Bernardo Faria’s Great Advice For Finding Your Skill Level

Bernardo Faria is one of the Jiu-Jitsu community’s favorite people who always gives great training advice. In Bernardo’s latest Q&A video, a 42-year-old blue belt asked a great question about discovering your true BJJ level.

The BJJ Fanatics co-founder gave a great in-depth answer and we broke it down for you below.

Competing 

In Bernardo Faria’s honest opinion, the only true way to check your BJJ level is by competing. Competing will tell you exactly where your skill level is. 

Faria gave three reasons why competing is the best way to measure the level of your skill:

100% Live

Your Competing Against Some You Don’t Know

The Adrenaline Factor

As most coaches say about competing, you will either win or you will learn. You will see where your true BJJ level is and what you need to work on.

The Importance of Cross-Training

Bernardo Faria also addressed how to measure your BJJ level if you’re not into competing. If you’re just a hobbyist looking to discover your true level, then you must cross-train.

Go to as many gyms as you can and test yourself against different people. Doing this will allow you to train against different skill levels and styles.

Faria, then warned about trying to measure your skill level if you only train within your home gym. Since your teammates know your game, it can be hard to gauge where you’re really at skill-wise.

The Danger of Comparing Yourself to Others

The third piece of advice that the former world champion gave is arguably the most important thing to remember. Bernardo addressed the dangers of comparing yourself to others and being mindful of your attributes and volume of training.

Only compare yourself to people your age, belt level, weight, and if they train with the same consistency.

“If you’re a purple belt who trains twice a week and you compare yourself to a purple belt who trains twice a day, that isn’t fair. Or if you’re a 37-year-old purple belt comparing yourself to a 20-year-old purple when they’re an athlete and you work eight hours a day. That is also not fair.”- Bernardo Faria.

Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.