Most Important Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Belt: The White Belt

The white belt journey in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most important belt in that system. What happens during that journey is no different than a tree which spends the first couple of years of its life developing a root system (R.S) first, and not a whole lot would be happening above the soil as far as the major tree growth is concerned. After about two years, the roots will be established and the tree will begin to grow at a much more noticeable rate.

In Jiu-Jitsu, a similar phenomenon takes place. As a white belt, you shouldn’t really be worried about developing high level offensive moves. What you would be developing in the first two years is going to determine the quality of your skills at higher belts. Remember, all you are trying to do is to develop a root system (R.S) first——or in other words, a kind of cue recognition capacity.

Some of the most basic and the most important variables in developing this R.S are:

1) A good reflexive instinct for base. You should be solidly welded to the floor.

2) A reflexive instinct for weight distribution. This injunction is technically the language or the expression of your base which we mentioned above.

3) A reflexive instinct for positioning. This would, of course be meaningless without base and weight distribution.

4) A reflexive sense of defense. Without understanding defense, you will not make wise decisions about your offense down the line at higher belt levels.

5) A reflexive sense of timing. The first two years is a process of developing movements which are directly associated with accurate response-synchronization (timing). At the moment you have a lot of gaps and your movements are choppy. They are either delayed or prematurely executed before sensing a definite cue. And lastly,

6) A reflexive cue recognition through sensitivity. This attribute takes time and requires repeated failures at first; but eventually it would evolve into successive and accurate sense perception.

Again, as a white belt, you should focus all your attention on the most important stage of your development, namely your root system. Slow down and focus on that.