How to "slow your roll" during live play?

[AaronNicholson]

Hey everyone. I'm a wrestler making the transition into jiu jitsu.

One of the sticking points I'm having right off the bat is I roll way too fast and hard. From what I understand, jiu jitsu is meant to be a slower and more thought out sport than say wrestling is. Does anyone have any tips to "slow your roll", especially for someone who is used to being explosive?

That leads me to another question. Is being explosive bad for jiu jitsu play? I'm used to blowing from one move to another but when I watch decent grapplers they "flow" between moves more than they "explode". I'm not really sure what modifications I should make.

Thanks for any help guys, I'm really looking forward to adapting my game to the next level.

[Matthew Edlund]

I would go with the thought that we're going for submissions rather than pins. Submitting someone takes time and conservation of energy. Especially when facing an opponent that knows what you're attempting to do. Wrestling seems very fast paced.

I think, I don't know, most high level guys control their energy so the opportunity arises that you'll pretty much submit yourself. Having that explosive power is great. Use it! While training remember that you're here to learn, not to win. Don't crush guys, literally. Try things you're not comfortable with. Work your bottom game. You'll find you'll be more apt to conserve your energy and use that explosive power when it really counts. Being a wrestler gives you an advantage. Get out of your comfort zone and you may find you'll answer your question yourself.

Above all Jiu-Jitsu is suppose to be fun when you're in class. Relax, enjoy it and learn. I tried to write that without sounding like a jumbled up mess. Someone else might be able to help out better. But that's what I got.

[Matthew Edlund]

Kieth Owen say it a lot better then I could. This video has been on here before. It's worth posting more then once.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JsEOI5sLRM

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Don't be afraid to be explosive, just learn WHEN to be explosive.

Use your drill time to find the most efficient way to perform your movements. For instance, during a sweep attempt, if your opponent posts, take the time to find the easiest way to sweep him to a spot where he doesn't have base rather than simply exploding as hard as you can to take him over.

[AaronNicholson]

Okay I feel ya. Thanks Matt.

I forget about the injury prevention stuff a lot. I'm just getting back into rolling again I get really excited when I'm doing it. I think what happens is I get lost in the moment and want to go balls to wall because it feels good. But you are right, I don't learn much by doing that. And yes, tapping is very important. I've torn my mcl in my elbow before because I was too stubborn to tap. I don't want to learn that lesson again.

So the key points to focus on are loose hips, relaxed muscle and don't be afraid to tap. I can do that

[AaronNicholson]

Work smarter not harder. Thanks Brandon I feel what you're saying. Yea, so look for the best option that requires the least energy. I'm gonna need a lot of mat time. lol

[AJ Camacho]

The only perspective I can provide is that of a guard based grappler who has to deal with wrestling MMA fighters or pure wrestlers. The key to beating a wrestler is to take them into deep water. To make them battle over the monotonous technical minutia where they are not used to proper technique and how to conserve energy.

Overhook battles in guard, posture battles, omoplata control struggles... these positions may seem like athletic successes for my escaping wrestling opponent but in the span of the whole session, those moments make massive dents in their cardio and take very little out of mine. These are positions where they usually don't have efficient techniques. A wrestler can hit a clean, efficient, and economical double leg all day... but drag their posture down and they might push off your chest like a white belt.

Just a psychological persistence (such as not freaking out when I blow it and have to rebuild a guard from bottom side mount) is enough to counter several years of their wrestling against a few years of my grappling. It's not easy and there are no free meals but by keeping the technical battle in the realm of jiujitsu, I can beat them.

Advice wise, I think that you should learn and accept when you are stuck. These will usually be control positions where they have you locked up and where you usually have to explode or tear out of a position. From those stuck positions, learn the economical way to build an escape and work the counter.

[Justin W.]

Here's how I see it, every time that you feel the need the explode out of something, it is almost always because you don't have a technique to get out of it. Now this is what you're supposed to do in competition because it's not like you can call a time out and try to learn a move on the spot but in an environment such as a gym, you have all the time in the world to experiment. The gym is for learning and competition is for performing what you've learned. You can't learn too much if you're performing and you can't perform well if you're just trying to learn. These are completely different mindsets that are not meant to be exchanged. I go about 15% strength and speed in the gym and I'm already usually the smallest guy there and nothing annoys me more than seeing some bigger guy try to go 100% to beat me, as if I couldn't go harder if I wanted to. You have to choose if you want to win meaningless gym battles or if you want to progress every night. If you use a lot of strength, you will never know if you actually understand the technique. If you can do a technique at 15% strength and speed against someone going hard, then you know you know it and if you can't, you probably don't know it well enough. So the next time you feel the urge to explode because you don't know the proper technique, stop and feel for the path of least resistance and when you go home, finding the right technique for the situation you were in, should be number 1 priority. Powering out of techniques in the gym is a missed opportunity to learn something.

[Joe Durham]

You have already begun doing things right by first recognizing the problem and then asking for help on here. It is one of the most common mistakes people make in their first couple years of no-gi training ... not conserving energy properly and going Ballz to the wall in the gym. Makes the more experienced guys sit back and laugh and remember when they used to do the same thing.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Here's how I see it, every time that you feel the need the explode out of something, it is almost always because you don't have a technique to get out of it. Now this is what you're supposed to do in competition because it's not like you can call a time out and try to learn a move on the spot but in an environment such as a gym, you have all the time in the world to experiment. The gym is for learning and competition is for performing what you've learned. You can't learn too much if you're performing and you can't perform well if you're just trying to learn. These are completely different mindsets that are not meant to be exchanged. I go about 15% strength and speed in the gym and I'm already usually the smallest guy there and nothing annoys me more than seeing some bigger guy try to go 100% to beat me, as if I couldn't go harder if I wanted to. You have to choose if you want to win meaningless gym battles or if you want to progress every night. If you use a lot of strength, you will never know if you actually understand the technique. If you can do a technique at 15% strength and speed against someone going hard, then you know you know it and if you can't, you probably don't know it well enough. So the next time you feel the urge to explode because you don't know the proper technique, stop and feel for the path of least resistance and when you go home, finding the right technique for the situation you were in, should be number 1 priority. Powering out of techniques in the gym is a missed opportunity to learn something.

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