The Next Best? — ALLDAYBJJ

We see it on social media ALL the time: #FUTUREWORLDCHAMPION. Yes, you may have won the Worlds as a blue or purple belt but do you think that you have what it takes to be the next best black belt world champion? If you think it was hard enough to win the Worlds as a blue or purple belt, imagine the skill level you will need to have to win at brown or even black.

There is a very, very, very small percentage of individuals that can win the worlds at blue, purple, brown, AND black. This year, only three new black belts who had subsequently won the Worlds at purple and brown (in 2015, 2016), won their divisions during their black belt debut. While there were many other former brown belt champion prospects to win this year, a lot of them did not even make it to the podium.

So what happens when you are a former blue and/or purple belt world champion but just can’t seem to hang in the brown or black belt divisions? Do you continue chasing your #WORLDCHAMPIONGOALS or do you become a “gym hero” and change your focus from competing to teaching/coaching because you can’t stand to be out of the limelight?

Need to hear more about this from a former world champion, ADCC champion, and world champion coach? Here’s what BIG O, Orlando Sanchez, weighed in on the topic:

"I think that the era of Instagram and Facebook and social media in general has given athletes a false sense of self. If I had a fucking dollar for every person that came in my academy saying they want to be a world champion and ADCC champion, I would be rich as fuck. Truth is, hardly anybody makes it. At the highest level it's only the 1% of athletes that have what it takes to make it. The ones who sacrifice everything and anything are the ones who can make it. I've had so many young athletes come to me and do really well at white and blue then they start getting followers and companies give them free shit like soap and shirts and rash guards and they start to teach and all of a sudden they act like they are the greatest thing in the world and all of a sudden at purple they start to lose. Then realizing it's HARD AS FUCK to stay on top at all the belts so they usually run away and talk shit about everything and anyone in their past. I've had guys in my past, students who quit my academy and went running away crying telling people how awful I am because I yelled at them after losing. Because I was hard on them that's why they usually quit and it happens mostly at purple belt. It's weird, purple belt is a strange time for a lot of these young athletes. They think they know it all and have all the answers and their attitudes shift, not realizing they have no idea what lies ahead. Social media has created a very weird culture in jiu-jitsu. So many young athletes think they are like the Michael Jordan of the sport and they talk about their sponsors and all this and that and it always makes me laugh. Usually what I see a lot is that when a young athlete starts to fall off they start blaming people around them - their professors, training partners, etc. The thing I see the most is when people start losing and can't win tournaments, they blame everyone around them. Understand that being the best at anything is a self-taught desire. It's up to you to be the best. Nobody is going to make you the best. I've had students leave and say that they are losing every tournament because nobody wants to be a world champion like them in class. I've had guys say that they treat their girlfriends like shit because of me and the way I'm hard on them. Hahaha. I mean all kinds of excuses. What these young athletes don't get is that it's up to nobody but themselves and it's all about HOW MUCH THEY ARE WILLING TO GIVE TO BE THE BEST. Truth is the ADCC champions and the black belt world champions have a desire and belief in themselves above everything. They are willing to sacrifice their lives to become the best. TO BE AN ADCC CHAMPION OR WORLD CHAMPION is only for the top 1% of our sport... I have an 18-year-old purple belt rooster weight female. My girl Kaori Hernandez. She's been with me since 10 years old. I have screamed at her, fought with her, pushed her to tears and she kept focused and kept fighting, trusting in what we are doing. Understanding this life is not for everyone we agree to stick together and push HARD. In all my years she's the only one I've seen strong enough to make it to the top 1% so far. She's a 5x world champion, multiple time Pan Am champion, European champion... this girl wins everything and is humble beyond belief. She stays head down and grinds day in and day out focused on becoming a black belt world champion. I've had many good young guys come through - white, blue - and do well but they all break they all crumble and run. So at the end of the day to be a BLACK BELT WORLD CHAMPION or ADCC CHAMPION IS RESERVED FOR THE TOP 1% of the mentally toughest people in our sport!!!

On the flip side, purple and brown belt world champion and otherwise known as the BJJ Mental Coach, Gustavo Dantas, offered a different perspective:

“For example, I started training in 1989 and by 1991-92, I already had my dream of becoming a teacher. They didn’t have a world champion back then so my goal was always to become a teacher. So I don’t necessarily agree that when their goals don’t go well and they become teachers is not how I see it. I see people that want to make a living with jiu-jitsu. That’s all as I see it. And if during the process they become a world champion or they have their academy or association… I really don’t know what their goals are… but I don’t think because one they do the other… it’s making a living with their passion.”

So what is your reality? Do you think you are a “unicorn” in the sport and can become the 1-2% of the next best black belt world champions or will you become the next best BJJ coach?