So, I Went and Rolled with a BJJ BB

**Tango M.F.** · Posted On: 7/29/2009 1:43pm

Um...this is me, douchebag nobody crappler, going into the best school on the island...I'm not gonna tell them how to run their class.

You can always ask your partner to start in closed or open guard. Plus, both times I've rolled with Zugec we started with me standing and him sitting.

Glad you made it out to ZUMA, they're a great team.

- Dave

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 7/29/2009 2:43pm

Originally Posted by theotherserge

Actually, I'm thinking of one in particular. I don't know that I'll ever catch up to him...but I ain't quit yet!

Gotcha; feel the same about a couple of the browns and the blacks.

**theotherserge** · Posted On: 7/29/2009 8:40pm

Originally Posted by UpaLumpa

Gotcha; feel the same about a couple of the browns and the blacks.

it's like how Dave Mustaine feels about Metallica....ermm, maybe not.

Cracky LaForge, I feel you on the commute. There is a dojo that is a pleasant 5 min walk from my home, it sure would be nice, except that they SUCK. It's so hard to work quality trainin into your life. Do you want the boxed set of Michael Bolton to listen to?

**Roidie McDouchebag** · Posted On: 7/29/2009 11:03pm

Originally Posted by Johnny

Given that weight and posture are extremely important, grips are also extremely important, but you need to have a plan to use them once you've got them. Grips that aren't used are a liability, as they can leave you open to being swept.

Definitely, and that's what happened. I took grips with the intent of simply holding him down.

The important thing is to have a gameplan i.e. you get to a comfortable, safe position with good posture such as killing one of his feet between your legs. Then you MUST have a guard pass that you know the grips for. You should have your opponent reacting to you, not you reacting to him. So set up your grips, control his legs and hips and pass.

I think my grips for guard passing are kind of fucked, to be honest. Unless I go for both-arms-under-the-legs pass (whatever that's called) in which case he still mostly avoided getting passed, but it did work once for a second.

[qyite]Any controls you can get on his legs that point his knees away from you is good, as you're killing his guard. [/quote]

Ok, thanks, I didn't really consider this at all.

Originally Posted by meataxe

How did you end up NOT doing BJJ for so long? Due to location?

Yep. This is still the closest one...and it's 3 hours each way.

Originally Posted by Upa

Yeah, obviously you can use grips to manipulate posture and balance on both ends. It just seemed to me that Cracky was being a little myopic about it.

I was, man, I was lost.

Originally Posted by serge

Especially against someone so advanced, there is a shitload to learn from seeing/feeling how they react to your moves. If I'm against a real BB and I know I'm basically going to never submit them in my entire life, I'll try the same pass a few times and see where I fail, where I might succeed and what changes I might try.

Especially if I think I have something "new" this is a great time to figure out if I'm onto something or merely deluded.

Agreed, I was doing that, but nothing was working, except my sub-defence, which was working overtime.

Originally Posted by bjjgame

I am envious of you for starting your training under a black belt. I trained for a long time under a blue belt, and now that I'm training under a black belt (Rubens Rodrigues), I'm realizing that I've learned some very bad habits.

Dude, I trained under SHOOTFIGHTERS for YEARS, and now I AM THE INSTRUCTOR AT MY SCHOOL. In no way did I get to "start under a black belt". It's been fucking 8 years of bullshit. I almost came and shat in my pants at the same time when I realized how much better Adam is than anyone I've ever trained with.

Originally Posted by Tango

You can always ask your partner to start in closed or open guard. Plus, both times I've rolled with Zugec we started with me standing and him sitting.

Glad you made it out to ZUMA, they're a great team.

I figured I wanted to be polite and try to roll on whatever terms he set, not practice my Sakuraba-guard-passes.

Thanks everyone for commenting.

**MaxThunderstone** · Posted On: 7/29/2009 11:29pm

My defence against sweeps is to stand up, but since we were starting from the knees, I didn't do that

This is allowed in BJJ as many people have said, but its not the greatest idea. Most of my game is actually based on people doing just that.

**theotherserge** · Posted On: 7/29/2009 11:56pm

I think we're commenting because it's such a big experience. Not in the "wow! BJJ owns!" but in the "Goddamnit! I thought I had this figured out."

Keep us posted, eh?

**Hemant** · Posted On: 7/30/2009 12:31am

I second the advice to never remain on your knees and let the other guy just pull you into guard once the roll starts. Even just posting on one or the other foot and controlling the other guy's legs will help a lot. Another thing that's fun is starting out sitting on your butt. Let the other guy start on his knees! It gets interesting when you both insist on being on your butts to start the roll though...

I went from no-gi to gi and experienced a lot of what you're talking about. I went to my first BJJ class thinking I was a great grappler who was going to own at least a few guys, jackets be damned. I was blown away by how much the game could be slowed down through the use of the gi and how opponents could control me like a marionette. Enjoy the journey!

Give me a shout the next time you're going to be on the mainland. We can roll in the multi-purpose room at the Y in gis this time!

Just kidding, I have an actual training space to go to these days!

**Roidie McDouchebag** · Posted On: 7/30/2009 1:34am

Originally Posted by Hemant

It gets interesting when you both insist on being on your butts to start the roll though...

LEGLOCK WAR!

But seriously, I...I guess I have to, but pull guard is something I'd really been trying to stop doing.

I went from no-gi to gi and experienced a lot of what you're talking about. I went to my first BJJ class thinking I was a great grappler who was going to own at least a few guys, jackets be damned. I was blown away by how much the game could be slowed down through the use of the gi and how opponents could control me like a marionette. Enjoy the journey!

Thing is, this WAS no-gi. I figure I'll train in the gi later, but for now, I suck enough at no-gi and have a fight coming up in September, which I plan to win by sub...

Give me a shout the next time you're going to be on the mainland. We can roll in the multi-purpose room at the Y in gis this time!

Definitely.

**Horus** · Posted On: 7/30/2009 6:36am

Last night at judo I got totally owned by a 14-year old girl about half my size during newaza*, in front of her parents. She was a blue belt and I just a white but I still feel like I got my testicles cut off and fed to me before a baying crowd.

It's good though, anything that gets done to me now won't feel half as humiliating.

*(I did manage to scissor sweep her but quickly got armbarred for my troubles)

**cyrijl** · Posted On: 7/30/2009 7:36am

I got this this morning. I odn't know if it helps. It is not grip specific.

http://beginningbjj.com/lesson-BJJ-G...-Mistakes.html

#1 - Hands on the mat. This is something I KNOW wrestlers do alot.