Inverted Gear Blog
Tag: Ask a Panda
How to Refuse a Dance Partner
Val Worthington’s Ask a Panda series is back! In this installment: How do you decline someone’s request to roll?
Ask a Panda: How do I stop overthinking?
Question: Could you do a post on “pulling the trigger” when rolling? The most common feedback I’ve gotten (across multiple gyms) is that I think too much. I especially get told this when I roll with higher belts. For example, after a recent roll, my partner told me that I have good technique, but that he could see in my eyes that I was thinking too much, and thus hesitating to go attempt a move—whether it’s a sweep, attack, etc.So, in spite of knowing various moves/technique, I often find myself hesitating in actually going for the move. One of my coaches observed that I would often let my partner get two or three steps ahead of me before reacting. Luckily,...
Ask a Panda: Significant Others Are People Too
Question: I have been training jiu-jitsu for a while (I am a blue belt), since long before I met my current boyfriend. He is a black belt and runs an academy, and since we have been together, I have taken on an unintended role as a woman in a gym dating the instructor. I help teach kids and do admin work. I watch the gym and open the door when he isn’t there, not teaching adults but making open mats possible. I didn’t start jiu-jitsu because of him and do not continue because of him but because I like jiu-jitsu and want something from it for me. I have not stopped having big dreams of my own; I train as...
Ask a Panda: Who Has to Move It, Move It?
Question: I am a purple belt with four stripes. The other day I was rolling with a blue belt when two other purple belts, one with no stripes and one with two, collided with us. I asked them to move, but they said two purple belts outrank a purple and a blue, even though I pointed out that I have more stripes than either of them. The instructor agreed with the purple belts, but at the end of the very same class made sure I was higher in the ranking line than they were when we bowed out. What is the correct way to handle these kinds of situations? Does my rank trump two purples with fewer stripes even when...
Ask a Panda: How do you deal with tapping to a lower belt?
Question: I just received my purple belt a couple of months ago, and I’m starting to feel more pressure to perform well, especially when I roll with lower belts. The other day I had to tap to a white belt. It was fair and square, which means I have no excuses. I felt awful, like I didn’t deserve my promotion. How do you deal with tapping to a lower belt? Answer: In jiu-jitsu, there are many milestones. An obvious one is earning stripes or the next belt. Or completing your first submission. On the flip-side, though, are the milestones that may not be so enjoyable. The first time you feel completely and utterly controlled. The first time you are sidelined...
Ask a Panda: How to Deal with “Let’s Just Go Light” Guy/Gal
Question I am a male blue belt, 5’10” and 165lbs. I’m not small, but I’m also not the largest person in my gym. I try to be a good training partner, and I want to keep myself safe during training too. I’m sure you’ve heard my question before: How do you deal with people who say want to go light during live training but then come at you super hard? It gets frustrating, and I’m worried I might get injured. Answer “Let’s Just Go Light” guy or gal is one of the most long-standing jiu-jitsu archetypes, though not one of the most beloved. In the typical situation, one person asks a partner to “just go light,” but then comes out...
Ask a Panda: Dealing with the Jiu-Jitsu Blahs
Question: I am a brown belt, and I love jiu-jitsu. I am in it for the long haul—there is no question about that—but sometimes I find myself feeling ambivalent. I look at some of my teammates, particularly ones who have not been training for as long as I have, and they seem so excited. I know I used to feel that way, but nowadays it feels more like a slog. Lately I go to class, get in my reps and my rounds, and am out the door at the end while some people are still tinkering and asking questions, or even just chatting. These are all things I used to do, but no more. I do not feel enthusiastic or...
Ask a Panda: Purple Belt Purgatory
Part I: Knowing Is Half the Battle and Most of the Problem Question: I recently heard someone call purple belt “purple purgatory,” and it seems to fit. When you were a purple belt, did you start to question everything you do? Now that I'm teaching more, I'm really starting to question everything and sometimes I feel that I was a more confident teacher at blue belt. Is that something you experienced? Do you feel that purple belt is a trying period in jiu-jitsu? Answer: I see two questions here. The first relates to whether purple belt seems to be a challenge—a purgatory—in general. The second relates specifically to how, at purple belt, the writer has started to question everything that...
Ask a Panda: How Do you Cope with the Ups and Downs of BJJ?
Val Worthington is taking questions about jiu-jitsu and life. Submit yours here and it could be featured in the next installment!Question: Can you please discuss how you deal with the peaks and valleys of passion with BJJ? I don't think I have lost my passion but for a few months I have noticed that the mats are not my happy place. Changes in the school, life challenges, new students...all may be reasons. I am not giving up but I am fearful at times, unhappy sometimes, and not sure how much I am learning. Thanks!!!Thank you for this question, though I am sorry to hear you need to ask it. I can guarantee that you are not alone in feeling this way, because...
Heal Up or Jump Back In? Getting Back on the Mats After Injury
Val Worthington is taking questions about jiu-jitsu and life. Submit yours here and it could be featured in the next installment! Question: Hey! I'm a blue belt from New Jersey. Is it better to fully recover from injuries or to scale down my training? Oh, the injury question. When things go our way during training, we may feel practically invincible. Then we land wrong. Tap too slowly. Get a limb tangled in a gi. We get injured. This, along with death and taxes, is a certainty in the life of a jiu-jiteiro: If we stick with training long enough, we will at some point be sidelined by an injury. The very first thing I want to do in responding to...