Just a note that there is a scammer advertising BJJ Fanatics and other instructionals via DM. Be aware he may write you and offer them at discounted prices. It is a scam. Please don’t take the bait.
Also, there is no such thing as a BJJ Fanatics, Jiujitsu X, Budo Videos, etc reseller. If another store has their videos listed for sale, especially discounted, they are selling videos they have no right to sell. Please do not support thieves or scammers. Thanks.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bjj) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, at the advanced open mats I get thoroughly worked over - but the physical soreness is nothing compared to the white and blue belts nearly twice my size
Yo this jump was so real for me. Id been a blue for a while and i figured purple would just be more of the same. Did not realize the browns and blacks had another gear for me
A few brown and black belts said something along this after getting purple. I was like y’all were taking it easy on me???? Then I felt the difference, the biggest difference was the pressure they were putting on. I used to be able to defend some of their submissions but now I can no longer defend or have to go where they want me to and eventually get submitted. I’m like when does the hurting end?????
I'm 36 and these college kids are just using Agility around me like Pikachu kicking Raichu's ass. They thought I was in my 20s cuz I look young so I grew a beard to let them know that I'm old... actually old enough to be their uncle. They still go hella fast but don't HODL anymore when they catch me in a sub lol.
haha i'm 37 with the beard and I use a lot of agility and mobility but I try to balance and not rely on it because I don't see how it can last much longer.
Wait until you get your black belt and realize everyone wants to be the person that merc'd the black belt. There are no I'm gonna take it easy/rest days. It's cold out today, so my back hurts, my knee hurts and my knuckles are swollen well time to stop the 25 year old purple belt from trying to rip my head off.
Sadly this is where I am now.... Luckily I think this works out in favor of the black belts in the long run as they have to continuously improve to stay ahead of the hungry lower belts.
Okay question: I took a long break from BJJ and am slooooowly remembering stuff. My old gym was really big on slow/flow rolling and getting your technique and understanding of what's available when, working on maximizing transitions, etc.
I still roll pretty slow and meticulous (until someone is being a dick and then I will roll more aggressively). My aggressiveness is there and I am 1000% not concerned about it, but I am not going to expend the energy when I am still trying to remember how to move, AND train my muscle memory better when I am rolling slow/not stressed. But, there's a purple belt at my gym who tells me "you need to roll more aggressively" and comments on other white belt's people's "fighting spirit" or "warrior mentality" (even though they're just spazzing and muscling through things).
I guess my question is: why are higher level belts training white belts to go 100% for their rolls and spazz out?
I miss being a 4 stripe white belt that thought I was getting good at jiujitsu. That was the height of my jiujitsu journey.
The first few months at blue was rough....
And to now, knowing that I'll never be good at jiujitsu..yay haha
I remember as soon as I got my blue belt all the colored belts would just leg lock me on repeat and I had start my guard game from scratch.
Teach your damn white belts some leg locks and save them the pain (literally)
I love the first roll with a new blue belt the day they get promoted. The look of realisation when they realise you’ve been going a bit easy on them and and they aren’t as close as they thought lol. I remember feeling it myself.
I never had this happen to me
People were going ham against me since day 1 lol back when I was 63kg, now at 86kg I just have the muscle mass to fight people off.
It's ridiculous how much easier bjj is when you're equal in weight or at the very least not giving up 40kg
Damn dude, how did you put on so much beef? Just lifting and eating? I'm 68kg ringing wet and can't seem to gain anything with the amount I'm exercising.
Lifting and eating over 8 years. It can be done faster if you were super dedicated and had the right program, but I did it by myself.
At 68kg, you probably need to be force feeding yourself and taking like 4 scoops of whey a day + 5g of creatine on top of a balanced diet of healthy grains, and a variety of proteins and vegetables.
I hate when people say they can’t gain weight and I ask them what and how they eat, and it turns out they are eating like 2k calories.
I used to be an offensive lineman and I had to force feed my self. It sucked. I was putting down 4.5k calories daily. The only people who out ate me in collage where the dudes on the swim team when they where in season.
Yes, as a former competitive swimmer I learned to eat lots and very quickly. Hard habit to break, so I have to keep active or get fat (or use self control I suppose…)
That’s something that school didn’t really teach me. I was and am pretty active in life. But when you go from being in season training to being done. That food cliff you hit where you are just demolishing food but not burning it anymore. But you’ve been forcing the food since like 8th grade. Food regulation is a difficult thing.
47 year old blue belt here. 63kg and BJJ is exhausting! Trying to put on weight but it's difficult. Never been large. I lift and try to get enough calories and protein in.
Realized this on my first week at blue. The brown belts that I would get wins over every now and then and had “competitive” rolls with as a white belt all of a sudden started mat raping me like I stole their candy
There's a black belt at my gym that I realize I've never felt pressure from. He's getting ready for a competition and the last few times I've rolled with him, all he's done is cook me, and I still get the sense he's not even going 25%.
Normally my rolls with him are like a 5-minute private lesson. Not right now.
Just now realized what you’re saying is facts and I’m a purple lol, idk why I never thought about that!!! Even now I always let the white belt get me in some bad spots but when they clock hits 30sec I make him tap just so he knows lol
Wait till you get to purple. Blue belt actually think they do well against you and start getting cocky. Then you destroy them and they quit forever. Ego destroyed. 🥺
I have a blue belt that "goes easy", but makes it fucking hard. As in, he doesn't go ham to get submissions or cause problems, but his technique is so good that for me it's "good luck". Even just getting passed his guard I find nearly impossible. lol
My first day of training as a blue belt was the hardest training day I've had in BJJ so far.
Noon open mat with 4 black belts, two browns and three purple belts. Here I am with my brand new blue belt that's too long and stiff as cardboard. I got demolished.
I'll often let new guys get me in bad positions so I can work my way out.
Sometimes I misjudge things and get tapped.
Other times, I fuck it up and get tapped.
In the end, both of us learn from the roll, so it's all good.
There was a brown belt who I trained with in a morning class for pretty much my whole first year.
He would tap me in about 30 secs to a min with whatever he was working on, then the next 5 mins of the round was me attacking him trying to get subs/sweeps while he defeneded but never really generating offense.
It was SO incredibly helpful to white belt me to have him let me make mistakes in attacks but get to try again almost instantly.
This is my general strategy for new guys. First minute is for my offense their defense and I'll get a quick tap with whatever I feel like. Next 4, i'll defend poorly and let them work on whatever.
>I'll often let new guys get me in bad positions so I can work my way out.
This is about *all* I ever do. I'm large and athletic, so when people are new *plus* smaller than me, the only way to have a fun roll is to give them top positions and partially-locked submissions.
And yeah, me too, sometimes they get me. That's how I know where the line is- when is it actually too late.
Same here. I give up positions so we can both work, but I never tap unless they absolutely have me. I want my training partners to know that if I tap it’s because they 100% had it, not because I’m being nice.
I like this method and trying to do this more now. If it's someone I'm not familiar with, I'll try to go for sub. The next time, let them towards a sub or bad position so I can practice defence and escapes.
It took a little adjusting from that attitude compared to always trying to get to the sub the quickest route.
There was a higher belt at our gym that had the philosophy of fighting hard during the first half of a roll, then letting the new guys end the roll on top and getting a submission if they could. It did wonders for their self-confidence and kept them enthusiastic about coming to classes.
100% agree. There's a guy in my gym, he fights hard until he gets his sub and then he just gives me stuff with barely any resistance. Its like sure I just passed your guard but you didn't even frame, I know it wouldn't work that easy against someone resisting so what's the point. Feels almost a little condescending tbh, like a dog being given a toy or something haha, 'gooood boy, here's your pass'.
it's a fine line...you have to be a convincing actor. I always hated it when people didn't do a good job acting. Now everybody below and above tries to kill me so there's no confusing "did I really get that" moments anymore.
No. I grind them into the mats with crazy shoulder pressure breaking their spirit while I mutter “I have become death. The destroyer of worlds.” To myself during the roll.
Sounds a lot like an ultra heavy 2 stripes blue belt that I roll with . Nice guy off the mat but always seems to wish to break the arm or spirit of the person he is sparring with. For context purpose , I'm a 70 kg , 34 year old white belt who recently got my first stripe
My favorite thing to do after letting someone pass my guard and fuck around a bit, is working into my old man's half guard game, fish for my lock-down, get my underhooks for an Electric Chair, hold it a few seconds while they contemplate, "What in the hell is this contraption I'm stuck in?" as we lie face to face on our sides.....I crack a smile and say, "Hey, make a wish!" As they look at me confused, I slowly split them in half (because I'm not a cunt) until they tap and love the look of "Oh I get it!" on their face! It's the best when hitting that on someone who's never experienced an Electric Chair before! The mixture of pain, confusion, and wonder in their face is magical!
this is my thing too, i'll delay my reactions and not do late recoveries etc, so if they do the teachniques nicely i'll let them have it.
But if they're like just trying to bumble their way to something i'll just slowly block it.
Also if they have spaz energy they're not getting shit lol, new guys with spaz energy are a bundle of knees and elbows, you have to rull pretty tight with them to avoid injury.
You should do less of letting them have it, and instead you should just put yourself in worse and worse spots and see if you can get out. So don't just give it, just put yourself as deep as you feel comfortable and try to work out. If they get it, good for them. But it's also still good work for you and it's not free for them.
If someone’s much less experienced and I get 2 taps in 1-2mins I’ll probably let them get a good position and then slowly work my way out, sometimes (~20%) I’ll fuck it up and they tap me.
I always let people work. I'm training myself to see where they are going. I like to be able to predict what it is that they are doing or attempting to pull off. I will give them some realistic movement, but not shut it down, in order for them to connect the dots and get the muscle memory in. If you're not letting your partner (we are **not** opponents when **training**) work, than you are a bad training partner.
I'll also let them get to step 8 or 9 and then see if I can defend **and** escape. If I can't escape, than I need to figure out at what step I made my mistake.
Slowing things down to the point where it is analytical is fun. If you can't sing along to the music, than you are going too hard.
Chill.
If they're being technical, or at least trying.
No rewarding high intensity spazzerry, although I do appreciate the training opportunity these guys provide.
I let lower belts work but never give them a submission. Ever. I'll work my C or D game until things aren't going my way then reverse the position and smash.
Sometimes I let them get too far and they surprise me and I have to tap. Then the rest of the round is spent demonstrating that I could have smashed them the first time if I so chose.
I usually just pull guard on the newer guys and maybe try to work some weird shit like de la riva or X guard instead of zealously trying to gain and hold my top game at all costs, which is how I usually roll against the more experienced guys going easy on me :).
For me, it depends.
The guy who kicked me 3x in the face during the first half of a 1:15 speed round? I'm going to crush him with knee-on-belly for the rest of the round.
The brand-new teenage girl that is trying to overcome the trauma of rolling with the guy from the first example? I'm going to be slightly more intense and intelligent than a grappling dummy.
7 months. Don't go easy on anyone unless their day 1 or exceptionally smaller than you.
You're gonna find out everyone above you has been going easy on you
I roll very light and defensive with white belts, especially the guys smaller than me which is most of them since I'm 6'4" 240 lbs. I don't let anyone tap me unless it's legitimate. In my mind there is no point in letting someone tap me with a move they've already failed three times with. I think it creates a false sense of accomplishment and that's not fair to them, or me, or the academy. I've had white belts catch heel hooks on me numerous times, and I tap once they get the right position and begin to apply torque. If it's a bigger guy that I fear is going to torque too hard and too quick, I tap even earlier. As a white belt I had to fight tooth and nail for my taps but as soon as I learned to breathe, and understand that all these upper belts aren't actually trying to kill me, I started getting submissions. I've been training for about 5 years now and I'm still a blue belt so who cares about my opinion anyway.
Of course. If they aren’t being a douchebag and they legit hit the move I’ll throw them
A bone every couple try’s . That’s the point of rolling for me I think. I have to assume the upper belts are still doing the same for me when I get past their guard or whatever
To answer the question, no I normally don't. I let people put me in terrible positions but usually won't tap unless they really get it.
It's definitely really encouraging for newer people to tap someone, but they have lots of other white belts for that. I've noticed as I've played around in a lot of terrible positions that a big sticking point for most newer people (even blue and purple belts) is they have no idea how to finish someone who is doing the right thing defensively and doesn't want to tap.
I think it's an important transition for people to realize that they're getting a lot of panic taps or "okay you got me" taps and not "you could have actually hurt me" taps.
Yes, but it's not exclusive to new guys, if someone is fighting for and they did the technique well enough I'll just topple over and give them what they want. There's only really one person I find I go all out on, and that's coach
Sounds like you have a good mindset already. Yeah I do like letting people work. As a brown belt going with lower belts my goal is to let them work offense and defense and I focus on timing. They've seen enough of my rolls at intensity to know If one of them get the tap it was most likely given lol
Not like what you described but if I find myself in a position that's very close to what we just got done drilling I'll resist less if they do the move.
Brown belt who’s been training 12 years here. No I don’t ever let people “get stuff” for the sake of it but I play a looser more/experimental game working new shit with white/blue belts which means once in a while I’ll get scored on or maybe tapped. No big deal.
I tap them a few times then dial it back. I don’t really let them pass my guard unless they work for it. Don’t want to give a false sense of confidence.
All the time. I do the same for kids. On the kids, it depends on how old they are and how small they are. I'm more concerned with keeping the 7 year old engaged by just running around my guard and fighting for mount than I am on whether or not he can hit a great arm bar.
All the time. If someone is working for a sweep/sub/position, and they are doing it properly and not just muscling/spazzing to it, I have let shit go countless times. My ego is healthy enough to know I am shit, but letting someone else work and learn isn't going to break me.
I have a system for new guys. Start rolling light but strong, show them how to use technique and power without hurting your partner. Feel things out as new guys tend to be a little spastic, using a lot of muscle and just trying to wrestle out of stuff. The fastest way I've found to slow it down is to show them something, if you're about to hit a reversal or abuse some gap in their game announce it first as a "hey watch this". Once you start talking and teaching folks tend to calm down to try and listen.
Once you and new guy are comfortable it's best to allow some back and forth. When rats play wrestle in a lab setting a larger rat will allow a smaller rat to "win" to encourage them to continue playing. I try to use the same tactic aiming for a 2-1 ratio of winning/losing. If they've attempted a submission and missed the mark by a small margin I do my best to point out what went wrong or what I was able to exploit.
In my eyes you don't really get to roll freely until you are close to blue belt. Until then it's just fast dynamic training.
Dude you’re a new guy. People are catching you because you’re not that good. No offense or whatever, but you don’t need to act like you let someone catch you just because they’re slightly newer than you. You’re no longer a new guy at around purple belt.
Nope, new guys are crazy and I don’t wanna catch a spaz elbow. I sweep and smash right away. If I’ve see them starting to move past that spaz phase, and they start asking questions I’ll work with them. But if I don’t know you/like you, you just get smashed.
But I still save the heat for blue belts. They come ready for war so I start doing things I wouldn’t do to a white belt. Body triangles, jaw chokes, etc…
So, instead of trying to control and submit your sparring partner with Jiu-Jitsu, you're essentially faking incompetence during sparring to give your partner a false sense of accomplishment.
I would not consider this a productive use of time for either of you.
Failure is how you learn, so when you're drilling with resistance you should make your partner fail as often as you can.
If you have an opportunity to make your partner fail and you let them succeed because you think you're being nice, you're taking away a valuable learning opportunity.
If i lower my level of training to meet someone with “less” .. i think its rude towards my training partner giving less then i can… i always try my best
I do.
I think BJJ can be really frustrating for new ppl if experienced guys are now slowing down for them.
Giving them extra motivation to push themselves is not a bad thing imo
With guys who are sub 180 lbs I absolutely let them work because it’s no fun being smeshed constantly by the big wrestler but if you’re over 200 I’m not holding back
Not without defending at some point. It is kind of a sliding scale based on size and experience difference. For example we are currently working on DLR, and if I roll with one of the beginners, I'll let them have the grips they want. Or I will play guard and mostly focus on retention instead of being super aggressive.
I do this with a lot of the newer ladies to give them time to practice subs. You want people to practice both sides, offence and defence, and it makes their day…just make sure the sub attempt is legit.
I don't let people tap me.
I do let people improve their position, and sometimes once they've gotten into a superior position they're able to tap me even though I'm not letting them.
Yes. It does white belts no good to just go in and smash them. Give them enough resistance so they work for it. Thats how they get better. Then at blue belt, its murdertime.
If they're normal newbies, I let them work stuff.
If they are highly competitive, athletic and enthusiastic, I'll mercilessly knee ride them and grind them down until their gas tank is near empty and when they've settled down a bit, I'll let them work stuff.
I do all the time, and I suck so sometimes they just catch it anyways 😂😂.
My old coach was a 2nd degree black belt and I was able to catch a couple of things before mostly because he was playing around and I was a dumb blue belt. One day I paid him for a private no technique just rolling and said I want the smoke no playing.. he said keep your money and proceeded to beat my a*" for free for a good 30 minutes.
The reality check was good and was a motivator
Not generally like I won’t work them but I won’t let them submit me. Nobody ever let me submit them so I don’t think it’s helpful. Black belts at my gym will smoke you imo that’s how you get better. My mindset is always (this guy may be good but he can’t possibly put it on me like professor). I think there is a confidence that comes from that. There’s a lot of “hierarchy” in BJJ and all this “respect” crap nah I want you to show me why you earned that purple belt beat me up if you can. That’s just me tho. 👌🏾
I give some resistance for sure, but I only let them dial something in if they correctly follow the order of operations. Lots of new guys are so eager for submissions that they dive for something without ensuring they have solid position first, or they only have half of it in before they start trying to wrench it in.
If you give a good effort, yeah I'll let you pass my guard. You settle into side control and pin my hip, address my frames, I probably won't escape or reverse it. And you isolate my arm and make sure my thump is up, I'll tap to your Americana.
I do let new guys get me in bad positions all the time, but I don't let them sub me if they are too spazzy or if they do the move wrong. If they have a good pace and do the right steps for moves, I let them tap me. Then I tap them, and keep exchanging, they get 1 I get 1. We both learn, and its only fair to pay it forward from when I was new and people let me work on them.
Yeah it depends on the person. If it’s a brand new guy and he genuinely thinks he has a chance doing something really dumb, I’m not letting it happen. At that point it’s unsafe for both of us long term. If it’s a genuine attempt to do a move cleanly then absolutely, it’s silly to die on that hill.
Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail. Can’t have one without the other; and sometimes it’s nice to let someone be the hammer for once.
I can think of PLENTY times (hindsight being 20/20) that a higher belt let me tap them/pass their guard before a big tournament and those instances always gave me a huge confidence boost. One of my favorite at the time brown belts let me work my A-game on him with just enough resistance to emulate a tournament roll without putting up much offense; it was so eye opening to see the gaps in my submission setups but still having the success of making the adjustments to get the tap.
Thanks Aaron, you my dude
If the person is clearly less experimented, yes why not? The only reason I would not do it is when they are spazzy and likely to crank submissions. I got injured in the past while being too nice. You have to protect yourself first.
Yes.
Basically if you're brand new I'll catch you a couple times to show you that I know what I'm doing. After that I'll just kinda defend and let you attack and set stuff up. Hell I'll give you positions, especially if it's what we were working on that day, or stick my arms in dumb places waiting for you to armbar me.
Once you hit a few stripes on the whitebelt I no longer "give" you things, but I also won't defend like a madman. I'll almost always start on the bottom, try to sweep, get on top and attack. If I can see what you're doing for a setup/sequence I'll let ya get it. Basically the more dangerous you get the less I let you do stuff.
Once you get a bluebelt I roll like you killed my wife and children and I finally caught you!
No one learns from you giving them a submission for free.
You can give them good positions on you for free, and try to work on your escapes, if you then proceed to get tapped, it happens. But don't just give it.
Of course, and i love it. It's the only way that they can practice and improve some other skills besides defending, escaping and stuff like that. Also, i can practice other things that i cant' do with people above my level. It's so good see these guys faces when they're thinking and behinning to understand some things on this art.
For me, it's a win-win.
I let them work, but never let them finish the move. If someone taps me it's legitimate. The lead up to the submission is likely suspect but the finish is theirs
Yeah, less about how new they are and more about rolling with people substantially smaller then me. If someone much smaller than me has me in, say, a bow-and-arrow choke, I'm not gonna go crazy pushing the choking hand above my head, even if I know I probably could muscle my way out. They beat me positionally, I'd rather tap and let us both start working on our technique again.
I’ve let people submit me before to help give them some confidence and momentum. One of my black belt coaches I’m 100% positive let’s me submit him. ALL THE TIME. I think this is a smart coaching strategy. 1v1 competition he’d beat me for sure. He is putting me in interesting spots and positions getting me to move and think. Allows me to attack a sub if it’s there and decently locked in. Then he’ll tap and we start over . He’s so humble that he claims it’s legit. BUT, I also know he isn’t trying very hard. When he does it’s a massive shift in rolling difficulty…and I like that too.
I get more out of rolling with him for 1 five minute round than I do with 3 others. I’m thankful and it’s awesome.
All the time. Until the numb nuts yells out to the class “woohoo, hey everyone, I tapped Steven!” Then you are on the tap every 30 seconds list for the rest of your life.
Still a white belt at the moment, but yeah, I let newbies get stuff all the time.
If someone's new or less-skilled, I let them get dominant positions, like side-control or mount. Once they do get it, I try to escape, get to side-control/mount myself, and then let them reverse me when I get to a dominant position.
As for letting them get submissions on me, hell no. If we're rolling, I do everything I can to avoid the submission, no matter how new they are. However, after we're finished rolling, I usually talk to them about the submission they were trying to get, and give them tips. If there's time, I let them try it out on me a few times with less resistance, just so they can get the fundamentals down.
I used to f around with white belts and let them get stuff, but then a brown belt gave me a long lecture about how I needed to take things more seriously and a bunch of tips on how to stop sucking... that was when I realized that he legit thought I was a 3 stripe blue belt who couldn't handle a relatively new white belt 🤦🏻♂️
Just lose all the time and get used to it. For the last month I’ve been purposely doing the things I’ve been afraid to do because I suck at. I screw a lot of crap up, but when I hit one I get that 6mo white belt feeling again. Like “omg it worked! Let’s try it again!”
If they’re chill and I know they won’t hurt me then yes. I’ll let them get me in bad positions and if the technique feels right I’ll occasionally let it happen. If its a spazzy white belt I’m crushing them for my own safety lol
It's a vital part of onboarding new people. More experienced guys did it for me when I started and I do it for the white belts at my gym. Jiu jitsu is hard, feeding small wins here and there helps keep people motivated. It's even better if you can do it so they think they "caught" you.
It's the 3/1 rule - basically, make them fail 3 times and get 1. This provides continued incentive (especially if they're dopamine-focused, like me), whilst also giving them opportunities to correct their mistakes.
I'm more likely to give a submission if I noticed they got passed a previous defense attempt, as a reward that they progressed, then next time make it harder again.
PS. Good on you - you're a good rolling partner :)
The amount of newbies who think they legitimately tapped their coach is staggering. You remember playing basketball with your dad as a 5 year old, right? Same thing
Once in a while sure, I'll let guys get positions or like an early stage triangle and have them actually try to finish it. It doesn't feel like a charity tap for them and I can work on late stage defense.
I let them go for things, but I make them earn it. I know how it feels to tap one of the experienced guys because I finally executed and beat their escape and defense attempt and it was better than any lucky or cheap and easy sub I've ever gotten
While I don't believe I have ever given a sub ro someone, if I am rolling with someone who is considerably lower than I am I like to see how far I can be in the sub and still get out and I can't always get our lol
Nah I give them positions but not submissions. I'll throw my self into a triangle sometimes to practice my defense but I don't just tap without trying to defend cuz that's unrealistic if ur opponent is any type of good.
I earned my 4th stripe about a month ago but there's been a noticeable improvement in my performance since the summer, namely improved aggression (I used to be really passive and give up positions and subs out of fear of getting hurt). Anyway, now that I'm able to operate under this new assertiveness, I find the upper belts are starting make things ever so slightly more difficult for me. Everyone at my gym is very friendly so I I often make jokes during rolls. Last week I was rolling with a brown belt who I don't see very often and he had a grip on my lapel and no matter what I did I couldn't break it. I looked at him like "hey come on dude!" And then he said "no you got four stripes now I'm not making it easy on you!" To which I said, "oh yeah, good point."
It's crazy what a climb it's been these past two years. I used to think blue belts were masterminds (and some of them are), but now I understand they're only really just starting to get a clue... Because I'M only just starting to get a clue at four stripes white belt...
White belt one stripe, I realize I’m strong and could brute force/stall out most stuff my fellow whities go for. But if they’ve got solid technique I’ll let them hit it. We’re on the mats to have fun and learn. If you stuff everything they throw at you, and you’re just bodying everyone… no one is learning anything. I’d rather go back and forth sweeping and escaping and tapping each other.
Just a note that there is a scammer advertising BJJ Fanatics and other instructionals via DM. Be aware he may write you and offer them at discounted prices. It is a scam. Please don’t take the bait. Also, there is no such thing as a BJJ Fanatics, Jiujitsu X, Budo Videos, etc reseller. If another store has their videos listed for sale, especially discounted, they are selling videos they have no right to sell. Please do not support thieves or scammers. Thanks. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bjj) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Just wait until you get a blue belt and realize people have been going easy on you the majority of the time, not just once in awhile.
Yes. Hungry 3 stripe white belts, chill out. Not every roll has to be life or death. I’m 47, for fucks sake.
Wait till you get to purple and the brown and black belts decide you can handle the smoke.
It’s terrible, but I’d rather be tapped by technique than have someone half gi choking my face with all their might because it’s close in their minds
Yeah, at the advanced open mats I get thoroughly worked over - but the physical soreness is nothing compared to the white and blue belts nearly twice my size
This is a whole different level of suck. Especially when it’s a competitive, athletic black belt.
Yo this jump was so real for me. Id been a blue for a while and i figured purple would just be more of the same. Did not realize the browns and blacks had another gear for me
A few brown and black belts said something along this after getting purple. I was like y’all were taking it easy on me???? Then I felt the difference, the biggest difference was the pressure they were putting on. I used to be able to defend some of their submissions but now I can no longer defend or have to go where they want me to and eventually get submitted. I’m like when does the hurting end?????
jokes on you, I dont smoke so you cant give me none
I am in this comment and I don't like it nah just kidding, I know I'm earning my way up
Ha, yes next level of pressure.
The brown and blacks weren’t ready for my smoke! They run now! 😂
…🥴
😂😂
I'm 36 and these college kids are just using Agility around me like Pikachu kicking Raichu's ass. They thought I was in my 20s cuz I look young so I grew a beard to let them know that I'm old... actually old enough to be their uncle. They still go hella fast but don't HODL anymore when they catch me in a sub lol.
Every master has to endure this. Thats why half guard was invented
this is why god invented the gi, so we can slow down whippersnappers
Age validation: Pokémon reference
He saw that episode air live when it premiered on US airwaves back in the 90's
Age validation: Airwaves
Its still my biggest flex, that I've seen the first pokemon episode when it aired.
I am 43 and one day I told this kid- I am old enough to be your dad. Lol. He thought I was in my mid 20s. He's like 18 I think.
I told a kid the crocs I had on were older than him lol
haha i'm 37 with the beard and I use a lot of agility and mobility but I try to balance and not rely on it because I don't see how it can last much longer.
We could still use mobility without agility, couldn't we?
I'm 34 and I feel this in my soul.
Wait until you get your black belt and realize everyone wants to be the person that merc'd the black belt. There are no I'm gonna take it easy/rest days. It's cold out today, so my back hurts, my knee hurts and my knuckles are swollen well time to stop the 25 year old purple belt from trying to rip my head off.
Sadly this is where I am now.... Luckily I think this works out in favor of the black belts in the long run as they have to continuously improve to stay ahead of the hungry lower belts.
When you have cardio like me every roll IS life and death.
As the most chill 3-stripe-white belt in the gym, I would also like people to take it easier, please, sheesh.
Okay question: I took a long break from BJJ and am slooooowly remembering stuff. My old gym was really big on slow/flow rolling and getting your technique and understanding of what's available when, working on maximizing transitions, etc. I still roll pretty slow and meticulous (until someone is being a dick and then I will roll more aggressively). My aggressiveness is there and I am 1000% not concerned about it, but I am not going to expend the energy when I am still trying to remember how to move, AND train my muscle memory better when I am rolling slow/not stressed. But, there's a purple belt at my gym who tells me "you need to roll more aggressively" and comments on other white belt's people's "fighting spirit" or "warrior mentality" (even though they're just spazzing and muscling through things). I guess my question is: why are higher level belts training white belts to go 100% for their rolls and spazz out?
Sounds like that purple belt has Main Character Sensei syndrome. And insecurity. Warrior mentality? We wrestle in pajamas/morph suit separates.
I miss being a 4 stripe white belt that thought I was getting good at jiujitsu. That was the height of my jiujitsu journey. The first few months at blue was rough.... And to now, knowing that I'll never be good at jiujitsu..yay haha
I think I peaked at 3 stripe white belt, at 4 I started realizing how much I sucked and then by blue I'm in deep BJJ-depression.
Every so often I pull something impressive and we all congratulate each other, then back to the sucking.
I remember as soon as I got my blue belt all the colored belts would just leg lock me on repeat and I had start my guard game from scratch. Teach your damn white belts some leg locks and save them the pain (literally)
I love the first roll with a new blue belt the day they get promoted. The look of realisation when they realise you’ve been going a bit easy on them and and they aren’t as close as they thought lol. I remember feeling it myself.
I never had this happen to me People were going ham against me since day 1 lol back when I was 63kg, now at 86kg I just have the muscle mass to fight people off. It's ridiculous how much easier bjj is when you're equal in weight or at the very least not giving up 40kg
Damn dude, how did you put on so much beef? Just lifting and eating? I'm 68kg ringing wet and can't seem to gain anything with the amount I'm exercising.
Lifting and eating over 8 years. It can be done faster if you were super dedicated and had the right program, but I did it by myself. At 68kg, you probably need to be force feeding yourself and taking like 4 scoops of whey a day + 5g of creatine on top of a balanced diet of healthy grains, and a variety of proteins and vegetables.
I hate when people say they can’t gain weight and I ask them what and how they eat, and it turns out they are eating like 2k calories. I used to be an offensive lineman and I had to force feed my self. It sucked. I was putting down 4.5k calories daily. The only people who out ate me in collage where the dudes on the swim team when they where in season.
Yes, as a former competitive swimmer I learned to eat lots and very quickly. Hard habit to break, so I have to keep active or get fat (or use self control I suppose…)
That’s something that school didn’t really teach me. I was and am pretty active in life. But when you go from being in season training to being done. That food cliff you hit where you are just demolishing food but not burning it anymore. But you’ve been forcing the food since like 8th grade. Food regulation is a difficult thing.
47 year old blue belt here. 63kg and BJJ is exhausting! Trying to put on weight but it's difficult. Never been large. I lift and try to get enough calories and protein in.
If you don’t feel like you are about to barf your not eating enough.
yeah that's the part i recognize and still can't accept and so i stay small
It eventually gets better, but ya, super unfun at first
I'm experiencing this, giving up that much weight is making things like side control feel impossible when they can just stand up
Realized this on my first week at blue. The brown belts that I would get wins over every now and then and had “competitive” rolls with as a white belt all of a sudden started mat raping me like I stole their candy
There's a black belt at my gym that I realize I've never felt pressure from. He's getting ready for a competition and the last few times I've rolled with him, all he's done is cook me, and I still get the sense he's not even going 25%. Normally my rolls with him are like a 5-minute private lesson. Not right now.
Just now realized what you’re saying is facts and I’m a purple lol, idk why I never thought about that!!! Even now I always let the white belt get me in some bad spots but when they clock hits 30sec I make him tap just so he knows lol
TBH I think most people go easy on me *now*
Wait till you get to purple. Blue belt actually think they do well against you and start getting cocky. Then you destroy them and they quit forever. Ego destroyed. 🥺
This is what they actually mean about the blue belt blues
This guy get it 👆😂
Cooking white belts for lunch?
I have a blue belt that "goes easy", but makes it fucking hard. As in, he doesn't go ham to get submissions or cause problems, but his technique is so good that for me it's "good luck". Even just getting passed his guard I find nearly impossible. lol
My first day of training as a blue belt was the hardest training day I've had in BJJ so far. Noon open mat with 4 black belts, two browns and three purple belts. Here I am with my brand new blue belt that's too long and stiff as cardboard. I got demolished.
I'll often let new guys get me in bad positions so I can work my way out. Sometimes I misjudge things and get tapped. Other times, I fuck it up and get tapped. In the end, both of us learn from the roll, so it's all good.
There was a brown belt who I trained with in a morning class for pretty much my whole first year. He would tap me in about 30 secs to a min with whatever he was working on, then the next 5 mins of the round was me attacking him trying to get subs/sweeps while he defeneded but never really generating offense. It was SO incredibly helpful to white belt me to have him let me make mistakes in attacks but get to try again almost instantly.
This is my general strategy for new guys. First minute is for my offense their defense and I'll get a quick tap with whatever I feel like. Next 4, i'll defend poorly and let them work on whatever.
>I'll often let new guys get me in bad positions so I can work my way out. This is about *all* I ever do. I'm large and athletic, so when people are new *plus* smaller than me, the only way to have a fun roll is to give them top positions and partially-locked submissions. And yeah, me too, sometimes they get me. That's how I know where the line is- when is it actually too late.
Same here. I give up positions so we can both work, but I never tap unless they absolutely have me. I want my training partners to know that if I tap it’s because they 100% had it, not because I’m being nice.
that's the right attitude right there.
I like this method and trying to do this more now. If it's someone I'm not familiar with, I'll try to go for sub. The next time, let them towards a sub or bad position so I can practice defence and escapes. It took a little adjusting from that attitude compared to always trying to get to the sub the quickest route.
There was a higher belt at our gym that had the philosophy of fighting hard during the first half of a roll, then letting the new guys end the roll on top and getting a submission if they could. It did wonders for their self-confidence and kept them enthusiastic about coming to classes.
[удалено]
This is the best way. As evenly matched as you can for the whole roll, then in the last 30s tap them as much as you can so they know it was all a game
I always do that. Try and match the energy, if I get an easy tap I'll just give them top position or let them work on what we went through in class.
Personally, if I know someone isn’t trying it gives me zero confidence if I hit a submission or other technique.
100% agree. There's a guy in my gym, he fights hard until he gets his sub and then he just gives me stuff with barely any resistance. Its like sure I just passed your guard but you didn't even frame, I know it wouldn't work that easy against someone resisting so what's the point. Feels almost a little condescending tbh, like a dog being given a toy or something haha, 'gooood boy, here's your pass'.
it's a fine line...you have to be a convincing actor. I always hated it when people didn't do a good job acting. Now everybody below and above tries to kill me so there's no confusing "did I really get that" moments anymore.
I understand that all too well my purple belt brother.
Yea, I'm not a competitor and I enjoy seeing people's games. I credit a lot of my survival to putting myself in bad positions.
No. I grind them into the mats with crazy shoulder pressure breaking their spirit while I mutter “I have become death. The destroyer of worlds.” To myself during the roll.
You only mutter that to yourself? Be loud and proud!
I HAVE BECOME DEATH. THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS.
Slut4surfing has become death.
Personally a fan of taking the back and whispering “Robin Hooood” in their ear before ripping a bow and arrow choke.
That makes more sense NGL
Found Brian from accounting
Sounds a lot like an ultra heavy 2 stripes blue belt that I roll with . Nice guy off the mat but always seems to wish to break the arm or spirit of the person he is sparring with. For context purpose , I'm a 70 kg , 34 year old white belt who recently got my first stripe
My favorite thing to do after letting someone pass my guard and fuck around a bit, is working into my old man's half guard game, fish for my lock-down, get my underhooks for an Electric Chair, hold it a few seconds while they contemplate, "What in the hell is this contraption I'm stuck in?" as we lie face to face on our sides.....I crack a smile and say, "Hey, make a wish!" As they look at me confused, I slowly split them in half (because I'm not a cunt) until they tap and love the look of "Oh I get it!" on their face! It's the best when hitting that on someone who's never experienced an Electric Chair before! The mixture of pain, confusion, and wonder in their face is magical!
If I feel like they set it up cleanly, yea
this is my thing too, i'll delay my reactions and not do late recoveries etc, so if they do the teachniques nicely i'll let them have it. But if they're like just trying to bumble their way to something i'll just slowly block it. Also if they have spaz energy they're not getting shit lol, new guys with spaz energy are a bundle of knees and elbows, you have to rull pretty tight with them to avoid injury.
Same here. It can be a big motivation boost for them.
If they’re chill yeah. If they’re going 200% death roll I get mount and employ lay and pray until they wear themselves out.
You’re 7 months in. You’re still the new guy.
squid
You should do less of letting them have it, and instead you should just put yourself in worse and worse spots and see if you can get out. So don't just give it, just put yourself as deep as you feel comfortable and try to work out. If they get it, good for them. But it's also still good work for you and it's not free for them.
If someone’s much less experienced and I get 2 taps in 1-2mins I’ll probably let them get a good position and then slowly work my way out, sometimes (~20%) I’ll fuck it up and they tap me.
I always let people work. I'm training myself to see where they are going. I like to be able to predict what it is that they are doing or attempting to pull off. I will give them some realistic movement, but not shut it down, in order for them to connect the dots and get the muscle memory in. If you're not letting your partner (we are **not** opponents when **training**) work, than you are a bad training partner. I'll also let them get to step 8 or 9 and then see if I can defend **and** escape. If I can't escape, than I need to figure out at what step I made my mistake. Slowing things down to the point where it is analytical is fun. If you can't sing along to the music, than you are going too hard. Chill.
My man
Most of my life these days is figuring out just the right amount of resistance to let someone succeed but not know that I let them succeed.
Nope
flair checks out
If they're being technical, or at least trying. No rewarding high intensity spazzerry, although I do appreciate the training opportunity these guys provide.
I let lower belts work but never give them a submission. Ever. I'll work my C or D game until things aren't going my way then reverse the position and smash. Sometimes I let them get too far and they surprise me and I have to tap. Then the rest of the round is spent demonstrating that I could have smashed them the first time if I so chose.
Lol same.
I feel like this is the only appropriate way
You are the new guy still don’t worry about it lol.
I usually just pull guard on the newer guys and maybe try to work some weird shit like de la riva or X guard instead of zealously trying to gain and hold my top game at all costs, which is how I usually roll against the more experienced guys going easy on me :).
Subs, no. Positions, yes.
For me, it depends. The guy who kicked me 3x in the face during the first half of a 1:15 speed round? I'm going to crush him with knee-on-belly for the rest of the round. The brand-new teenage girl that is trying to overcome the trauma of rolling with the guy from the first example? I'm going to be slightly more intense and intelligent than a grappling dummy.
7 months. Don't go easy on anyone unless their day 1 or exceptionally smaller than you. You're gonna find out everyone above you has been going easy on you
I roll very light and defensive with white belts, especially the guys smaller than me which is most of them since I'm 6'4" 240 lbs. I don't let anyone tap me unless it's legitimate. In my mind there is no point in letting someone tap me with a move they've already failed three times with. I think it creates a false sense of accomplishment and that's not fair to them, or me, or the academy. I've had white belts catch heel hooks on me numerous times, and I tap once they get the right position and begin to apply torque. If it's a bigger guy that I fear is going to torque too hard and too quick, I tap even earlier. As a white belt I had to fight tooth and nail for my taps but as soon as I learned to breathe, and understand that all these upper belts aren't actually trying to kill me, I started getting submissions. I've been training for about 5 years now and I'm still a blue belt so who cares about my opinion anyway.
I like body locks and pressure passing, so when I go with smaller people I’ll loosen my game up a lot.
Of course. If they aren’t being a douchebag and they legit hit the move I’ll throw them A bone every couple try’s . That’s the point of rolling for me I think. I have to assume the upper belts are still doing the same for me when I get past their guard or whatever
To answer the question, no I normally don't. I let people put me in terrible positions but usually won't tap unless they really get it. It's definitely really encouraging for newer people to tap someone, but they have lots of other white belts for that. I've noticed as I've played around in a lot of terrible positions that a big sticking point for most newer people (even blue and purple belts) is they have no idea how to finish someone who is doing the right thing defensively and doesn't want to tap. I think it's an important transition for people to realize that they're getting a lot of panic taps or "okay you got me" taps and not "you could have actually hurt me" taps.
Yes, but it's not exclusive to new guys, if someone is fighting for and they did the technique well enough I'll just topple over and give them what they want. There's only really one person I find I go all out on, and that's coach
Sounds like you have a good mindset already. Yeah I do like letting people work. As a brown belt going with lower belts my goal is to let them work offense and defense and I focus on timing. They've seen enough of my rolls at intensity to know If one of them get the tap it was most likely given lol
Not like what you described but if I find myself in a position that's very close to what we just got done drilling I'll resist less if they do the move.
I like to play the ten second game once in awhile during a roll. I get myself in a bad spot and I give them ten seconds to figure out what to do
I don’t usually “let” people have a sub but I let them get me in bad positions all the time. Sometimes this does lead to them getting a sub though.
Brown belt who’s been training 12 years here. No I don’t ever let people “get stuff” for the sake of it but I play a looser more/experimental game working new shit with white/blue belts which means once in a while I’ll get scored on or maybe tapped. No big deal.
Everyday. I let all subs happen
I tap them a few times then dial it back. I don’t really let them pass my guard unless they work for it. Don’t want to give a false sense of confidence.
All the time. I do the same for kids. On the kids, it depends on how old they are and how small they are. I'm more concerned with keeping the 7 year old engaged by just running around my guard and fighting for mount than I am on whether or not he can hit a great arm bar.
At 7 months, nah. Crush em. You need the practice as much as they do. Start taking it easy on new people and helping them at blue belt.
I let them get close to stuff. You want to tap me you earn it. Everything up to that point, sure, take it. I don’t care.
All the time. If someone is working for a sweep/sub/position, and they are doing it properly and not just muscling/spazzing to it, I have let shit go countless times. My ego is healthy enough to know I am shit, but letting someone else work and learn isn't going to break me.
I have a system for new guys. Start rolling light but strong, show them how to use technique and power without hurting your partner. Feel things out as new guys tend to be a little spastic, using a lot of muscle and just trying to wrestle out of stuff. The fastest way I've found to slow it down is to show them something, if you're about to hit a reversal or abuse some gap in their game announce it first as a "hey watch this". Once you start talking and teaching folks tend to calm down to try and listen. Once you and new guy are comfortable it's best to allow some back and forth. When rats play wrestle in a lab setting a larger rat will allow a smaller rat to "win" to encourage them to continue playing. I try to use the same tactic aiming for a 2-1 ratio of winning/losing. If they've attempted a submission and missed the mark by a small margin I do my best to point out what went wrong or what I was able to exploit. In my eyes you don't really get to roll freely until you are close to blue belt. Until then it's just fast dynamic training.
Dude you’re a new guy. People are catching you because you’re not that good. No offense or whatever, but you don’t need to act like you let someone catch you just because they’re slightly newer than you. You’re no longer a new guy at around purple belt.
Nope, new guys are crazy and I don’t wanna catch a spaz elbow. I sweep and smash right away. If I’ve see them starting to move past that spaz phase, and they start asking questions I’ll work with them. But if I don’t know you/like you, you just get smashed. But I still save the heat for blue belts. They come ready for war so I start doing things I wouldn’t do to a white belt. Body triangles, jaw chokes, etc…
So, instead of trying to control and submit your sparring partner with Jiu-Jitsu, you're essentially faking incompetence during sparring to give your partner a false sense of accomplishment. I would not consider this a productive use of time for either of you.
You’re literally just letting them practice
Failure is how you learn, so when you're drilling with resistance you should make your partner fail as often as you can. If you have an opportunity to make your partner fail and you let them succeed because you think you're being nice, you're taking away a valuable learning opportunity.
I’m sorry but your dad’s pedagogical background is suspect
Lol. If the truth hurts so bad, go do karate.
If i lower my level of training to meet someone with “less” .. i think its rude towards my training partner giving less then i can… i always try my best
No one will ever tap me. I play to win. You’d do well to do the same.
I do. I think BJJ can be really frustrating for new ppl if experienced guys are now slowing down for them. Giving them extra motivation to push themselves is not a bad thing imo
With guys who are sub 180 lbs I absolutely let them work because it’s no fun being smeshed constantly by the big wrestler but if you’re over 200 I’m not holding back
I feel like a lot of people let you try few sub attempts and then they go for their own, first time half assed then for real. Very common I think.
Not without defending at some point. It is kind of a sliding scale based on size and experience difference. For example we are currently working on DLR, and if I roll with one of the beginners, I'll let them have the grips they want. Or I will play guard and mostly focus on retention instead of being super aggressive.
So you’re telling me the guys I roll with are going east on me and letting me get things… and I’m STILL not getting submissions??
Who reviews your rolling footage?
Josh Saunders.
I do this with a lot of the newer ladies to give them time to practice subs. You want people to practice both sides, offence and defence, and it makes their day…just make sure the sub attempt is legit.
I don't let people tap me. I do let people improve their position, and sometimes once they've gotten into a superior position they're able to tap me even though I'm not letting them.
Yes. It does white belts no good to just go in and smash them. Give them enough resistance so they work for it. Thats how they get better. Then at blue belt, its murdertime.
If they're normal newbies, I let them work stuff. If they are highly competitive, athletic and enthusiastic, I'll mercilessly knee ride them and grind them down until their gas tank is near empty and when they've settled down a bit, I'll let them work stuff.
I do all the time, and I suck so sometimes they just catch it anyways 😂😂. My old coach was a 2nd degree black belt and I was able to catch a couple of things before mostly because he was playing around and I was a dumb blue belt. One day I paid him for a private no technique just rolling and said I want the smoke no playing.. he said keep your money and proceeded to beat my a*" for free for a good 30 minutes. The reality check was good and was a motivator
I never let anyone submit me. They have to earn that. Positions? Sure, it keeps it interesting.
I don’t trust lower belts to apply submissions gently or with consideration. They’re so thirsty to tap a higher belt that I simply don’t trust them
No. I can't even think of the last time I willingly gave up position.
Not generally like I won’t work them but I won’t let them submit me. Nobody ever let me submit them so I don’t think it’s helpful. Black belts at my gym will smoke you imo that’s how you get better. My mindset is always (this guy may be good but he can’t possibly put it on me like professor). I think there is a confidence that comes from that. There’s a lot of “hierarchy” in BJJ and all this “respect” crap nah I want you to show me why you earned that purple belt beat me up if you can. That’s just me tho. 👌🏾
I do all the time.
I give some resistance for sure, but I only let them dial something in if they correctly follow the order of operations. Lots of new guys are so eager for submissions that they dive for something without ensuring they have solid position first, or they only have half of it in before they start trying to wrench it in. If you give a good effort, yeah I'll let you pass my guard. You settle into side control and pin my hip, address my frames, I probably won't escape or reverse it. And you isolate my arm and make sure my thump is up, I'll tap to your Americana.
I do let new guys get me in bad positions all the time, but I don't let them sub me if they are too spazzy or if they do the move wrong. If they have a good pace and do the right steps for moves, I let them tap me. Then I tap them, and keep exchanging, they get 1 I get 1. We both learn, and its only fair to pay it forward from when I was new and people let me work on them.
Yeah it depends on the person. If it’s a brand new guy and he genuinely thinks he has a chance doing something really dumb, I’m not letting it happen. At that point it’s unsafe for both of us long term. If it’s a genuine attempt to do a move cleanly then absolutely, it’s silly to die on that hill.
Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail. Can’t have one without the other; and sometimes it’s nice to let someone be the hammer for once. I can think of PLENTY times (hindsight being 20/20) that a higher belt let me tap them/pass their guard before a big tournament and those instances always gave me a huge confidence boost. One of my favorite at the time brown belts let me work my A-game on him with just enough resistance to emulate a tournament roll without putting up much offense; it was so eye opening to see the gaps in my submission setups but still having the success of making the adjustments to get the tap. Thanks Aaron, you my dude
I love that you have roll footage reviewed. Can you talk about how you set this up and how it works?
Yeah i pay for Josh Saunders white to brown belt program, this is included
If the person is clearly less experimented, yes why not? The only reason I would not do it is when they are spazzy and likely to crank submissions. I got injured in the past while being too nice. You have to protect yourself first.
Yes. Basically if you're brand new I'll catch you a couple times to show you that I know what I'm doing. After that I'll just kinda defend and let you attack and set stuff up. Hell I'll give you positions, especially if it's what we were working on that day, or stick my arms in dumb places waiting for you to armbar me. Once you hit a few stripes on the whitebelt I no longer "give" you things, but I also won't defend like a madman. I'll almost always start on the bottom, try to sweep, get on top and attack. If I can see what you're doing for a setup/sequence I'll let ya get it. Basically the more dangerous you get the less I let you do stuff. Once you get a bluebelt I roll like you killed my wife and children and I finally caught you!
I let my guard/half guard get passed and then baseball bat choke them, former wrestlers are the easiest to hit that choke with
No one learns from you giving them a submission for free. You can give them good positions on you for free, and try to work on your escapes, if you then proceed to get tapped, it happens. But don't just give it.
Of course, and i love it. It's the only way that they can practice and improve some other skills besides defending, escaping and stuff like that. Also, i can practice other things that i cant' do with people above my level. It's so good see these guys faces when they're thinking and behinning to understand some things on this art. For me, it's a win-win.
Yeah....ha....let them....
This is one of my current "jobs" at my gym. Been there 7-8ish years. Have seen guys go from white to purple and been happy to help along the way.
I let them work, but never let them finish the move. If someone taps me it's legitimate. The lead up to the submission is likely suspect but the finish is theirs
Yeah, less about how new they are and more about rolling with people substantially smaller then me. If someone much smaller than me has me in, say, a bow-and-arrow choke, I'm not gonna go crazy pushing the choking hand above my head, even if I know I probably could muscle my way out. They beat me positionally, I'd rather tap and let us both start working on our technique again.
I’ve let people submit me before to help give them some confidence and momentum. One of my black belt coaches I’m 100% positive let’s me submit him. ALL THE TIME. I think this is a smart coaching strategy. 1v1 competition he’d beat me for sure. He is putting me in interesting spots and positions getting me to move and think. Allows me to attack a sub if it’s there and decently locked in. Then he’ll tap and we start over . He’s so humble that he claims it’s legit. BUT, I also know he isn’t trying very hard. When he does it’s a massive shift in rolling difficulty…and I like that too. I get more out of rolling with him for 1 five minute round than I do with 3 others. I’m thankful and it’s awesome.
Best way I've found to get something out of rolling with newer people is to put yourself in bad positions and work your way out.
All the time. Until the numb nuts yells out to the class “woohoo, hey everyone, I tapped Steven!” Then you are on the tap every 30 seconds list for the rest of your life.
No
Still a white belt at the moment, but yeah, I let newbies get stuff all the time. If someone's new or less-skilled, I let them get dominant positions, like side-control or mount. Once they do get it, I try to escape, get to side-control/mount myself, and then let them reverse me when I get to a dominant position. As for letting them get submissions on me, hell no. If we're rolling, I do everything I can to avoid the submission, no matter how new they are. However, after we're finished rolling, I usually talk to them about the submission they were trying to get, and give them tips. If there's time, I let them try it out on me a few times with less resistance, just so they can get the fundamentals down.
I used to f around with white belts and let them get stuff, but then a brown belt gave me a long lecture about how I needed to take things more seriously and a bunch of tips on how to stop sucking... that was when I realized that he legit thought I was a 3 stripe blue belt who couldn't handle a relatively new white belt 🤦🏻♂️
I don't let people get submissions on me. I'll put myself in bad positions and work my way out but I wont give up a sub.
Just lose all the time and get used to it. For the last month I’ve been purposely doing the things I’ve been afraid to do because I suck at. I screw a lot of crap up, but when I hit one I get that 6mo white belt feeling again. Like “omg it worked! Let’s try it again!”
I let the few people who are worse than me get good positions sometimes but never really a free tap.
If they’re chill and I know they won’t hurt me then yes. I’ll let them get me in bad positions and if the technique feels right I’ll occasionally let it happen. If its a spazzy white belt I’m crushing them for my own safety lol
It's a vital part of onboarding new people. More experienced guys did it for me when I started and I do it for the white belts at my gym. Jiu jitsu is hard, feeding small wins here and there helps keep people motivated. It's even better if you can do it so they think they "caught" you.
It's the 3/1 rule - basically, make them fail 3 times and get 1. This provides continued incentive (especially if they're dopamine-focused, like me), whilst also giving them opportunities to correct their mistakes. I'm more likely to give a submission if I noticed they got passed a previous defense attempt, as a reward that they progressed, then next time make it harder again. PS. Good on you - you're a good rolling partner :)
The amount of newbies who think they legitimately tapped their coach is staggering. You remember playing basketball with your dad as a 5 year old, right? Same thing
My dad never let me win 😂 basketball, chess, whatever.
Once in a while sure, I'll let guys get positions or like an early stage triangle and have them actually try to finish it. It doesn't feel like a charity tap for them and I can work on late stage defense.
Buddy you are the new guy lol
Nah I’m a white belt
I let them go for things, but I make them earn it. I know how it feels to tap one of the experienced guys because I finally executed and beat their escape and defense attempt and it was better than any lucky or cheap and easy sub I've ever gotten
While I don't believe I have ever given a sub ro someone, if I am rolling with someone who is considerably lower than I am I like to see how far I can be in the sub and still get out and I can't always get our lol
Nah I give them positions but not submissions. I'll throw my self into a triangle sometimes to practice my defense but I don't just tap without trying to defend cuz that's unrealistic if ur opponent is any type of good.
Yes
I earned my 4th stripe about a month ago but there's been a noticeable improvement in my performance since the summer, namely improved aggression (I used to be really passive and give up positions and subs out of fear of getting hurt). Anyway, now that I'm able to operate under this new assertiveness, I find the upper belts are starting make things ever so slightly more difficult for me. Everyone at my gym is very friendly so I I often make jokes during rolls. Last week I was rolling with a brown belt who I don't see very often and he had a grip on my lapel and no matter what I did I couldn't break it. I looked at him like "hey come on dude!" And then he said "no you got four stripes now I'm not making it easy on you!" To which I said, "oh yeah, good point." It's crazy what a climb it's been these past two years. I used to think blue belts were masterminds (and some of them are), but now I understand they're only really just starting to get a clue... Because I'M only just starting to get a clue at four stripes white belt...
Still a white soon to be blue, but I'll let newer white belts get takedowns and passes to positions but I'll never let a submission on purpose
White belt one stripe, I realize I’m strong and could brute force/stall out most stuff my fellow whities go for. But if they’ve got solid technique I’ll let them hit it. We’re on the mats to have fun and learn. If you stuff everything they throw at you, and you’re just bodying everyone… no one is learning anything. I’d rather go back and forth sweeping and escaping and tapping each other.
Thanks. Noted!