I am a second year blue belt at the moment. Up until a few months ago, I used to train around 3 times per week as the norm which I think is how much most guys train at my academy. Recently however the owners introduced a new time table with classes in the mornings and also on Saturdays. As a result I have found myself training 6x per week instead of 3 and I have to say that I feel much more rapid improvement in my technique as well as overall fitness level as well.
I feel that training more regularly has allowed me to spend more time working techniques where I was missing important details and also one of the new classes is dedicated to stand up which I think will help me much more for competitions. I think I do much better from the top, passing the guard and I plan to in the future focus on throwing with judo or using wrestling takedowns and then end up on top of my opponent. If I lose out on top, then I can still pull guard and work from the bottom but if I can gain points standing than why not spend a little time on this as well.
I also am a big believer in private lessons. Been to the Roger Gracie Academy in London a few times and definitely every time I get a private there, I learn a lot of new details which I was missing before. It is important who your teacher is however but almost always if you have some specific questions, you can get help.
I have also read that you need at least 360 classes for purple belt. I really want to reach purple belt level but then focus on competitions first as I want some trophies at blue belt. Gonna need to train more for that of course. I think if I train hard all year, then perhaps I have a good chance at the end of the year.
I feel that training more regularly has allowed me to spend more time working techniques where I was missing important details and also one of the new classes is dedicated to stand up which I think will help me much more for competitions. I think I do much better from the top, passing the guard and I plan to in the future focus on throwing with judo or using wrestling takedowns and then end up on top of my opponent. If I lose out on top, then I can still pull guard and work from the bottom but if I can gain points standing than why not spend a little time on this as well.
I also am a big believer in private lessons. Been to the Roger Gracie Academy in London a few times and definitely every time I get a private there, I learn a lot of new details which I was missing before. It is important who your teacher is however but almost always if you have some specific questions, you can get help.
I have also read that you need at least 360 classes for purple belt. I really want to reach purple belt level but then focus on competitions first as I want some trophies at blue belt. Gonna need to train more for that of course. I think if I train hard all year, then perhaps I have a good chance at the end of the year.
