The Four-Stripe Hype

Class Attended: 3 Regular

I don't remember much from my first couple years of BJJ, mainly due to it seeming so long ago, but I do remember I made it a point when it came time to roll to avoid anyone of the other white belts that had four stripes on their belt (I of course avoided all the colored belts whenever possible). I even tended to avoid three-stripe white belts unless I was feeling particularly confident that day.

It wasn't that I was scared of the four-stripe guys - I just didn't see a point in rolling with them. It was always a one-sided roll in which I could do nothing I wanted while they had their way with me. I felt I was constantly being smashed and not really learning anything; even the upper belts would take a moment in between submissions to try and show me a trick or two to defend myself. But the four-stripers... they seemed to just want me to hurt.

By the time I got my first stripe, I felt confident enough in my defense that I would readily take on any three-stripe white belt, but I still tried to avoid those with four. Whatever defense I might have gained that helped me with the three-stripers was quickly whittled away by four-stripers.  They still seemed vicious and now that I had a stripe, they seemed to take the beatings up a notch (which until then I didn't even know was possible).

When I finally got my second stripe I was reading through Saulo Ribeiro's "Jiu Jitsu University" (an excellent book for any BJJ practitioner by the way) and I was really focused on his idea that white belt's goal should just be to survive. With that in mind, I began welcoming rolls with those that had four stripes. Of course I was still tapping pretty regularly, but I found that by focusing on just my defense, I was surviving longer and longer. I still hadn't gotten the better of any of those guys, but I could feel I was getting closer.

At three strips I figured it was time to start gunning for those with four stripes, but between my inconsistent training and my even more inconsistent training, I'm not even sure if I ever tapped any of them. Pretty sure I was still getting tapped by them though.

Last month I got my fourth stripe. And I still don't know what I'm supposed to be doing against other guys with four stripes. I have however figured out some ways to smash the guys with no stripes and remembering my early days that's what I've been focusing on.

My favorite technique of the moment is tackling the guy right as they come out of the bathroom and have no idea what's going on. Really it's my go-to takedown and while it's dubious at best, it's been working for me so far.

The other move I'm having a lot of success with is asking someone to help me out with drilling some technique or another and while they let me go through the motions, I suddenly go full force and apply a lot of pressure, forcing a tap. So far no one has seen it coming and I have an almost 100% success rate with it. It's getting harder and harder to find people willing to drill with me, but it's their loss really.

I'm joking about my ability to smash others of course; I actually still have no idea what the hell I'm doing.