Why BJJ Blue belts quit. (The BJJ Blue Belt blues, The Blue Burnout)

There is an undeniable fact that the dropout rate for BJJ blue belts are very high. Why is this? Well lets put it this way.. it isn't just something that happens to blue belts but purples, browns and sometimes even black belts. Let us focus on the blue belts for now and come back to the rest later. When we start to consider why this happens, then we have to start with the nature of BJJ itself as a martial art. Brazilian Jiu jitsu is a difficult, technical, an ever evolving martial art that is broken down into only 5 belts / levels and the entire journey is a very long one often taking often about 10-15 to achieve a black belt with long periods in between belts! white belt When we start out as white.. we come with a blank slate so when you are introduced to all the new techniques, concepts and systems everything is 'exciting' and mind blowing. Progress feels incredible and fast as you start doing things like hip escapes and forward rolls where only a week or 2 ago you couldn't. On the mats, sparring rounds feel amazing as you 'survive' for longer and tap less or maybe catch a higher belt or 2. In terms of morale, the white belt stage is the best! Your morale keeps getting little boosts every time you learn something or do something new. You don't really have to do much, info and success is thrown at you. Learning is exponential and you feel like you are learning well. After a year or maybe even 2, your efforts are rewarded with a shiny new belt which is an actual colour and not a non colour like white. You are presented with your BLUE Belt. now.... Some will quit right here. The year or 2 spent is mentally 'enough'. They are satisfied and the new belt is their 'certificate' or achievement. They feel good about themselves achieving yet another thing in their lives and they leave....on to the next goal to achieve.....maybe training for a marathon , etc... Obviously there are many other reasons. It is 2 years since you started and life is 2 years older. Students graduate and move away, people get change of jobs, people become parents, etc... Life takes over and takes priority, as it should. Nobody can stop this and that's just how it is and will be. for those able to continue Those that continue come back to class with the expectations that things will just be the same as it was in white and that progress will be steady and systematic maybe even exponential as it was in white. I mean why would you expect any different? However the fact is simply that it won't, cannot be and actually shouldn't be. As a blue you now know the basics and it is time to build upon and polish up on that knowledge. Your instructor will pay more attention to all the details and suddenly even things like your forward rolls are not so correct as you thought it was. A white belt could get away with that but definitely not a Blue Belt. A sense of failing starts to creep in. You learn new stuff but never feel like its that new or relive that white belt achievement as most of the time in Blue you are re-learning, recapping and tidying up 'old' techniques and fine tuning the details. Correcting the bad white belt habits that you never knew you had. The learning curve is steep. On the mats, you now start to realise that some of the higher belts were actually going easy on you and now they won't anymore. You are Blue. Fair game. White belts now see you as steps on their ladder to achievement so that will go super hard on you trying to tap the new Blue belt. Pressure and ego to not tap or that you shouldn't tap to a lower belt also now rears its ugly head and it is not a nice new feeling. Injuries will also now start to present themselves more as you push yourself harder to 'survive' on the mats and meet all this new blue belt expectations. Its also been 2 years since you started and injuries accumulate. Its normal. Injuries = time out = everyone else improving while you are away=I will not catch up, etc, etc, etc... Obviously everyone's journey is different but the above is common, not too far fetched and this is why we see Blue belts start to fade and eventually quit Jiu jitsu. The Blue Belt Blues, The Blue Burnout. It is real. It is understandable. Remedy? Its all in the Mind. Cliche I know but it kinda really is! If life takes you away.. just remember.. don't sell that Gi and Blue belt just yet... as life takes you away, it is always possible that life might take you back. Jiu jitsu will be there for you when you are ready. Trust the Journey and keep training. When training feels boring or stagnant, know that it only feels that way in that moment for the next moment, the next roll or the next session will feel different. Give yourself very clear and manageable self goals in training. In addition to what you are learning in class, give yourself small goals to achieve per session, per week , per month... maybe even per roll. Ego has no place in your journey. Tapping to lower belts mean nothing. Tapping shows you another part of your growing game to improve. They can get you now but not the next time. You must be more willing to learn new stuff and if you have NO dread getting caught by whomever whatever the belt may be then you WILL allow yourself to drop that A game that you normally fall back to, explore other options with the reward of eventually doing something that will add to your arsenal. Mistakes are made when trying new stuff so it makes sense to try it on the lower belts first. So if you get caught by the lower belts while exploring then embrace the experience and learn from it. Injuries are inevitable but if you train smart, this can be manageable or even avoided. Once again the ego can play a big part in this. When injured, be smart and heal up however keep the routine going. Go to class and do as much as you can. Keep going. This way when you are better you will simply carry on rather then come back 'hungry' and often pushing to hard and getting more injuries. final words The Blue belt is only but a step in the journey. There are more steps to come and the journey will be wondrous and awesome. Most importantly.... Keep having loads of FUN! Onwards and Upwards always. OSS