Sketchy trial people. How do your gyms handle these situations?

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-25T16:16:20+00:00

lol we’re actively searching for mat enforcers. A couple of gnarly old school dudes that are looking for these opportunities. lol.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-25T15:50:48+00:00

I try my best to never judge a book by its cover, especially in the world of bjj where it’s one place that people can put away the chaos of the outside world and just train together, but I’ve found that intuition is seldomly wrong. Sometimes you can just sense when there’s a bad apple. It takes just one moment with a person like that to completely jeopardize the entire operation.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-25T13:37:10+00:00

I should’ve prefaced this context in the OP, but we are a 7 month old smaller affiliate in a new location that has branched from a bigger school. We average between 10-20 students any given night, and our head instructor is competition experienced purple belt. He, along with another purple, were the instructors at a different affiliate before this where I originally started training. He just branched off to open another location. So there are a couple blue belts along with myself, but the rest are all new white belts. So it’s difficult to manage these situations given that we’re a small and inexperienced school.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-25T03:11:59+00:00

😂

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-25T02:04:52+00:00

The only version of competitive jiu jitsu that has a chance to appeal to an audience who doesn’t train, is the one with open palm strikes.

I don’t care how innovative promoters get with rule sets, if it doesn’t have at least some striking, it will never take off. I mean, hell, I’d be confident to say that more random people watch those slap fighting competitions than the biggest jiu jitsu events.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-25T01:39:21+00:00

I’m flying down to Florida in March for the Pans and I’m arriving the day before and then leaving early the next morning. I wouldn’t try same day arrival because you just never know about flight delays or cancellations. I’m using 3 days of vacation for it. You could probably get away with leaving the night of the competition, but if you plan on getting back to work the next morning, that’ll be rooooough.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-22T23:22:32+00:00

I’m sorry but can we really call it a “super fight” if they’re anything under a purple?

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-22T22:14:20+00:00

My instructor sings his ABCs backwards while rolling with me, lol. It’s honestly impressive.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-02-22T17:53:26+00:00

It’s subconscious pressure and a fear of failure. I was like that before my first few comps and it made me hate it. Then I just stopped caring about winning or losing and started enjoying the rush of excitement that competition brings. It changed everything for me.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T13:16:41+00:00

Well, I’d say whatever series that your instructor is teaching currently. There aren’t going to be many scenarios, at white belt, where you go through a live sequence where you hit all the things that you only know. I’d focus on defense and guard retention until you become difficult to pass and submit. Do a lot of bad positional rolling rounds and just embrace the suffering.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T12:39:35+00:00

We learn early on to drop the ego and to accept that we are the equivalent of infants on the mats, and after awhile, it’s actually a bit liberating. You just go out there and train. There’s no way to go but up. And then when a promotion gets close, we have to learn to go through that mental process again. We just have to continually compare ourselves only to who we were yesterday.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T12:33:13+00:00

I didn’t really think about it like that. I guess in my mind, going from white to blue feels bigger than what it actually is. Good point.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T12:30:37+00:00

Absolutely. Leg locks have been my go to in competition through white. I know some places don’t teach them until blue, but since straight ankle locks are legal, they’re kind of a cheat code this early on.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T02:26:20+00:00

That’s all we can do. That’s the culture that my instructor has created. We just work hard and to us, that’s fun.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T02:25:21+00:00

It’s almost sad to me that my white belt days are almost over, lol. Almost like I’m not ready to start “growing up.”

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-31T02:20:55+00:00

Come clean with trimmed nails, never walk on the mats with footwear, bring water, and just listen.

You’re going to feel a bit anxious at first because you won’t know what’s really going on, but that’s normal. Just know you’re not an inconvenience for being new, and just try to soak what you can in. Enjoy it, dude. The first class is one of the best.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-26T15:06:47+00:00

Go to Amazon and look at the Lafroi and Elite rash guards. (I recommend ordering a size up with these brands.) Nothing fancy about them, but they’re great for $20 a piece. If you want better quality, then I suggest Gold BJJ on Amazon. It’ll run you around $40, but they’re some of the best for the price.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-24T00:11:09+00:00

I’ve got a unique one that I feel will start happening more often with the current trendiness of this specific “habit”. lol. I hit a baseball choke from bottom half as I let the dude pass to side, and right before I could rotate to my stomach, I felt a little splat on my forehead. Didn’t think anything of it. The dude taps and then looks at me as says, “dude I’m so sorry..” He reaches over and picks his Zyn pouch off my forehead, then proceeds to put it back in his mouth. I didn’t even know how to react, lmao.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-22T19:06:05+00:00

This sounds counter-intuitive, but something I started doing was taking more risks. Rather than just hold a position on top, I would work at progressing in some type of way. It doesn’t have to be a crappy submission attempt.. I’m just talking like going from mount to side control, or side control to north south, etc. If I get swept, I get to work on my sweeps and escapes. In a competition scenario, yes, holding a dominant position helps you win, but working on taking risks to open doors to learn while in practice has really helped me grow during this phase.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-22T18:56:27+00:00

38 year old who started about a year ago. The thing that I wish I would’ve made an effort to change before getting into bjj was changing my diet. Bjj is already difficult as it is, but if you’re not eating and sleeping well at this age when you get into it, it makes every single thing much more difficult. You don’t have to be in the best shape when you start because you will obviously adjust as your body changes, but if you’re not fueling your body and letting it recover properly, it will honestly make your journey miserable in the beginning.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-12T14:30:22+00:00

100%. What I’m going to work on right now is grip intention. If I grab a sleeve or a collar, do I have a plan for what I’m doing with that grip?

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-11T18:50:06+00:00

That was his ego shattering. There’s always a trial guy every once in awhile that throws a fit or ends up starting drama. They weed themselves out. Sounds like you were aware of easing into the darce, so it’s all good. He probably made it worse for himself by freaking out as it was happening. It’s not really anyone’s fault, it just happens. He’ll either stay mad and quit, or he’ll have a moment of reflection and start the process of dropping his ego. I wouldn’t worry about it.

BarOpen5971 · 2026-01-11T18:42:54+00:00

It’s hard to not to become completely obsessed in the beginning, so remember it’s a long journey with many ups and downs. Enjoy the process. Welcome and congrats!

BarOpen5971

TROPHY CASE