I Suck At Jiu Jitsu Show

Every BJJ white belt needs this.
When you start Jiu Jitsu, you don’t know the positions, you don’t know the rules, you don’t know the etiquette, and worst of all… you don’t know what you don’t know.
So after 18 years of training and 13 years of teaching beginners, I made the White Belt Survival Guide I wish someone gave me on day one.
These are the 10 white belt mistakes that keep people confused, injured, frustrated, annoying to train with, and worst of all… stuck at white belt forever.
If you’re brand new to BJJ, trying to get to blue belt, constantly getting smashed, addicted to YouTube techniques, scared to ask your coach questions, rolling way too hard, or wondering why everyone else seems to be improving faster than you, this episode is for you.
This is not just “beginner advice.”
This is how to survive white belt, stop sucking faster, avoid quitting, and actually become dangerous on the mats.
Watch this before your next Jiu Jitsu class!
Subscribe to the I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show for weekly BJJ advice, mindset, training stories, and questionable life choices that help you suck just a little bit less at Jiu Jitsu.
Get my free ebook The Competitor’s Journey:
simplifyingjiujitsu.com
Get a free copy of jiu jitsu for imbeciles: bjjmentalmodels.com/isuck
Sponsored by Datsusara:
Use code ISUCK at dsgear.com
Get Champions Stay Present(mindset hacks for competition): https://www.simplifyingjiujitsu.com/csp
0:00 Every White Belt Starts Completely Lost
2:02 There Is No Perfect Time to Start BJJ
8:46 The Skill That Makes White Belts Improve Faster
16:02 Jiu Jitsu Will Ruin Your Social Life
21:53 The Truth About Consistency
30:03 Why White Belts Need to Pay Attention
35:06 Winning in the Gym Is Not the Goal
44:27 Jiu Jitsu Does Not Automatically Make You Better
56:28 Do YouTube BJJ Moves Actually Work?
1:00:59 If It Hurts, Tap
1:04:04 Recovery Rules White Belts Ignore
1:10:22 Volume vs Intensity: How White Belts Stay on the Mat
1:14:34 Final Advice for Every White Belt

Have you ever walked into a Jiu Jitsu tournament feeling ready… and then got absolutely smashed in the first round?You trained hard. You thought you were prepared. You knew some techniques. Maybe you even had a plan.Then the match started and everything fell apart.In this episode, I’m breaking down 3 mindsets that might be the real reason you keep losing BJJ matches — not because you don’t know enough moves, not because the ref screwed you, and not because your opponent was just “stronger.”My name is Josh McKinney (@thejoshmckinney) and after 18 years of competing, coaching, winning, losing, and watching students go through the same patterns over and over again, I’ve noticed that most people don’t lose because of one big technical mistake.They lose because they don’t understand how to perform on command.They lose because they get trapped in the wrong story after a bad match.They lose because they walk into chaos with no real plan and hope their Jiu Jitsu magically shows up.If you’re a white belt, blue belt, purple belt, or anyone trying hard to compete but you can’t figure out why you keep falling short, this episode is for you.We’ll talk about competition mindset, game planning, pacing, exchanges, staying present, and how to actually compete in your own match instead of just “seeing what happens.”Get my free ebook The Competitor’s Journey:simplifyingjiujitsu.comGet a free copy of jiu jitsu for imbeciles: bjjmentalmodels.com/isuckSponsored by Datsusara:Use code ISUCK at dsgear.comGet Champions Stay Present(mindset hacks for competition): https://www.simplifyingjiujitsu.com/csp

Chapters:
0:00 Why you keep losing BJJ matches
2:34 Mistake #1: The learner’s mindset
5:06 How to actually perform on competition day
7:00 Finding your real competition A-game
9:47 Performance mindset vs. learner mindset
10:54 Free gift: The Competitor’s Journey
12:24 Mistake #2: Victim mentality
15:05 The brutal truth about losing in front of everyone
16:13 The match I thought I won
17:01 Understanding exchanges and pacing
20:22 Why I should have turned it up sooner
23:18 Free BJJ Mental Models course
24:33 The wildest victim mentality story ever
31:24 Take responsibility for your own doodoo
33:09 Why excuses ruin your Jiu Jitsu
37:21 Datsusara hemp gear
38:49 Mistake #3: The chaos mindset
40:43 The opposite of chaos is being present
43:00 Why “just see what happens” loses matches
44:32 How I stopped losing at adult black belt
46:02 Why your game plan has to be simple
49:04 The 3 mindsets that decide your matches
50:02 Why my coach changed my finals game plan
53:28 Being present in your training camp
55:17 Know the rules, know your opponent
56:44 Why losing is part of becoming dangerous
57:39 Final thoughts

Rose Miller, aka @rosierollz, is everywhere on BJJ Instagram right now because she does something that sounds simple but is actually incredibly rare: she gives simple but helpful advice.In this episode of the I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show, Rose and I talk about how to actually learn Jiu Jitsu faster, why so many people waste years training without a real plan, and how a black belt thinks about improvement differently than a beginner.We get into her start in Jiu Jitsu, losing a lot early, competing, getting injured, learning how to learn, teaching white belts and blue belts, creating BJJ content, CLA/ecological training, drilling, women leading in Jiu Jitsu, and why starting every round from your knees is probably making your Jiu Jitsu worse.This is not just a “do these 3 moves” episode. This is a conversation about how to train smarter, how to think better, and how to keep getting better at Jiu Jitsu without making your entire life miserable.Follow Rose on Instagram: @rosierollzGet my free ebook The Competitor’s Journey:simplifyingjiujitsu.comGet a free copy of jiu jitsu for imbeciles: bjjmentalmodels.com/isuckSponsored by Datsusara:Use code ISUCK at dsgear.com

00:00 Intro
00:46 How Rose Miller got into Jiu Jitsu
03:31 Why Jiu Jitsu gave Rose structure and direction
05:28 Starting at Gracie South Bay with elite women
08:45 Rose’s first Jiu Jitsu competition
11:18 Losing a lot and learning how to learn
13:02 Why Rose refused to quit Jiu Jitsu
15:09 The original goal of becoming a black belt
16:30 What changes when you finally get your black belt
18:19 Injuries, COVID, concussions, and loving the process
22:01 Becoming a “try-hard hobbyist”
25:17 Why Rose makes beginner-friendly BJJ content
29:13 Rose’s intention behind creating content
34:10 Women leading in Jiu Jitsu
40:42 Training in San Diego vs smaller Jiu Jitsu scenes
43:56 Cross-training, loyalty, and gym culture
47:23 Would Rose be different if she started at a hobbyist gym?
49:57 Using competition as a learning tool
53:06 Why Rose’s Jiu Jitsu content works
57:31 Drilling, CLA, and live training
1:04:33 Why CLA people can be so annoying
1:07:10 Advice for beginners learning Jiu Jitsu today
1:10:27 Stop starting rounds from the knees
1:12:34 Why Jiu Jitsu standup is still evolving
1:16:37 Is Jiu Jitsu Brazilian or American?
1:17:50 Final thoughts

BJJ works… until it doesn’t.
In this episode, I sit down with Jena Bishop, a BJJ World Champion, elite grappler, and now professional MMA fighter, to talk about the brutal truth of taking world-class Jiu-Jitsu into the cage.
Jena has beaten some of the biggest names in grappling, including Mackenzie Dern, Angelica Galvão, Luiza Monteiro, and Gabi McComb. But after transitioning into MMA, she learned something most Jiu-Jitsu athletes don’t want to hear:
Your sport Jiu-Jitsu game might not survive punches, wrestling, scrambles, and people who refuse to play guard.
We talk about why guard pulling doesn’t translate, why being on top matters more than ever, why some elite grappling styles fail in MMA, how striking changes every position, and what BJJ athletes need to fix before stepping into a cage.
Jena also opens up about burnout, fight week anxiety, weight cuts, PFL, the current state of women’s safety in Jiu-Jitsu, and why the culture of hero-worship in BJJ has created serious problems.
This is one of the most honest conversations we’ve had on the show.
Get my free competition training ebook, The Competitor’s Journey:
simplifyingjiujitsu.com/comp
Sponsored by Datsusara:
Use code ISUCK at dsgear.com
Free BJJ Mental Models course:
bjjmentalmodels.com/isuck
What You’ll Learn
Why elite BJJ doesn’t automatically work in MMA
Why pulling guard is usually a terrible idea in a fight
How punches change guard, back control, leg locks, and top pressure
Why Jena stopped training mostly in the gi
The biggest mistake Jiu-Jitsu athletes make when transitioning to MMA
How fight camp, burnout, weight cutting, and mindset really work
Why Jena believes BJJ culture needs to stop protecting the wrong people
0:00 Intro
0:50 Jena’s biggest BJJ wins
1:53 Why Jena switched to MMA
4:36 Getting punched changes everything
6:11 Finding her first MMA fight
9:14 Training BJJ vs training MMA
11:41 Why guard pulling fails in MMA
14:35 Bad BJJ habits for fighting
15:35 Why half guard works in MMA
18:11 Why top position matters most
18:49 MMA rounds vs BJJ matches
21:00 Preparing for opponents
24:10 Jena’s fighting style
25:26 How Jena handles fight nerves
29:44 Burnout and fight camp
33:40 Weight cut karaoke
37:35 Post-weigh-in ritual
39:00 Cutting weight for MMA
42:23 Fight week routine
45:34 Jena’s MMA goals
48:27 Should MMA fighters train gi?
54:22 BJJ habits that don’t translate
56:19 Why elite grapplers struggle in MMA
58:04 Wrestling exposes BJJ athletes
1:00:25 BJJ culture problems
1:05:20 Protecting women and kids in BJJ
1:09:57 Leaving toxic gyms
1:13:03 Annoying BJJ gym characters
1:14:43 Jena’s next PFL fight

Is your Jiu-Jitsu gameplan actually helping you win… or are you just collecting random techniques?
In this episode, I sit down with Beatrice Jin( ⁨@berimbozo⁩ ), black belt competitor, coach, and one of the funniest creators in Jiu-Jitsu, to talk about how to build a real competition game instead of just “getting better at everything.”
Beatrice breaks down why specificity matters, how she rebuilt her own game after tough losses, why most technique content misses the point, and how competitors should think about grips, guards, training rounds, and strategy if they actually want to improve.
We also talk about guard pulling, drilling, women’s open mats, funny Jiu-Jitsu content, competing at black belt, and why your gameplan might suck.
What you’ll learn:
- Why “training everything” can hold you back
- How to build a specific A-game for competition
- Why your grips matter more than your moves
- How Beatrice structures competition training
- Why guard pulling might be the smartest strategy
- When drilling helps — and when it’s a waste of time
- How to stop training randomly and start training with intent
Try this in training:
Pick one primary guard, one secondary guard, and one grip sequence you want to force. Start rounds from there. Your goal is not to “do Jiu-Jitsu.” Your goal is to get to your spot, score first, submit first, or learn exactly where your game breaks.
Get Josh’s free competition prep ebook, The Competitor’s Journey, at simplifyingjiujitsu.com/comp
Get Rob Biernacki’s free Jiu-Jitsu for Imbeciles course from BJJ Mental Models at bjjmentalmodels.com/suck
Check out Datsusara hemp gear and use promo code ISUCK at dsgear.com for 10% off.
New episodes of the I Suck At Jiu-Jitsu Show every Thursday.
Subscribe so you can suck less at Jiu-Jitsu.
0:00 Beatrice Jin Joins The Show
1:50 Why The Whiteboard Videos Went Viral
7:03 Being A Serious Competitor AND A Meme
10:49 Why Most BJJ Technique Videos Suck
18:35 Why Black Belt Competition Feels Different
23:45 There Are No Mindset Tricks
26:36 How Beatrice Trains Between Competitions
28:33 Should Competitors Actually Drill?
31:01 Why She Added K Guard
32:15 How To Build Your Competition Game
35:47 Beatrice’s Genius Competition Class
48:18 Should Women Train With Men?
52:41 Guard Pulling Is Mathematically Correct
54:04 If Your Guard Gets Passed, You Deserve To Lose
1:09:06 How To Suck Less At Jiu-Jitsu