Beating the Blue Belt Blues

Otherwise known as the “Blue Belt Curse,” this phenomenon is common amongst all academies no matter how hard instructors try to prevent it. You may even know someone who fell victim to it and never made it back to training. Or you are suffering from it yourself (or have in the past).

The first question we must ask is WHY does this happen? Why would someone who spends at least 3-4 days per week at the gym just drop out once they get their blue belt?

As white belts, there are no expectations of us. We are all clean slates and we just want to figure out what jiu-jitsu is and how to do it. As we progress as white belts, learning how to defend and getting comfortable doing jiu-jitsu, before we know it, we are promoted to blue. The path from white to blue can be as short as six months or as long as two years, depending on the level that we commit to it.  But the fact is, that transition from white to blue is often the quickest transition between the belt ranks.

With that being said, the transition from white to blue can be difficult, as we often add pressure and expectations to ourselves to “live up to the belt rank.”  Because of this unwanted pressure, we often plateau as a newly promoted blue and take a break from training – sometimes longer than expected – or never come back at all.

So how do we deal with this sudden plateau or lack of motivation?

Set specific goals in training. If you were comfortable (and got pretty good at) playing certain positions as a white belt, it is now time to change it up. Work on closed guard, work on your defenses from the bottom, work on specific submissions, etc. Get used to being uncomfortable. It’s the only way you’re going to improve your game.

Leave your ego at the door. So what if you got your blue belt? Nobody has put an imaginary target on your back in training. And even if they did, so what? Just train. Have fun. And enjoy YOUR own journey.

Have realistic expectations of yourself (and disregard the expectations of others). Don’t create unnecessary pressure for yourself to improve. Your learning will come at it’s own time, as there is no specific time on when you’ll automatically “get” jiu-jitsu.

Talk to your professor/coach/teammates. If you feel like you’re in a slump, chances are, they have been there too. So before you call it quits or need a break, let them know what’s going on. They may be able to provide some words of encouragement to help keep you motivated.

Blue belts make up the highest percentage of all of the belt ranks in jiu-jitsu. If you are aware of a teammate who is on a long break or whom you haven’t seen around in awhile, maybe it’s time to check on them. If we can keep ourselves and each other accountable, maybe we can help combat the blue belt blues and prevent our favorite teammates from disappearing off the mats for good!