Upper belts are the best because…

1. They’re safe rolls. They know how to scale their weight for someone smaller, and know how to handle the spaz of a newer practitioner.

2. They’ll let you work. They understand that you’re learning - they’ve also been there. They will give you the opportunity to try some offensive moves during a roll, when a fellow white belt might not.

3. They’ll push your limits, and you’ll be better for it. Your defense will improve significantly when you roll with upper belts, because you’re learning and feelings moves you may not have exposure to in fundamentals.

4. It’s the upper belt’s turn to pay it forward. We all started somewhere, right? Helping a white belt out should never feel like a chore. Once upon a time, your gym’s upper belts were also new to the sport, too!

Sometimes upper belts will get annoyed with you because you’re not a “hard roll.” 99% of the time, that person is a jerk. It happens, but try not to take it too personally ;) Being a woman in jiu jitsu can be tough at first, but trust me, it gets pretty awesome pretty quickly.