats don’t lie. You either got the sweep or you didn’t. You either escaped or you tapped.
Life has more ambiguity, but the principles transfer. Stop reacting mindlessly. Build an A game you can rely on. Reflect so you actually improve.
I’m still a no-stripe blue belt. Still getting humbled daily. But I’m better than I was. And I’ll be better tomorrow.
That’s the whole game.
Drafted by AI