I am currently trying to improve parts of my game (mainly blue and purple) and I realised I know shit.

I'm in a same boat as you are, especially when we got promoted to brown on the same day on December 18th 2021.

Hey gang, i’m almost forty years into my Martial Arts journey, I started in Judo at 13, and got my Black Belt at 19. A couple weeks ago, after 9 years and 10 months in BJJ I received my Brown Belt. It feels really different. When i got my Black Belt I was tested for hours with a pretty ridiculous amount of knowledge and techniques, at the end, it was easy to feel like I had the requisite knowledge to be qualified to hold that rank. They say that if you don’t feel ready, that kind of humility is a sign that you are, and I absolutely trust my Professor to make that decision. I’ve had nothing but positive reinforcement and encouragement regarding my new rank, but i still find myself watching lower ranks doing cool-ass shit and i ask myself, “as a Brown Belt, should I already know that” How did you guys feel and what’s the best way to approach the expectations that accompany a higher rank? Thanks in advance.

but i still find myself watching lower ranks doing cool-ass shit and i ask myself, “as a Brown Belt, should I already know that” How did you guys feel and what’s the best way to approach the expectations that accompany a higher rank? Thanks in advance.

Shouldn't be too much of an assault on your ego to ask some of these guys what they're doing, if you're curious, right? I'm sure they'd be happy to explain it to you! Personally, when I see an effective competition system/strategy/move/approach etc, I will usually take some time to make myself something like a 'side project', if only to understand exactly what the hell is going on. Some things will take longer than others. For example, I was able to work the 'Shaolin sweep' into my game after drilling for about 3 months, and dedicating my spare drilling time exclusively to this move. I taught myself to invert in a similar fashion (I thought upside down guards were really cool) and I was comfortably inverting here and there after about 9 months. On the other hand, I've been working on rolling back takes (berimbolo, truck position etc) for like 2 years now and I'm still having a lot of trouble with it. But do you NEED to know all this stuff to be a 'legit' brown belt? I don't think so, personally. Theoretically solid fundamentals will beat everything else, up to only the most competitive levels of competition. Congrats on your promotion, and I'm sure you'll 'grow into' your new belt. :)

Nope, not an ego thing at all, I went from wearing a black belt in Judo to a white belt in BJJ, so that should tell you something. To be clear, it’s not that they know something I don’t, that’s not a big deal, it’s that I ask myself if it’s something I “should” know at my level.

Congrats on the Brown Belt! I'm also in my 40's and got promoted to brown 2 days ago, after 2.5 years at Purple. My take on the 'impostor syndrome' that you seem that have, is to accept that BJJ is so rich that nobody will ever know everything, but you most likely have a couple of areas where your depth of knowledge allows you to coach or fine-tune anyone. The learning won't stop at black belt either! keep rolling and identifying areas that can be improved, it can anything from trying to finish a roll less out-of-breath to diving into deep systems like Keenan's Lapel guard or specializing in everything aspect of the 50/50 or the modern leg lock entanglements and disentanglements ^^ I personally like to look at all sort of 'cool shit' that the young folks do, curiosity, challenge, R&D, but not everything has to make it into our games. Yesterday I was getting coached on the Octopus Guard by a blue-belt and a purple belt. I watch tons of video series (Lachlan, Craig, Wim, Danaher, etc.) and two of the black belts at my gym have been coming to me for details on the leg lock game all the time even when I was a purple. Belt don't mean that much in the big picture, there are huge variations. in attachment is my attempt at visualizing belt color and the distribution of 'ability'. all of this is subjective, but it reflects my experience. some competition focused purple or even blue belts will give out-of-shape middle-aged brown or black belts a hard time, but on average the depth of knowledge and general ability goes up with each belt level. There will be outliers on both end of the spectrum, and I think it's totally fine at any belt to get tapped by a lower belt, especially in training, where it shouldn't be competitive rolls all the time anyway (roll to improve vs roll to prove) as far as belt-specific training goes (IBJJF rule set for competition), just as at Blue we unlocked wrist locks (and single leg takedown with head outside) now at Brow we unlocked : Slicers (calf & Biceps), Knee bar, toe-holds, and with the 2021 no-gi changes, also reaping and heel hooks. so I think all of us fresh browns need to work a bit more on these in 2022 : ) cheers!

Congrats on the Brown Belt! I'm also in my 40's and got promoted to brown 2 days ago, after 2.5 years at Purple. My take on the 'impostor syndrome' that you seem that have, is to accept that BJJ is so rich that nobody will ever know everything, but you most likely have a couple of areas where your depth of knowledge allows you to coach or fine-tune anyone. The learning won't stop at black belt either! keep rolling and identifying areas that can be improved, it can anything from trying to finish a roll less out-of-breath to diving into deep systems like Keenan's Lapel guard or specializing in everything aspect of the 50/50 or the modern leg lock entanglements and disentanglements ^^ I personally like to look at all sort of 'cool shit' that the young folks do, curiosity, challenge, R&D, but not everything has to make it into our games. Yesterday I was getting coached on the Octopus Guard by a blue-belt and a purple belt. I watch tons of video series (Lachlan, Craig, Wim, Danaher, etc.) and two of the black belts at my gym have been coming to me for details on the leg lock game all the time even when I was a purple. Belt don't mean that much in the big picture, there are huge variations. in attachment is my attempt at visualizing belt color and the distribution of 'ability'. all of this is subjective, but it reflects my experience. some competition focused purple or even blue belts will give out-of-shape middle-aged brown or black belts a hard time, but on average the depth of knowledge and general ability goes up with each belt level. There will be outliers on both end of the spectrum, and I think it's totally fine at any belt to get tapped by a lower belt, especially in training, where it shouldn't be competitive rolls all the time anyway (roll to improve vs roll to prove) as far as belt-specific training goes (IBJJF rule set for competition), just as at Blue we unlocked wrist locks (and single leg takedown with head outside) now at Brow we unlocked : Slicers (calf & Biceps), Knee bar, toe-holds, and with the 2021 no-gi changes, also reaping and heel hooks. so I think all of us fresh browns need to work a bit more on these in 2022 : ) cheers!

would you mind sharing a higher res versions of this chart?

Hi Alex, and Daniël, David, Christian, and everyone who appreciated the chart! glad to see it resonates with you guys. I put it in a pdf along with a few other thoughts on training intensity and skill acquisition that I tried to put into visual forms. https://drive.google.com/[...]sp=sharing let me know if you could download it. it helps me sort my thoughts and hopefully be a better teacher and training partner, cheers, gerald

would you mind sharing a higher res versions of this chart?

Hi Alex, and Daniël, David, Christian, and everyone who appreciated the chart! glad to see it resonates with you guys. I put it in a pdf along with a few other thoughts on training intensity and skill acquisition that I tried to put into visual forms. https://drive.google.com/[...]sp=sharing let me know if you could download it. it helps me sort my thoughts and hopefully be a better teacher and training partner, cheers, gerald