Mentality whilst rolling.

I am going through this phase at the moment where I treat at every roll I have at the gym as if it is a real fight and it is to the death. I used to just chill out and let it happen but I read "The Fighters Heart" by Sam Sheridan and he writes about dog fighting and the trait of gameness that a dog breeder holds higher than any skill or strength a dog may have. He describes gameness as "being willing to continue a fight in the face of death,".

When I was training striking my coach would say "How you train is how you fight."

What is your mentality when you roll?

You should fight how you train, not train how you fight.

Keep it playful.

You can train hard without being that guy that nobody wants to train with. Don't look to crunch your partner but you can go hard by working your transitions. No one hates the quick guy but everyone hates the smasher! If you have a guy whose cool with a war that's one thing but if you look to kill even the new white belt you are being selfish and not a training PARTNER. If you crush take time to explain where your partner went wrong and help him grow too!

I play for skill, and to have fun. I spent years in schools that were aggressive and all about dominance. I got into JJ and 10thPJJ in particular for a fun hobby. My days of turning my sports/hobbies into a fight/war are way behind me.

When you're training for ADCC you'll train how you're going to fight, but not all the time. There are drills and techniques that must be repped, and they don't always require this gameness you mention.

When you're starting out and you're training as if your life depended on it, you'll end up getting hurt physically, mentally, and figuratively.

All too often I see a guy come in, pound on the weak, then get wailed on by someone that actually knows technique. At that point they say something like, "This sport is not for me", or "Show me more." First thing I tell em is throw their notion of strength and going balls out, out the window, and slow down. If they are looking in improve they have to stay steady on this journey, and swallow their pride. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Simply put, don't break your toys. If you go hard all the time either you or your teammates will get hurt. This is a marathon not a sprint. Training is all about balance, you will know this when people start to avoid you or try to hurt you. We have a rule of thumb at 10pcm hit as hard as you want to get hit.

I used to be more lax. I've been training for a year now and every girl I've ever competed against is bigger and stronger than I am. Everyone in the gym is bigger and at least the same strength or stronger. I've gone through phases after every tournie, training certain techniques vigorously, learning to train harder and be tough, and now to be more aggressive and dominant, grinding even.

We compete every 8 weeks and now we're competing every 4-5..on the nights I'm super tired, I just play defense..don't get submitted, escape, etc. Other nights I'm on top of it and the closer we get the more aggressive I get. BUT I only go hard with the teammates I know I can, and also who are gonna be competing by my side.

That's how I train, as of now, not always though. As far as mentality.......
I'm not gonna let you crush me, I'm not gonna let you have anything. You have to take it, I don't care how big you are, or strong, or what belt...I'm gonna give you a run for your money. Then if you get me, good roll man. :-) But I give %100 and train hard. I train to strengthen my mind, bc that's what will break you at these tournaments..and I got Gracie Worlds 2014 on the brain....And I'm hungry.

Just remember, you can turn strength out on/ off way easier than you can turn on/ off technique. Everytime during rolling you use strength and speed to replace working on a proper technique you do not get a good technical rep. You can always add the strength and speed back in during times of need. What if, during times of need, your opponent is actually stronger and faster than you? And you haven't put in enough technical under power reps! There has been volumes of posts and high level players advice on this. If you get injured or wear your body out during training you will suffer in the long run. If you wear out or injure your training partners, you will suffer in the long run. I strive to submit your partners using less than 30% power and 100% technique everytime. If I can do that, I can always kick it up a notch when needed. Can you "win" rolling with 100% power and 30% technique, sure, but then can you bump your technique up to 100% on demand when needed. Not likely.

A white belt that treats every roll like its "to the death" is a good way to get yourself injured or worse hurt others. Technique is most important and if youre using muscle and as you said "treating it as if its to the death".. you are neglecting technique.

I roll to the pain...

Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.

Westley: No. To the pain.

Prince Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.

Westley: I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.

Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.

Westley: It won't be the last. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.

Westley: I wasn't finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let's get on with it.

Westley: WRONG. Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing," will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Prince Humperdinck: I think you're bluffing.

Westley: It's possible, Pig, I might be bluffing. It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all.

[slowly rises and points sword directly at the prince]

Westley: DROP... YOUR... SWORD!

Prince Humperdinck: [Humperdinck's mouth hangs open, drops sword to floor]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Michael Hewson

I am going through this phase at the moment where I treat at every roll I have at the gym as if it is a real fight and it is to the death.

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Have you seen the eye gouge rubber guard technique in the new book? As the hand comes up to hold the missing eye boom zombie the arm to the mat.

It may be true that you'll perform how you train But is training each class like a tournament going to help you to develop technically fastest? Chances are no and youll injure people or yourself.

That doesnt mean you should never roll hard and develop gameness.

Sparing is a tool that can help you work different areas of your game like sometimes try and hold one specific position when you spar sometimes try and go into bad spots and not be submitted sometimes try and blast through your willing opponent. I think if you only ever roll hard your missing out.

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Originally Posted by Martin.Harris

I roll to the pain...

Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.

Westley: No. To the pain.

Prince Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.

Westley: I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.

Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.

Westley: It won't be the last. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.

Westley: I wasn't finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let's get on with it.

Westley: WRONG. Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing," will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Prince Humperdinck: I think you're bluffing.

Westley: It's possible, Pig, I might be bluffing. It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all.

[slowly rises and points sword directly at the prince]

Westley: DROP... YOUR... SWORD!

Prince Humperdinck: [Humperdinck's mouth hangs open, drops sword to floor]

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hahaha great movie!

When rolling hard, I tend to force transitions and submissions instead of letting them come to me. By doing that, you lose your flow and miss out on the opportunities that your opponents give you

I remember an interview GSP did earlier this year where he spoke about his mentality when he is training for a fight and how it was different to when he was training normally and not in fight camp. It was missing from my game and now I will die on my shield in battle. I actually enjoy getting smashed by the stronger and better guys because sometimes I can hold on just long enough for them to run out of gas and then I can steal the win. It is something I learned in Kickboxing, I learned early on that the person with the better conditioning can steal the fight. And I believe it is the same in Jiu Jitsu with these three things Gameness, Skill and Strength in that order.

I am not a crusher type of fighter, I do not dig my elbows into the temples or anything. I am just not going to let someone win.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Michael Hewson

I remember an interview GSP did earlier this year where he spoke about his mentality when he is training for a fight and how it was different to when he was training normally and not in fight camp. It was missing from my game and now I will die on my shield in battle. I actually enjoy getting smashed by the stronger and better guys because sometimes I can hold on just long enough for them to run out of gas and then I can steal the win. It is something I learned in Kickboxing, I learned early on that the person with the better conditioning can steal the fight. And I believe it is the same in Jiu Jitsu with these three things Gameness, Skill and Strength in that order.

I am not a crusher type of fighter, I do not dig my elbows into the temples or anything. I am just not going to let someone win.

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If you want to win a battle of stamina, but you train how you fight, then aren't you burning yourself out more than if you rolled calmly, with more focus on technique?

This usually leads to a reputation in the gym, and no one wants to roll with you anymore. You become that guy. Not everyone want's to roll to the death every time. I try to mix it up and not fight to the death every roll. I think of my jiu jitsu as a lifetime effort and pick my battles. Live to fight another day.

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Originally Posted by Tom Carbone

If you want to win a battle of stamina, but you train how you fight, then aren't you burning yourself out more than if you rolled calmly, with more focus on technique?

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One can roll calm and not quit, it is not an either or situation. I will often force my opponents and sparring partners to expend their energy so it is easier later on to break their will. Eddie talks about holding onto the spider web to break your opponents will. I have to stress this point, I do not injure my sparring partners whist rolling, I just do not give up.

I just play, and roll to have fun. Last thing I want is to be known as the big 200lb asshole in class that muscles his way through techniques and just smashes people. Not what its about for me. But everyone has their own individual journey I guess. :)

You can go for submissions without being violent. My entire goal while rolling is for submissions. But what that means is you have to learn all of the game inbetween submissions too. Still there are very few positions you cannot find a sub. I am not interested in smashing painfull subs, I like nice pretty clean ones. So wheather I am rolling in training or competing I am hunting for submissions. It is true not everybody wants to be rolling to the death everytime but we are playing the game of death soooo....

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Originally Posted by Michael Hewson

I remember an interview GSP did earlier this year where he spoke about his mentality when he is training for a fight and how it was different to when he was training normally and not in fight camp. It was missing from my game and now I will die on my shield in battle. I actually enjoy getting smashed by the stronger and better guys because sometimes I can hold on just long enough for them to run out of gas and then I can steal the win. It is something I learned in Kickboxing, I learned early on that the person with the better conditioning can steal the fight. And I believe it is the same in Jiu Jitsu with these three things Gameness, Skill and Strength in that order.

I am not a crusher type of fighter, I do not dig my elbows into the temples or anything. I am just not going to let someone win.

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If you are refering to training and rolling at your gym with your friends, IMHO you should not be thinking about "winning" or losing. Winner in every roll is the one who learns the most..

"The Spice must flow..."

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Originally Posted by Casey Halstead

Simply put, don't break your toys. If you go hard all the time either you or your teammates will get hurt. This is a marathon not a sprint. Training is all about balance, you will know this when people start to avoid you or try to hurt you. We have a rule of thumb at 10pcm hit as hard as you want to get hit.

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Keep postin' Casey, we need more post from brown and black belts.

A lot of it depends on the particular training partner. If its a training partner that I know my skill level is much higher I will generally focus on executing newly learned techniques by the book whether it be a submission, sweep or escape. This allows me to become more proficient while the less experienced indiviual also gets a variety of reps in because I'm not trying to destroy him.

At the different gyms I have trained at across the country there has always been at least one individual that is close to the same weight class and skill level. These training partners are who I spar with more often as the fight date approaches because not only does it push cardio but it normally tests all aspects of my game. This is where I go hard because my training partner expects it and vice-versa, yet, obviously not so hard as to injure my partner.

Then you have the bigs guys. I fight at 135 lbs so almost everyone is bigger. However, against the bigger guys whose skill set is still developing the above still applies but I will have to use a lot more energy, obviously, due to the weight difference. Against larger opponents with more experience, it's survival mode. Work to the best of your ability. Generally the bigger, more experienced training partners are looking to work technique against smaller opponents.

Bottom line, I respect my training partners and roll with as many as possible. Hopefully, something is learned by both on each roll!!

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Originally Posted by Joe Yunker

This usually leads to a reputation in the gym, and no one wants to roll with you anymore. You become that guy. Not everyone want's to roll to the death every time. I try to mix it up and not fight to the death every roll. I think of my jiu jitsu as a lifetime effort and pick my battles. Live to fight another day.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Casey Halstead

Simply put, don't break your toys. If you go hard all the time either you or your teammates will get hurt. This is a marathon not a sprint. Training is all about balance, you will know this when people start to avoid you or try to hurt you. We have a rule of thumb at 10pcm hit as hard as you want to get hit.

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Werd.

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Originally Posted by jaywatkins67

A lot of it depends on the particular training partner. If its a training partner that I know my skill level is much higher I will generally focus on executing newly learned techniques by the book whether it be a submission, sweep or escape. This allows me to become more proficient while the less experienced indiviual also gets a variety of reps in because I'm not trying to destroy him.

At the different gyms I have trained at across the country there has always been at least one individual that is close to the same weight class and skill level. These training partners are who I spar with more often as the fight date approaches because not only does it push cardio but it normally tests all aspects of my game. This is where I go hard because my training partner expects it and vice-versa, yet, obviously not so hard as to injure my partner.

Then you have the bigs guys. I fight at 135 lbs so almost everyone is bigger. However, against the bigger guys whose skill set is still developing the above still applies but I will have to use a lot more energy, obviously, due to the weight difference. Against larger opponents with more experience, it's survival mode. Work to the best of your ability. Generally the bigger, more experienced training partners are looking to work technique against smaller opponents.

Bottom line, I respect my training partners and roll with as many as possible. Hopefully, something is learned by both on each roll!!

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Agreed. This sounds about right.

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Originally Posted by Lauri Karppinen

If you are refering to training and rolling at your gym with your friends, IMHO you should not be thinking about "winning" or losing. Winner in every roll is the one who learns the most..

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This... there is no winning and losing in training, it's just learning... there is a massive difference between training hard and training like its a real fight.

if you are not willing to try no techniques and positions when rolling in class, how will you progress? technique is far more important than the ability to go hard... i really hope some of these posts help?