Welcome to BeltQuest.com, a site dedicated to your never ending quest to get better and increase rank. Check out our gym tours, fighter interviews, and articles focusing on how you can further your own quest. Be sure to check the video page for our Technique of the Week taught by black belt instructors.
Check out pics of fights, training, gym tours, and fighters from MMA and Jiu Jitsu events and affiliate gyms.
(Left) Joe McManus, (Center) Jamie Cruz, (Right) Bo Walaszek.
Samantha Birmelin
Learning BJJ & Losing the Ego
In his South California school, Saulo Ribeiro teaches his students that “"[e]go is the biggest hindrance in reaching a high level in jiu-jitsu.”" Here in Jersey, Jamie Cruz refers to S-training as "ego free"” rolling. The Freudian term represents a crucial part of any true lesson in the popular martial art.
As a beginner I was surprised by persistent queries as to whether I would stick with my training. That question always came along with the consoling affirmation that I could expect feel like a loser for at least 6 months. Then, as if tapping countless times a night was a mandatory sacrifice, the gods of BJJ would miraculously enlighten me. Six months down the road, I will slip my opponent’s neck and arm between my triangled legs and force them to submit!
How will I feel; strong, powerful, satisfied? Probably. But my first submission doesn'’t mean it wi’ll be that way indefinitely. In fact I'’ll probably get tapped by the same person the next roll. So what then; will I keep kicking myself every time I don't get a submission? Based on any one of the BJJ-ers I know: definitely. Sitting here, looking down that road, my first inclination is to think: Me? Never.
See, I already know that I look like a fool when I'm shrimping; I realized the hard way that falling doesn't mean just dropping like a bag of rocks; and I discovered that my full mass of 100lbs is ridiculously impossible to move around when swathed in heavy, sweaty pajamas. So I never had the ego, because I didn't expect to be great anyway. However, after two rolls with my partner, there was a whiny baby inside me that wanted to quit! And it had the nerve so say out loud, "Can we just stop now?"
So much for ego being my biggest hindrance. Ego is that part of us that relishes in accomplishment. It fuels the desire to keep drilling, though we want to puke; to keep training though our muscles feel like jelly; to keep fighting though we know we should tap. It is why we fight. Without it, the BJJ world would be full of whiny babies like the one that lives in me. What turned it all around for me was when my partner, a lifelong friend, told me no. We can't just stop now. We'll go one more time, because you're here and this is what you came for.
Her words sparked a flame of ego that drove me on. I knew she was right. And I wanted to prove that as much to her as I did to myself. But that type of ego, as my wise friend would say, is good ego. Bad egos want to mount and submit to prove that they are better than others, but good ego wants you to show that whiny baby who'’s in charge. When you give into the good ego, you're defeating the weak parts of yourself. In that way we have the ability to use the balancing properties of the ego. You have control of your true self, so which will you choose to put on the mat?
During that roll, my friend was introducing a newbie to the sport. Getting me to drink the BJJ Kool-Aid and become a part of the cult. She didn't manhandle me, but nor did she let me win. And when she pushed me to continue, I wanted to prove to her that I respected her as a partner and BJJ as an art. And I think I did that, even though she tapped me. Because I respect her and her level of ability, I didn't dwell on my lack of dominance. I let loss fuel my drive to get better, so that one day I can giver her back all that decent competition she deserves.
Joe McManus
Joe is a certified bodyguard that holds a black belt in both Kempo Karate and Bujinkan Ninjutsu and a Jamie Cruz blue belt in BJJ. He currently trains at AMA Fight Club.
Bo Walaszek
Bo has been studying BJJ for 3 years, but watching Bruce Lee movies for over 20. He currently holds a blue belt and trains under Jamie Cruz at AMA Fight Club.
Joe McManus (Left), Renzo Gracie (Center), Bo Walaszek (Right)
