I have learned that with proper care and feeding "newbies" can become productive jiu jitsuka and a credit to your academy. I've been trying to write down in one place all the things I wish all newbies had to hear/understand before they were allowed to roll. Here is my list so far (please comment with any of your own - or if you think I'm way off)
Respect your Partner
Always respect your partner. Seriously - RESPECT your partner. You are responsible for his safety as well as your own (and vice versa). Don't jump all over them with flailing knees and elbows. If you think you have an arm or a leg don't just twist/spin/yank at high speed - if you "have it" you should be able to manipulate it smoothly and under control. No striking, slamming, biting, poking, or grabbing/twisting small body parts (fingers, toes, ears, nose)
Know How to Tap
You need to "tap" multiple times and firmly enough so that it is clearly felt by your partner. If you can't tap on their body, tap loudly on the mat, if your hands aren't free use your leg, and finally don't forget verbally - just yell "tap, tap, tap!"
Know When to Tap
There are consequences for not tapping - a choke will put you to sleep, an armbar will put you out for a few weeks, a kimura will send you to surgery and a long recovery, and we won't even go into leglocks - so just tap already. When you first start rolling you may not know the difference between something that is just "highly uncomfortable" and something that is going to mess you up - if you are not sure TAP - you can ask the instructor or an upper belt about where you are in real danger. It won't take long for you to know the difference yourself - but until you do be safe. Special Note: In class we are training. We are all working together to get better. Gym taps do not count - no extra brownie points for getting one, no frownie face on your permanent record for giving one up.
Respect the Tap
When you have a submission applied it is your partner's job to tap, but it is your job to notice and immediately respect the tap. Release immediately and be careful in how you "unwind" from each other. Also be aware of your opponent's position, he may not be able to use his hands on you and could signal verbally or by tapping the mat with his hands or feet instead. If you think your partner is tapping but you are not sure, let go - it is better to be safe than sorry. When you have/are working for a sub you should be alert for your partner's tap.
Other Reasons to Tap in Class
If you wind up with body parts unintentionally tangled up in the gi it is okay to tap and reset (you will learn about gi manipulation and the correct way to grip) - that said, don't stick your fingers and toes into their gi unless you want to lose them. Also, you will need to learn how to breathe when in uncomfortable positions, such as someone laying on top of your face, that said I would rather you tap and reset rather than gag and throw up on the mats.
Tapping an Upper Belt
If you tap an upper belt he/she LET you do it (99% probability) so that you could learn - don't brag about it. It does not score you extra brownie points or get you promoted faster ("No, you don't get my belt if you tap me. Calm. Down." ~ Megan at Tangled Triangle). Most upper belts enjoy helping you learn and will often let you work things through on them, but that can end very quickly (and unpleasantly) if you let your ego get in the way of your common sense.
Don't Spazz
Don't spazz. Seriously - don't spazz - it makes you dangerous to yourself and to your partner. Don't explode randomly all over the mat for 30 seconds and then be ready to puke. Don't freak out in bad positions or when you're caught in a sub, it's just training.
Don't Grind
There is a fine line between good pressure and being a jerk - until you have been rolling for a while you don't know where that line is so you might want to ease up.
Don't Muscle It
Don't bully your partner. Try and relax and not be stiff all the time - there is a difference between a good anatomically strong "frame" and muscling a bad position. You will learn when you need to go fast, when you need to apply pressure, and when you need a little extra umph. You don't have to go soft and floppy but lighten up a little and you will roll better.
Control Your Submissions
Finish a sub under control (and slow enough for your partner to tap) - if you can't do this you didn't really have the sub. You can grab it/sink it in quickly but always apply the finish slowly and under control.
And Finally Some General Housekeeping
Wash your gi , Wash your gi, Wash your gi (and your belt too) after every training session. Nobody wants to roll with a festering pile of stink and biohazard.
Trim AND file your nails. You will get enough scrapes and scratches that can't be avoided. If you don't want to do it for me, do it for you - long finger/toenails are just waiting to get ripped from your digits.
No jewelry (this includes all piercings/plugs) - unless you want whatever bodypart the jewelry is attached to to be separated from the rest of your body - leave the jewelry at home. This also goes for those "special" piercings that I really don't want to know about when they become embedded in ways they were never intended.
This may seem like a lot of stuff but I've found it can be covered in about 10 minutes - slightly longer if you want to have examples and demonstrations.
Showing posts with label whitebelts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whitebelts. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friday, October 29, 2010
Yea, Whitebelts!
We were talking about working new techniques into our games the other night, especially various open guard set-ups, sweeps, and subs. The problem with almost all open guards (spider, De La Riva, etc.) is that until you get really good at them you generally get passed and smashed pretty easily by anyone close to your skill level and above. Jeremy made the observation that one of the things that helped him move from purple to black (and really develop all the inverted bendy twisty stuff he does) was the fact that almost everyone else he had to roll with at that time were white belts.
How does a white belt help a purple belt advance to black belt you may ask? Jeremy explained that he got to "play" with everything, try it in all sorts of permutations, and really get a fairly deep understanding because he was working in a relatively safe environment full of white belts. Side Control and Geogette both wrote great blog posts about this very issue too, so condering this a trifecta of planetary alignment - I have to add my two cents.
As we advance, rolling white belts is one of the those essential things we all need in order to experiment with techniques and set-ups and learn to "trust" our jiu jitsu. Being able to roll in an environment where the "cost of failure" is not high encourages us to experiment, explore, and develop in new directions.
There are so many techniques that made me look like an uncoordinated idiot the first time I tried them. After drilling them enough to understand how they are supposed to work it is always a challenge to integrate them into my game. If every roll was a fight to the death I would always stick to the stuff I know best and never grow. Rolling with less skilled partners let's me "play" with the new stuff without getting my head handed to me.
As upper belts, our responsibility in return is to bring the white belts along for the ride. No game is fun unless everybody gets to play. You don't need to smash a white belt everytime you work your game. You may control and lead (and be relatively frustrating) and this builds the white belt's base and defense, but they also need to work some offense too. We should be feeding them openings and set-ups, letting them start from advantageous positions, teaching a little bit as we roll, letting them try something again that they almost got. In other words, making sure they get to play too. Saulo Ribeiro says that when an upper belt visits his academy, he places a lot of weight on how he sees them treat his white belts.
All that said, I am thankful for all my training partners. It is great to train someplace that has a good mix of belts. I see a continuum from white to black of what we get to learn from each:
> With complete rookies we get to throw techniques with impunity. This is our "safe sandbox" and we can play freely. (Although we still have to watch for spazzing.)
>> As they get a little better we still get to throw up whatever we want and there is more true resistance and base. If we muck it up we can still "force it," but we don't worry too much (they are still no threat) and we reset and start over.
>>> As they are about to be promoted to our level, we can still work new stuff into our game - but if we are not careful or don't take them seriously they will be all over us - and we might have to revert to our "A game" to survive the moment and regain control.
>>>>When they reach our level it can be like "unstoppable force meets immovable object." Sometimes one comes out on top sometimes the other, but trying new stuff usually gets shut down pretty quickly. But this is where we get to see if our "A game" is up to snuff.
>>>>>When somebody is better than us we can see how a technique is supposed to work, how it feels, and how it is set up effectively. We learn to capitalize on any mistakes they might make and learn to really watch out for the slightest slip - our sensitivity goes way up.
>>>>>>With somebody much better than us we can go back to throwing up anything we want just to see what kind of new pretzel shape they will invent with our bodies and learn from where they effortlessly poke holes in our "A game."
How does a white belt help a purple belt advance to black belt you may ask? Jeremy explained that he got to "play" with everything, try it in all sorts of permutations, and really get a fairly deep understanding because he was working in a relatively safe environment full of white belts. Side Control and Geogette both wrote great blog posts about this very issue too, so condering this a trifecta of planetary alignment - I have to add my two cents.
As we advance, rolling white belts is one of the those essential things we all need in order to experiment with techniques and set-ups and learn to "trust" our jiu jitsu. Being able to roll in an environment where the "cost of failure" is not high encourages us to experiment, explore, and develop in new directions.
There are so many techniques that made me look like an uncoordinated idiot the first time I tried them. After drilling them enough to understand how they are supposed to work it is always a challenge to integrate them into my game. If every roll was a fight to the death I would always stick to the stuff I know best and never grow. Rolling with less skilled partners let's me "play" with the new stuff without getting my head handed to me.
As upper belts, our responsibility in return is to bring the white belts along for the ride. No game is fun unless everybody gets to play. You don't need to smash a white belt everytime you work your game. You may control and lead (and be relatively frustrating) and this builds the white belt's base and defense, but they also need to work some offense too. We should be feeding them openings and set-ups, letting them start from advantageous positions, teaching a little bit as we roll, letting them try something again that they almost got. In other words, making sure they get to play too. Saulo Ribeiro says that when an upper belt visits his academy, he places a lot of weight on how he sees them treat his white belts.
All that said, I am thankful for all my training partners. It is great to train someplace that has a good mix of belts. I see a continuum from white to black of what we get to learn from each:
> With complete rookies we get to throw techniques with impunity. This is our "safe sandbox" and we can play freely. (Although we still have to watch for spazzing.)
>> As they get a little better we still get to throw up whatever we want and there is more true resistance and base. If we muck it up we can still "force it," but we don't worry too much (they are still no threat) and we reset and start over.
>>> As they are about to be promoted to our level, we can still work new stuff into our game - but if we are not careful or don't take them seriously they will be all over us - and we might have to revert to our "A game" to survive the moment and regain control.
>>>>When they reach our level it can be like "unstoppable force meets immovable object." Sometimes one comes out on top sometimes the other, but trying new stuff usually gets shut down pretty quickly. But this is where we get to see if our "A game" is up to snuff.
>>>>>When somebody is better than us we can see how a technique is supposed to work, how it feels, and how it is set up effectively. We learn to capitalize on any mistakes they might make and learn to really watch out for the slightest slip - our sensitivity goes way up.
>>>>>>With somebody much better than us we can go back to throwing up anything we want just to see what kind of new pretzel shape they will invent with our bodies and learn from where they effortlessly poke holes in our "A game."
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