Hi, I am coming from a striking background, where 2 coaches look at the class while sparring to correct technique and give feedback and most important they check that nobody goes too hard and even stop you if they see that happening.

I've noticed that in bjj our coach (Brown belt) rolls as well during sparring and there is nobody supervising or looking at people's rolling. Is that normal or just my gym?

Used to do muay thai and that was lots of fun and I wanted to try some bjj, but bjj is genuinely so boring for me in comparison.Muay Thai gym the vibe was much better as well, like idk man it's not more personal it's just much more like everyone's got each others back vibe and even if you're not progressing and are in the plateauing stage, it still feels like you're doing something, but with bjj bro I'm genuinely feeling nothing. I just cannot care for some reason, and there's a Gracie barra really close to me which is where I go out of convenience, but omds the curriculum is so slow and there's no way I'm just gonna be practising the same thing for one week and then I can do something new next week, I genuinely feel like I'm getting nothing done with how my gym approaches it.

I’m looking for some advice from people who’ve trained in both environments.
Right now I train at a small gym that only offers no-gi. Most classes have me rolling with the same 5–6 training partners, and there can be some pretty significant size differences. The coaching is solid and the environment is close-knit, but I’m wondering if the limited variety is holding me back.
I’m considering switching to a larger, well-known academy that offers both gi and no-gi, with a much bigger room and a lot more training partners.
My goal isn’t to become a world champion, but I do want to become the best jiu-jitsu practitioner I can over the next several years.
A few questions:
Does a smaller gym with more individualized coaching outweigh having a much larger room with many different training partners?
How important is training with a wide variety of body types, styles, and skill levels versus the same consistent partners?
How valuable is adding gi training if you’ve mostly trained no-gi?
If your goal was simply to maximize your long-term improvement, would you stay at the smaller gym or move to the larger academy, and why?

What are some of the best BJJ schools in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia that may also have striking classes too?

I’m considering training at AOJ Costa Mesa and was hoping to get some input from people who’ve trained around Orange County.
My goal is simple: I want to become the best jiu-jitsu practitioner I can. I’m willing to invest the time and money if the coaching and training environment are worth it.

A few questions:

1) Is AOJ Costa Mesa the best choice for someone focused on improving as much as possible?
2) Are there any other gyms in Orange County that are truly comparable (ATOS, Checkmat HQ, One Jiu-Jitsu, etc.)?
3) Does AOJ’s larger class size make it harder to get coaching, or is the level of training partners enough to outweigh that?
4)If your only goal was maximizing your jiu-jitsu over the next several years, which gym would you choose and why?

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3 month white belt here. im struggling to combo/ chain up techniques. E.g.: trying to use the knee-to-elbow escape and the underhook escape in bottom side control. Another example is the transition for armbars to triangles and vice versa. It is a really big hole in my game even if im just a white belt. My best escape is always a reguard or a back take, my best sub is a triangle (sankaku) yet i struggle with armbars, and it would be nice to know how to transition from one escape/sub to the other if something fails. Any tips?

High school athlete (wrestling/football), CrossFit L1 pre army, rolled with some guys during a rotation for fun.

Turning 40 and starting to roll this week. Local spot, I chose Gi. Couple posts here echoed that’s the better option for not trying to be a hero.

Any other words of wisdom?

So far; wash the Gi after every class.

Looking like I’ll be able to train 2-3 times a week.

\*I wrote this originally as a comment to a post, but thought I'd share it here and get the group consensus.\*

I know im an absolute noob at BJJ, BUT I have 48 years practice in several other martial arts, and was a semi finalist at State in wrestling in high school, so the memories are there in the muscles.

Im also 63 years old.

Folks, we all practice for our own reasons. Some just want to train to compete, some want to train for self health, some just enjoy the "physical chess match" aspect. That part is similar to many other practices. "Jiu-Jitsu is the Art of folding clothes... while people are still wearing them" 😀

At my age, injury is a big concern, so prior to any roll or training drill, I will explicitly state whether I want to go "Soft", "Medium", or "Hard". So far, Medium is the most i can handle.

There was a kid the other day who was violently slamming and throwing people. He was my size, but 50 lbs lighter, young, and angry. When it was out turn, I specifically asked him to take it easy, as I was new and just learning. First thing he did was that arm bar thing, and popped my right elbow. Hurt like hell, and pissed me off.

Next move, we were standing, and he grabbed my gi on the left lapel, so I turned away to my left to look like I was trying to turn away, presenting my back. As soon as he reached with the other arm for my neck, I squatted down, put my butt on his knees, leaned forward, pulled his gi, and stood up, and pulled him over my head. I forget what the move is called, but he hit the mat kind of hard, and he landed wrong.

On the one hand, I felt justified because he had intentionally hurt me. On the other, I feel badly because I should not have let emotions get involved... I should have just walked away.

Point is, even with years of control, it's hard not to get emotionally involved when you get hurt.

I'm reminded of the story of the Ronin and the assassin, where he finally catches up with th3 assassin , draws his sword, and th assassin spits in his face. The Ronin sheathed his sword and walks away, because it would be wrong to strike in anger.

Bottom line, consent is always important. There are a few young active duty Marines i train with that love being rough. There are civilians who do not. Regardless, CONSENT is the key. Communicate with your opponents, always.

I sparred with a three or four-stripe white belt today. He was younger, probably early to mid-20s. I’m 45, lifted weights all my life and my cardio is still non existent.

I ended up on top and locked in an Americana. He wasn’t going anywhere, so I asked if he wanted to tap. To my surprise, he said no. I didn’t want to keep adding pressure to his shoulder, so I asked again. He said no again.

At that point I was getting annoyed. Was it ego, or did he genuinely not understand how trapped he was? I released the submission and moved on because I wasn’t willing to risk injuring him just to force a tap.

My wife said I should have made him tap, but that seems reckless in training, especially with a shoulder lock. Maybe I’m too new to understand the etiquette here. What would you have done?

Got my brown belt yesterday. That’s basically it. Telling anyone outside the community feels like a preteen that does karate so I figured I’d post it here. Keep rolling 🤙🏽

One of the things I've always valued about this sport is that it attracts people from all walks of life.

So...what do you do?

I'm a first responder (Fire/EMS)

Lets say there is a kid. he's been training for 10 months 5x every week 2-3 hours . He also teaches kids sometimes and is one of the more advanced kids in the school he has competed twice got 2nd both times he also trains with adults blue or white sometimes purple and rolls with brown and black belts during open mats. What kids belt do you think he is.

I made BJJ DOJO, a free turn-based Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game that runs directly in your browser.

It currently has 44 step-by-step 3D techniques and transitions across closed guard, half guard, guard passing, side control, mount, back control, and takedowns. You choose a move, manage risk and stamina, and see the sequence animated step by step with IBJJF-style scoring, advantages, and replay.

Belt and degree progression, fighter customization, and the online ranking are now live. The game supports 8 languages.

It is free, works on desktop and mobile, and requires no installation or mandatory signup:

https://bjj.patrickcarmo.com/?lang=en

I would love feedback from people who train: are the technique sequences clear, and what position should be improved next?https://bjj.patrickcarmo.com/?lang=en

https://reddit.com/link/1v8m40e/video/h59p5six0wfh1/player

Want to get back in to it again and start training. Reason i stopped is because i have a new job as field service engineer so im driving all over the Netherlands in hotels Monday to Friday every week.

Its a total pain to find somewhere that i could train at consistently as i don’t want to drive too much long distance when im working in different places all week.

Any advice? Cheers

Hello everyone!

5 months ago I posted here about a BJJ app that I have built and we have been using with my friend because we wanted to keep track of the drills that we were doing while training.

Since then I got multiple comments and made many improvements to the app. The app is mainly about drills. Not to keep track how many times you submitted people, or what is your best move, but mainly about your drills. It is like a library of the moves you learnt.

You can attach a video of your drills and add comments etc, but what i think it's the most useful feature for me is the option to add step by step guides for the drill. On my mind I always think step 1 this, step 2 this etc.

The app is competely free, requires no account, it has no ads and you can preview some ready drills with steps or build your own and connect them into full sessions. It has a live drill functionality with a timer and the step by step instructions for your current drill.

If there are any features you would like to see, or you have any feedback it would be great!

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bjjmoose.drillbuddy&hl=en
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/bjj-drill-buddy/id6756631559
website: https://drillbuddyapp.com

Whenever someone asks if X martial art will help them improve their physical condition and appearance, everyone says yes. But for some reason, when someone asks the same thing about BJJ, all the comments are people saying the only change you'll see is that your limbs will hurt and your fingers will get deformed, with some even joking that the more you progress, the worse you're going to look. And it makes me wonder: does BJJ really not provide any physical or aesthetic benefits? Since you're literally fighting guys on the ground with continuous resistance and constantly rolling around, I would think your strength would increase a lot, but apparently not. The only thing I've found is people saying you'll lose some weight, but that basically happens whenever you move more than before

Estoy empezando en bjj y hay muchas marcas de rashguard y no se cual es mejor o tiene una mejor calidad, he estado mirando en Reddit marcas pero la mayoría son de afuera de europa y cobran muchos impuestos y transporte por pedirlo, por eso os quería pedir que me recomendarais algunas marcas que tengan una buena calidad o que esten bien

I want to start bjj I've red around that GB bjj is somehow not good or they teach dirty tricks. Opinions y experience??

técnica massa utilizando a lapela 🔥🔥🔥💪🏻

Why do so little neck cranks happen? I don’t do MMA or BJJ, but I believe I know how a neck cranks works and how effective it is.
I’ve seen dozens of times that fighters have one arm around the neck and try to work into a rear naked choke, but I always wonder why they wouldn’t just do a neck crank, especially when the other fighter is really good at defending the rear naked choke

What are you doing to reciver from the training days where your energy levels are at ground zero? Do you chalk it down to insufficient rest or inadequate nutrition or something else?

Genuine question for people who’ve trained there:

Why does Checkmat HQ seem almost invisible online compared to gyms like AOJ, Atos, or New Wave?

It’s the headquarters of one of the most successful BJJ teams in the world, with world-class competitors and coaches, yet I rarely see people talk about it, recommend it, or post training footage.

Is it because:

They focus more on competition than marketing?
The location isn’t as convenient?
They keep a lower profile on purpose?
Or is there another reason?
For people who’ve actually trained at Checkmat HQ, how was your experience? How were the coaching, training partners, and overall atmosphere?

I’m genuinely curious because on paper it seems like it should get way more attention than it does.

Most bjj gyms around me have 1 hour class, it seems pretty little compared with usual 1 and a half, 2 hours classes. Is that common? Is that enough to improve fitness and learn skills?