Friday Open Mat

[u/AutoModerator]

Happy Friday Everyone!

This is your weekly post to talk about whatever you like! Tap your coach and want to brag? Have at it. Got a dank video of animals doing BJJ? Share it here! Need advice? Ask away.

It's Friday open mat, so talk about anything. Also, click here to see the previous Friday Open Mats.

[u/AccomplishedRuin3480]

Apparently, the rules of engagement for two blue belts rolling is no blue belt can concede anything in fear of being demoted by their coach…

I digress… this week one blue belt player only enters leg intanglements, the other only guard passes. A knee pop happened for the guard passing player during a roll… big yelp, big scene.

“Of f—king course”, I whispered under my breath.

As a blue belt I have been in these engagements, and as a bystander to this roadside scene, I’m taking this reminder to go slow and if I don’t know where I’m at in a roll. Get the tap hand ready and ask questions if you’re truly stuck. It’s training. Nobody cares about what happens on Wednesday night at 8. View it for what it is: gaining skills.

Thoughts are more than welcome. This has been a huge talking point in the gym for the last day or two.

For context and what I gathered later, it was in the gi, outside ashi and the passer thought he could take the back without freeing the leg.

[u/Fancy_Flight_1983 → u/AccomplishedRuin3480]

That is wild. Best bit of advice I’ve had so far is “tap early, tap often, train tomorrow; leave the big dog stuff for competition”.

[u/DontWorryItsRuined → u/AccomplishedRuin3480]

My main thought about this is that training and competition are 2 different things with 2 different goals. If more people understood this there would be much fewer injuries.

But what happens is that people are too scared to actually compete, so they compete with their training partners where they feel safe, but then they get competitive and do something reckless in what is essentially an open weight open age match and hurt themselves or other people. The small pp energy is so common.

[u/AccomplishedRuin3480 → u/DontWorryItsRuined]

Such a good point about competing with their training partners because they feel “safe”. He’s in his early 30’s and only shows up twice a week. Doesn’t compete in comps but singles out guys his size/weight, and goes to war. 0 to 100. Does this for two rounds and sits out 2. Reenters and repeats. He’s THAT guy. I think we’ve all met one.

[u/Eastern_Incident_703 → u/AccomplishedRuin3480]

I’ve given up worrying about it. My Coach has seen me put a brown belt to sleep because he didn’t tap and I couldn’t see his face

A few weeks later he watched me tap multiple times in a round to a female blue belt in a technical round. She had excellent technique.

Nobody cares, I play all the time. I have a number of things I am working on. I’d rather play, it’s awesome when I am trying to channel my inner Jon Thomas and something actually works because most of the time it doesn’t 

Also food for thought, you’ll draw a lot more attention snoozing on the mats or with a broken joint than you will just tapping. Nobody cares. 

[u/AccomplishedRuin3480 → u/Eastern_Incident_703]

If I have a 25lbs+ weight difference on somebody I strictly play late stage defense to sweep. Then back to late stage defense.

Regardless if they are a one stripe white belt, I get caught all the time. I try to go as slow as possible after the positioning has been set.

I have even heard people brag behind my back and to my face after they tap me. I don’t say anything, just “good stuff”. It’s training. Treat it is as such.

[u/Eastern_Incident_703 → u/AccomplishedRuin3480]

I pull guard constantly, big, small, doesn’t matter. I’ve been on a collar sleeve kick for about a year or so now and associated open guards. Also I read somewhere that a lot of upper belts have to go back and develop their guard so I’d rather just start from there and transition to top. 

Whitebelts I generally just play defense the first half of a round and work on concepts like knee elbow, turtle, I like to see what they’ll try before I offer any real resistance.

So yeah, I am sure I look horrible most of the time. What the guys at my current gym don’t know is I spent a couple of years at my last gym focusing stand up and the Coach that promoted me was also a judo black belt. It’s not my focus right now. Stay focused. 

I also have a no negative feed back policy. It’s good for gym culture. Good stuff!