The First 12 Months As A Black Belt

Exactly 12 months ago, Master Renzo Gracie promoted me to black belt. Without a doubt, earning a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of my greatest achievements in life.

Here are 10 key takeaways after 1 year as a black belt:

1. Belts don’t matter. Skills and knowledge do. Level up your skills and knowledge every day and the color of your belt will change by itself over time. Focus on your skills, and not your belt color. At the end of the day, if you can’t beat most lower belts consistently, then you are a lower belt. The color of your belt does not make you. Your skills and knowledge do. Your ability to handle an aggressive, uncooperative, and resisting opponent is all that matters.

2. If you don’t train consistently, you deteriorate. As a new black belt, I still train 5-6x a week. I normally just hop into a group class or train with a fellow black belt wherever I am in the world for work. I like group classes because of the structure, but I also like training without structure. Some days, I will roll for a single round of 45 minutes straight without a break. Other days, I will roll 6 rounds x 6 minutes at 100% after several rounds of drilling. On random days, I will do some light technical drilling and do some jiu-jitsu with strikes. For me, variety is the key to growth. My personal goal is that my jiu-jitsu has to work under any scenario, especially on the streets.

3. Roll with everyone and anyone. Diversity gives you the experience and confidence to handle any size, weight, body type, age, gender, athleticism, or skill level.

4. Your training partners are your best teachers. Rolling with lower belts sharpens your offense. Rolling with higher belts sharpens your defense.

5. A good foundation in defense is more valuable than a good foundation in offense. If people can’t submit you, it gives you the confidence to be aggressive and take risks. It also causes your opponent to waste energy and gas out. The paradox is that your style becomes more aggressive as you develop confidence in escapes and submission defense.

6. Specific training and drilling are both important, but I believe specific training is far more important. In my purple belt days, I made it a point to do full rounds in every main position (closed guard, half guard, side control, mount, and back) every single day for a few years. As a result, I am comfortable everywhere today. I genuinely do not care what position I am in (top vs bottom or left side vs right side) because I have tons of mat time in every position. You can’t gain this type of confidence from drilling. You can only gain it by specific training in those positions.

7. There is a huge difference between jiu-jitsu for competition and jiu-jitsu for the streets. If you don’t include strikes with your jiu-jitsu on a regular basis, you are missing the true essence of jiu-jitsu as one of the most effective self defense arts in the world. It is good to train in both styles for a more well-rounded understanding of the art.

8. Train in both Gi and NoGi for a deep understanding of the art. It will definitely help your game overall. Gi is a slower and more complex game. NoGi is a fast, athletic game. There are lots of other differences caused by the grips and friction of the Gi, but I love training in both. The paradox is that Gi sharpens your technique in ways NoGi cannot – and vice versa.

9. As Renzo says often, “Fighting is the best thing a man can have in his soul.” Life is a fight. We fight for our loved ones. We fight for our dreams. We fight for who we are. Every day, we wake up in the morning to fight for something. Jiu-jitsu will teach you to fight for a better future for you and your loved ones. It will turn you into a fighter in life.

10. A black belt is just the beginning of understanding and learning for the art of jiu-jitsu. The real journey begins at black belt.

To be fair, I learned most of these lessons on my journey from white to black, but I see them more clearly and profoundly now. A black belt truly is just a white belt who never quit!