1. The “Death Grip” on the Gi

The Behavior: You grab your opponent’s collar or sleeve, and you squeeze. You squeeze so hard that your knuckles turn white. Even when the grip is no longer useful, or when the round is over, your hand remains frozen in a claw shape.

Why It Happens: This is a natural stress response. When we feel threatened or off-balance, our instinct is to hold on for dear life.

The Fix: Relax your hands. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a grip is only useful if it serves a purpose. Constantly squeezing burns out your forearm muscles in minutes, leaving you with “T-Rex arms” for the rest of class. Learn to use your grips strategically, hooking with your fingers rather than crushing with your hands.

2. Holding Your Breath Until You Turn Purple

The Behavior: You are in the middle of a sparring round, trying to escape side control. You are pushing and bridging with all your might. Suddenly, you realize your face is hot, your vision is blurry, and you haven’t inhaled in 45 seconds.

Why It Happens: Physical exertion combined with concentration often leads beginners to unconsciously hold their breath. This is the fastest way to exhaust yourself.

The Fix: Make breathing your number one priority. If you can’t breathe, you can’t fight. In our Jiu-Jitsu classes, we teach you to breathe rhythmically. A good tip is to focus on a long exhale; the inhale will happen naturally.

3. Trying to “Bench Press” People Off You

The Behavior: You are stuck on the bottom of the mount. Your partner is heavy. Your solution? You plant your hands on their chest and try to push them through the ceiling with sheer arm strength.

Why It Happens: It is instinctual to want to push a weight away from you. However, against a skilled opponent or someone heavier, this simply isolates your arms and sets you up for an armbar.

The Fix: Trust the technique, not your muscles. BJJ is designed to use leverage and your strongest muscle groups (your legs and hips), not your arms. Instead of pushing, learn to frame with your skeletal structure and bridge with your hips to create space.

4. Being the “YouTube Specialist”

The Behavior: It is your second week of class. You haven’t quite mastered the hip escape yet, but you saw a cool “Flying Gogoplata” video online last night. During sparring, you attempt to launch yourself at your partner to try it, usually resulting in both of you falling over awkwardly.

Why It Happens: Enthusiasm! It is great to be excited about the art, but jumping into advanced moves without a foundation is like trying to write a novel before learning the alphabet.

The Fix: Focus on the fundamentals. The “boring” moves—shrimping, bridging, posture—are the ones that actually work on black belts. Our fundamentals program is designed to give you the tools you actually need. Save the flying techniques for later in your journey.

5. Apologizing for Everything

The Behavior: You bump into someone? “Sorry.” You almost get a sweep? “Sorry.” You accidentally tap a little too hard? “Sorry.” You sweat on your partner? “Sorry!”

Why It Happens: Jiu-Jitsu is intimate and aggressive, which can feel socially awkward at first. White belts often feel like they are imposing or being clumsy.

The Fix: Unless you actually hurt someone or did something unsafe, you don’t need to apologize. We are here to train a combat sport. Bumps, sweat, and close contact are part of the deal. Instead of saying “sorry,” try saying “thank you” for the training round.