Frustration with Training

**OldDog53** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 2:05pm

I'm at a similar level. I roll very defensively with the wrestlers that recently joined. They are very tough. The belt has nothing to do with it.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 2:26pm

Things won't change at blue, purple, brown, or black belt. There will times when you are on and times when you are off. Sometimes things flow. Sometimes nothing seems to work. Sometimes you own. Sometimes you get owned. Learn to cope.

**Samfoo** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 2:30pm

Originally Posted by Yrkoon9

Things won't change at blue, purple, brown, or black belt. There will times when you are on and times when you are off. Sometimes things flow. Sometimes nothing seems to work. Sometimes you own. Sometimes you get owned. Learn to cope.

Hey Yrkoon, do you ever have a problem with one guy in particular? Just one person's style seems to "get" you?

I've noticed this a couple of times, and this in particular frustrates me more than having an on or off night. I think eventually it becomes a mental thing too. I don't know that I've figured out how best to deal with this other than to just tell myself "roll a whole bunch more and hope eventually it changes".

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 2:49pm

Yeah. We all have our nemesis.

At BHJJC there was a guy named Marc Kompanyets. He was a good purple when I turned blue. He showed me no mercy and destroyed me at every opportunity. He is a black belt now. I never tapped him. Ever. I never threw him. Ever.

Nowadays at Cobra Kai there is a guy named Sean Spangler. He shows me no mercy either. I have never tapped him. I have never thrown him. Ever.

And yes...I grind my teeth on the drive home thinking of what I should have, would have, or could have done. I am extremely competitive by nature. It is an ego driven character flaw. I know this. If I ever manage to tap either of them it won't mean I am as good or better than them. It just means that I have improved by a measurable degree to such that I am no longer just being owned, but actually held my own. But it is that burning desire to finally take a victory lap out to my car after beating them and saying YES! YES! YES! to achieving a personal goal. I have always had a nemesis. Maybe they never ever knew what they were. I suspect everyone has someone like this. They may not be as competitive as I am.

How do you deal with it? Just keep training. Some guys just have your number. Thier style seems to be like kryponite to yours. There is another purple belt named Fernando where I train. I don't think he is that much 'better' than I am - it is just that his style doesn't match up well against mine and I end up losing positionally. For example - my style is a slow tight, grinding, smashing style. But when I go up against a really flexible, fast, and fluid person I can get wrecked when I lose my position. I am unable to recover and apply pressure fast enough. Contrast this to two technician's - it is obvious that the guy who knows more will win in that case. Or two strength oriented players - obviously the bigger/stronger guy will win.

**Ryno** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 3:17pm

It's funny how matchups like that can work. There's a guys at our club with a similar amount of experience to me, yet he'll beat me 4 out of 5 times. He in turn is almost always a loser to a third guy, who I regularly massacre. It's just weird that certain people will totally expose the holes in your game. Just take it and learn from it.

**rino86** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 5:50pm

Originally Posted by Amp

1. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do. I’ll get to a position and know that there is something I should be doing…but I just don’t know what that something is.

You are not alone. I am in my 5th month and always get that feeling. Like I can see the submission at the end but I cannot see the steps to getting there. I think those types of situations will lessen and eventually disappear over time with more mat time.

**black mariah** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 7:16pm

Originally Posted by rino86

You are not alone. I am in my 5th month and always get that feeling. Like I can see the submission at the end but I cannot see the steps to getting there. I think those types of situations will lessen and eventually disappear over time with more mat time.

Same here. Last night I was in my instructor's guard. I just reached back, stripped his legs, buried my head and rolled (saw that in a Machado video, BTW). Not bad for a week in, eh? The problem is he had a deathgrip on my collar and tapped me about ten seconds later. Point being... every once in a while an opportunity will present itself against a higher grade opponent. What differentiates the good players from the bad ones is if and how they capitalize on that opening.

I rolled the wrong way. Had I brought my body across his, rather than over it, I could have ended up with him in a pin. *NOW* I know this. *NOW* I will do that if that situation arises again.

Sometimes I think successful grappling is 90% dependent on having a memory that can easily recall obscure mental notes such as that, without hesitation.

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 8:30pm

Amp,

All of that is normal, and part of what you have to deal with. The first point will change with time, the second won't. There are good days, there are bad days.
What is most frustrating is when someone you were dominating a week before starts kicking your ass. There are two reasons why this happens (that I've thought through, I'm sure there are more). The first is simple, you were getting by with one thing that they're now adressing. THe second is more complicated. Everyone is improving, and everyone plateus at some point. If your increases and platues are out of phase with someone, there will be times where it seems they're just getting better than you.

**MONGO** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 8:40pm

I notice this trend with some of the guys at my gym. The guys that seem to stick with Judo or BJJ are the ones that realize that "anyone at anytime can get subbed/thrown" thats the name of the game in resistant practice with full speed sparring.

The senior guys at my gym seem to all have the mentality that perfecting their technique is the goal, not the sub.

The sub hunter does stupid **** like collar chokes from inside someones guard (begging to get armbarred) or something equally stupid. Concentrate on movement and closing the gaps between positions and your movements (balanced guard passing/no gaps as you go through positions/etc).

**WorldWarCheese** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 9:10pm

Shamefully I admit to having once been a "subhunter" as it is put I started having no fun after a while and was on the verge of quitting after only 6 months but thanks to some talks with the seniors BB's I had an eye opener and train to train and fight to train not to win, never.... well.... sometimes one can slip, but I forgive myself if I keep on showing up the next day.

I've been in it for a couple of years (judo) and my newaza looks worse than the boxer guy in UFC 1 who "fought" Royce.... it's embarrassing yes, and my tachiwaza is still very mediocre but if I keep my spirits up and think "Well, at least I know what not to do" (and it takes another month to actually get do what I think) I'll keep training.