BJJ Etiquette Advice
Some great BJJ etiquette advice written by Savarese BJJ Blackbelt Chris Laciura, owner of Training 4 Life Martial Arts in Pompton Plains NJ
Hey Guys, just wanted to talk a little bit about the proper etiquette that should be practiced during live rolling. We are very lucky to have a mix of students here. This means you have to be able to change the way you roll depending on who you are training with, while still having a PRODUCTIVE roll. Here are 2 situations broken down…this is to educate, not yell
A Lower Belt rolling with an Upper Belt: The upper belt will set the pace. Do not start your training session as if you just heard the gunshot at the Olympics. Use your training sessions with the higher belts and great learning experiences, which they are, as long as you understand the point is not to outrace them to a position, just relax. In most cases the higher belts are going to let you work, don’t take advantage or forget that.
A man rolling with a woman/teen: This is a very important one. This is the chance for the man to be 1000% technical, use ZERO strength, become less stiff, begin to flow from position to position, see how good your defense is by putting yourselves in bad spots, and **PRACTICE YOUR GUARD! **Trying so hard to tap a teen or a woman is not productive. There are going to be ample opportunities to hunt for the submission, this is not one of them. The most important aspect to the roll in this situation is, it needs to be PRODUCTIVE and both people need to benefit. Some ways I make these rolls productive are constantly changing positions and maybe I catch a submission and release it and then move to something else. Keeping a crappy choke on for too long or trying as hard as you can to get the arm is not beneficial in this situation, MOVE ON. The majority of my time here will be spent playing guard, if I work on top it’s to work on guard passing, if I get the pass, guess what? I LET THEM WORK THEIR ESCAPE, remember both need to benefit. Staying on top in mount or side mount the entire time is pointless and unproductive in this PARTICULAR situation.
APPLY IT.
Lyndhurst Jiu-Jitsu instructor teaches the pros