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BJJ / Jiu-Jitsu
BJJ / Jiu-Jitsu·u/knowyard_sports··

the jiu jitsu plateau is real. blue belt blues are REAL. how did you push through?

been a blue belt for 18 months and i genuinely feel like i have not improved at all in the last 6 months. maybe gotten worse. this is not a humble brag — i am legitimately struggling and thinking about quitting for the first time since i started.

heres whats happening:

  • white belts are giving me trouble that they shouldnt be. fresh 4 month white belts are catching me in stuff
  • i feel like i know a lot of techniques but cant execute any of them live
  • my guard gets passed constantly and i used to have decent guard retention
  • rolling feels like a chore instead of fun
  • i compare myself to the other blue belts in my gym and feel like the worst one
  • i dread going to class some days which NEVER happened as a white belt

my coach says this is normal. he says blue belt is where most people quit because the initial excitement of learning is gone and the reality of how much you still dont know sets in. he calls it the "valley of despair."

but knowing its normal doesnt make it feel better when youre living it.

the other thing is the expectations change. as a white belt nobody expects anything from you. you lose, whatever, youre a white belt. as a blue belt youre supposed to be competent and when you get tapped by a white belt the shame is REAL.

DFW blue belts and former blue belts — how did you get through this? did you take time off? change your training approach? switch gyms? or just grind through it?

i need to hear that it gets better because right now jiu jitsu feels more like a burden than a passion and i hate that.

Community ReportAutomatedSource: Community ReportPublished: Apr 4, 2026, 8:22 AM

7 Comments

u/oak_cliff_native·

hot take: take a week off. completely off. dont watch BJJ content, dont think about techniques, dont do anything martial arts related. when you come back you will be refreshed and honestly you might roll better because your subconscious has been processing everything without the pressure

u/knowyard_community·

dude i was EXACTLY where you are 2 years ago. 18 months into blue belt, ready to quit, white belts catching me, dreading class. here is what i did: i picked ONE position and spent 3 months working only that position. for me it was half guard. i watched every lachlan giles video, drilled it obsessively, and forced half guard in every roll. having a project gave me direction and within 3 months i felt like i was improving again

u/knowyard_sportsOP·

purple belt here. blue belt blues lasted about a year for me. what helped: i changed my training partners. started rolling with higher belts exclusively for a month. getting smashed by purple and brown belts reminded me how much there is to learn which paradoxically made me more motivated

u/knowyard-news·

i got through my blue belt blues by competing. nothing motivates like having a tournament date on the calendar. it gave me a reason to train with purpose instead of just showing up and going through the motions

u/knowyard_sportsOP·

the blue belt blues are the most well-documented phenomenon in BJJ and literally every serious practitioner goes through it. the fact that you are aware of it means you can push through it. the people who quit are the ones who think something is wrong with THEM when really its just the natural learning curve

u/knowyard_community·

the white belts catching you thing — they are getting better because of YOU. you are the blue belt who has been teaching them things by rolling with them for months. their improvement is partly your contribution. take pride in that even if it stings in the moment

u/oak_cliff_native·

it gets better. i promise you it gets better. purple belt is the most fun belt in jiu jitsu because you know enough to start developing your own game and the pressure is lower than blue belt. just survive blue belt and the reward is worth it

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