White to Blue by Oliver Stark

• When you have been rolling for many years, things change. They are still great but that feeling of learning something basic that clicks and blows your mind gets less and less.
• According to my own professor it's at Black Belt that the next real true learning curve begins, this is where it all comes together and everything starts again.
• One of the most frustrating areas of jiu jitsu when I started was I didn't know how to put it all together.
• If you feel your academy does not have any structure at white belt level and this bothers you then you seriously need to consider training at another academy.
• The 'tap' is the most powerful element in jiu jitsu and should not be considered a weakness, as my own professor tells me, "You have to tap a thousand times before you can consider yourself a black belt."
• If you get in a tough spot with a higher ranking belt or heavier opponent know this: There is no disgrace in tapping.
• You must train to improve. That's it!
• The scientists have realized that to get that dopamine moving we can do several things:
• Engage in a physical activity that raises the heart rate.
• Learn new skills that test us and keep our brain active.
• Spend time with friends and family (a sense of community).
• Those are the main three [things you can do] that you can help us live a long and happy life.
• This is one of the most important ideas that I know can help accelerate your progress: clarity. If something is unclear then don't just press on in an ocean of arms, legs, and sweat. Stop, ask your training partner if he can help you. If he can't then ask a coach or your professor after the class is over.
• Regardless of your motivations to start training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the surest way to improve is spending time on the mat. Mat time is one of the biggest factors that will determine your speed with which you progress.
• You don't even know what you don't know yet.
• Get in good drilling time, improve your conditioning and get a handle on the details in techniques.
• Time on the mat sometimes doesn't mean time on the actual mat, it means time working on your jiu jitsu and this can be drilling technique, at the academy or elsewhere.
• Ultimately it boils down to taking things one step at a time, or gradient learning.
• To move into  any position we need to be in constant communication with the hip, both your own and your opponents.
• The way of martial arts starts with 1,000 days of training and is truly commanded after 10,000 days of training.
• Keeping your thoughts written down in an organized manner helps keep the filing cabinet of the brain in an orderly fashion. It commits the techniques that matter to memory much better than just 'trying' to remember.
• To reduce the space (and therefore control the space) you will need to break your opponents posture.
• Try and relax on bottom. I know it's hard to do, but your potential to escape will increase dramatically if you go all loosey-goosey on bottom and just slink right out of there.
• If you are in a tight spot and looking to create opportunities, space must be created, this is a path to victory.
• If you decide to stand to break guard than you need to be aware that the number of sweeping options just increased incrementally.
• Your attitude determines your altitude.
• Don't try and submit your opponent from just anywhere. You must get yourself into a position of control first.
• You need to move into the correct position first, then the transition to the submission. There are no shortcuts here, so it's worth committing to memory. Position->Transition->Submission.
• If weight transfers through your hips and pins you, the first action needs to be to break your opponents posture so he has to re-group.
• It is impossible to attack from your back without free hips. Always keep that in mind when you are using the closed guard.
• Marcelo Garcia never lets anyone get grips on him, even if he is in mid transition and his technique is coming together, he will stop, break grips and then continue.
• For you as a white belt, victory is in controlling the action.
• Have you ever noticed that when a black belt gets in the mount they are eager to climb higher and get their knees under their opponent's armpits. This is the correct position for the hip, as the opponent's hips can raise now and there is no contact with the black belts hip.
• Landing in mount, first, stabilize your position. Get head control and then lock your feet under (behind) your opponents knees (as if getting closed guard from the top mount), keep your hands out wide, spread wide open.
• There is an alternative to everything in jiu jitsu.
• If you can lock your feet or grapevine as soon as you mount then this will allow some precious seconds for that stabilization process to take place. The grips in the mount are your hips and your feet.
• When you have back control, hooks in, then your hips should naturally be on the same alignment as your opponents. This is where you start and keeping that level is important to you keeping in control.
• Sweeping your opponent is essential to gaining top attacking positions.
• The half guard as an attack position is littered with sweep opportunities.
• Being able to flow from one technique to another is the mark of a quality jiu jitsu player.
• Your ability to defend in jiu jitsu is essential at white belt, as the time will come when you move up to blue belt and start sparring with purple and brown belts the number of submission attempts can be relentless so learning to have a solid defense is a priority at this stage in your development.
• Adopt the survival mindset. Stop trying to beat anyone and everyone. Just don't lose anymore.
• When you are studying at the white belt level the most important factor is the act of survival.
• The key issue as a white belt is to survive first, and then you can move into more favorable positions. This is also a good test of your attitude towards training and training partners. The process of being patient and letting your ego get a good stomping are real tests at this stage.
• Learning to survive is probably the most valuable lesson jiu jitsu has to offer.
• One of the key principles that a lot of white belts misunderstand in the concept of guard breaking and passing is that it isn't a fair fight. It's you and gravity against the guy in the guard.
• If something is happening to you on the mat that you don't like and your opponent is getting his grips and hips in place. Get out of there and reset. There is no rule in jiu jitsu that you have to allow your opponent or training partner to work his game on you. It's the opposite--you should be working your game.
• You must be the one dictating the pace and then putting on the controls.
• Don't run into the dreaded guard-accumulation game, this is a dead-end, I promise you.
• Focusing on the fundamentals at white belt is key, though the tractor beam of fancy-shmancy moves is very potent.
• Stabilize the position first before moving.
• There are two main methods of controlling the hip in side control top, one is using the knee and the other is using the hand as a blocking mechanism.
• Concentrate on keeping your opponent controlled when you pass to side.
• One of the first things I like to see white belts do is get comfortable with head control.
• Do not fear the man who has thrown 10,000 kicks. Fear the man who has thrown one kick 10,000 times.
• Promotions are merely milestones, don't become too attached to them.
• We, as westerners, become too attached to our status and the perception of belt color is no exception to our ego driven society.
• Unfortunately, one of the biggest reasons that students wash out of BJJ is due to injuries. Injury management will be part of your long-term game plan and needs to be managed.
• Remember, you don't have to compete, it's not essential but it can be a good test of many skills not just your jiu jitsu.
• All tournaments are not created equal.
• The biggest problem with any tournament outside of the IBJFF is that the rankings are not in anyway standardized.
• The three items that I know have worked well for me over the years are: calendar, training journal, and training dummy. With these three you can do really well, and really boost how you perform at the academy as well as speed the growth process.
• Listen to your body. Even if you feel fit and strong and ready to go, then still mix light workouts, rest days along with hard workouts.
• Be smart. Log your training days in a visual way and make sure there are some blank spaces in there.
• Keeping a track of your progress is paramount if you are to improve in your jiu jitsu training.
• Keeping a series of techniques in your head is a complex matter. This is human chess, for every attack there is a defense, for every sweep, takedown pass, submission there is a counter and counter to that counter. It makes much more sense to keep taking notes than trying to remember what you did.
• It's hard to remember all the techniques that you will be picking up in BJJ. This is a sport that is almost completely technique driven, yes, athleticism is a factor but you need the techniques regardless of your athletic prowess.
• The easiest and in my opinion one of the most effective ways to drill is with a training dummy.
• Training without a partner is still an excellent way to train.
• My game went from zero to hero using the dummy and staying with the thirty-day Zen program.
• We never drill enough even tough all the evidence points to the fact that drilling creates champions. The problem is that rolling is just a ton of fun.
• We need to drill effectively with or without a partner.
• A grappling dummy is an excellent aid in your development. There is no other method of training--human or otherwise that can let you hit one hundred techniques in fifteen minutes. And you can include that as a cardio workout!
• What is the main purpose of a grappling dummy? For getting high repetitions without a partner. That's it. End of story. Repetitions create muscle memory. Muscle memory allows you to do movement (techniques) quickly and in a coordinated way without having to consciously think about the action. Of all the things you can do to improve your skill, creating muscle memory is undoubtedly the #1 thing you should focus on.
• Do not telegraph your attack. Keep it hidden until the last minute.
• The most common position used in BJJ is the half guard. Learn various escapes and counters, including if your head is controlled or if you have the top position and need to get out of it.
• When all else fails have a guard positions that you can rely on. Default back to that guard regardless of what happens--this is your reset.
• Every attack has a counter, don't forget this is human chess. Learn the counters.
• Control the space. Always.
• Every fighter needs to counter attack at some point so having counters is a very high level concept.
• As you progress your confidence level will increase too, you will begin to feel more like a jiu jitsu fighter than just a guy or a girl doing jiu jitsu for the first time.