What dangerous new people are thinking when they roll

[Brian Debes]

This is why I make everyone wait a few weeks before rolling, I introduce them to minute situation drills first (their 2nd class) and make them watch some rolling before I allow them to roll.

Things were that way when I first started teaching at our gym… Sigh, I was convinced not to do it anymore because we’ll “lose students”. Once again, solid advise from Coach.

[ScottRay]

Some people wanna roll their first day . Some don't. Some people dont need to be taught a lesson... some do tho... you gotta learn to read each person, then decide from there. Takes years of experience to read people... I still mess it up.

[Chris Herzog]

Things were that way when I first started teaching at our gym… Sigh, I was convinced not to do it anymore because we’ll “lose students”. Once again, solid advise from Coach.

You'll loose students due to injury or just fear of overzelous noobs that spaz as well. I rather be on the safe said and loose someone because that couldn't roll their first day, than loose someone due to an injury.

[J Grooms]

Haha... that's insane.

Yeah, I learned the hard way by getting slammed by noobs and wrist jacked by a TKD black belt. Now, if I get babysitting duty I just slap double overhooks in guard, or crackhead control and drain them till they're retarded. As soon as they stack I wrangle the leg and crumble them up.

I used to think that grappling noobs was about taking it easy and refining my weaker techniques. Fuck that. That's how I got injured. Now, grappling with noobs is a process of defanging and grinding them down while working on control rather than just insta grabbing submissions. Since thin I've garnered much more respect and I've stayed uninjured.

I definitely grind the noobs out..

[Chris Ludington]

I have a lot more experience than a lot of the guys that come to our gym. I was older when I started Jiu Jitsu and fortunate enough to have had a really good friend that was a level 4 combatives instructor get me started. He educated me on do's and don'ts early on so I never had to learn the hard way.

When I am rolling with a new guy I start by telling him "Be easy, I'll roll as hard as you roll". Only a handful of people have had to learn the hard way from me. Usually it doesn't take long for them to realize they are completely out of their element and are humbled.

I did have a guy one time that was slamming a smaller student. I had rolled with him before and knew he was a bit of a knucklehead but he had never given me a reason to "go hard" on him. After the slamming incident I made sure I rolled with him next and I worked him. And when I say I worked him I mean I subbed him about 10 times in the 3 minute round. And when I had a choke in, I let him suffer just a bit before letting go. After we were done I told him, nicely, you need to try to play a little less football and a little more jiu jitsu when you're in the gym. I don't think I have seen him since.

I say good riddance, because he's the guy that causes people to get hurt.

[Jason_C]

I was drilling arm bar escapes with a guy who didn't know what 50% resistance meant. He yanked me into an arm bar and I heard a heinous cracking noise come from my elbow. I just missed needing Tommy Johns, It still hurts to throw a baseball, and that happened over a year ago.

[DBK]

thats exactly why im super careful who i roll with. i dont like rolling with new people or annoying people that go 200%. its always vs them that i get injured.

[ChrisF]

I read this a couple of days ago and had never been with a newbie before so I thought you were being unfair to them... oh how wrong I was!

I had my first roll with a newbie. Even though the instructor said before hand to both of us "Go real slow, this isnt about winning is about learning", the guy comes out at full force straight from the get go, I deal with that pretty easy, but it was unnerving, specially when he was throwing his limbs everywhere with little care. I get him in my guard and he starts throwing elbows into my legs to which I say "You cant do that, we arent striking" (I am still trying to be nice by this point)... he stops but didnt say anything. I end up getting him in a rear naked choke, and his reply was a big eye poke as he is throwing his hands into my face. I say to stop and wait, but he then trys to come at me again and the instructor has to step in.

I dont think he will be coming back anyway. And I learnt from you guys the best way to deal with them!

[Brian Debes]

I read this a couple of days ago and had never been with a newbie before so I thought you were being unfair to them... oh how wrong I was!

I had my first roll with a newbie. Even though the instructor said before hand to both of us "Go real slow, this isnt about winning is about learning", the guy comes out at full force straight from the get go, I deal with that pretty easy, but it was unnerving, specially when he was throwing his limbs everywhere with little care. I get him in my guard and he starts throwing elbows into my legs to which I say "You cant do that, we arent striking" (I am still trying to be nice by this point)... he stops but didnt say anything. I end up getting him in a rear naked choke, and his reply was a big eye poke as he is throwing his hands into my face. I say to stop and wait, but he then trys to come at me again and the instructor has to step in.

I dont think he will be coming back anyway. And I learnt from you guys the best way to deal with them!

Hopefully he’ll wright an article.

[Xuan Panda]

Sadly this is the usually the case with the "backyard fighters" and what I call "You Tube Black Belts". I have a very patient and what I hope is a technical rolling style and gladly roll with new guys. They key for me is to not be careless in exposing a limb or my neck where a "basic armbar or choke can be had. I focus on sweeping them often and trying to maintain a dominant position where I can dictate the pace of the roll. I enter every roll with the notion that if my partner is new and wild I will control the pace. I also don't go out of my way to submit them over and over again and fuel their frenzy. I don't want to eat our young but I don't want to be injured by their over zealousness either. It's a fine balance that I'm still evolving with.