Hi guys
I’m a new non competitive purple belt and I like to roll technical , flow but not so easy . Very controlled . I trained in Brazil and it was the same nobody wanted to hurt anyone. Fast but aggressive in the right places.
But I’ve just joined a new academy and there lots of new people in it.
I’m feel as a purple belt i have a target on my back. I don’t want to take it easy but I don’t want to match the aggression . Some people want to ‘tap the purple belt’
How can I manage my training partners?
Those who have been in this situation how do you handle it ?
I don’t want to avoid rolling with this people because I do like some parts of the challenge and it will help development but it’s managing the opponent ego.
Appreciate some advice .
A couple of ideas:
1) Stick with partners your size. Even if they are aggressive, you are less likely to get hurt. I would also inform the instructor(s) in private so they understand why you are declining rolls.
2) Choose a different gym that fosters a less intense environment.
It’s not wrong for people to want to train with high intensity — it keeps the sport “honest” and a lot of us (most of us?) start out that way. But it’s also perfectly reasonable for you to seek out a lower intensity training environment if that’s what you know you want.
As an old guy at a very competitive gym, I have often been in this position. The way I deal with it is to become more defensive. It becomes harder to win a match if you are very defensive, but you can protect yourself against injury much easier. Against guys with some skill, I just end up practicing my defense. Against less skilled guys, they often end up tiring themselves out. Then a sweep and some heavy top pressure will sap the rest of that aggression :p.
Also, there's nothing wrong with turning people down. If you don't feel that you can protect yourself and roll safely with someone, you should turn them down. I did this one time with a guy who was about the same skill level as me, but much bigger and very aggressive. I knew he'd eventually end up hurting me, so I just stopped rolling with him.
And make sure to tap early enough to avoid injury. When a guy is being more aggressive that can mean tapping earlier. If people are not respecting the tap, that's a problem and you should tell them and/or your instructor. But if you are hesitating to tap because it's a lower belt, that's on you.
Hello Anup and congratulations on your Purple belt
Since your new to the Academy why not just roll lightly for the first few months and develop some partners and friends with the same goals and once you develop a level of trust amongst each other then you can go a bit harder with them and vis versa
I also think You should talk to your Instructors and explain your situation and see what they may think
is the best way to proceed
Hello Anup,
There are a few ways you can manage this in order to help acclimate yourself to the gym. First, you can outright refuse to roll with people who are too aggressive or that you feel will injure you. I see people do it all the time. They avoid big guys, avoid rolling with people who spaz out or some women avoid certain men who can't adjust their level of intensity. However, this does become more difficult depending upon class size and the size of the gym or if the instructor controls the rolls.
You can also go to the instructor and ask for his advice. This will signal to him that he may need to make an announcement or watch more closely to see if his environment is suitable for him running a business.
Another thing you can do is start dominating the roll from start to finish. Against really aggressive guys I take control from the onset and do not let it go until the end of the roll. Which means that, if you guys start standing, you have to master takedowns. This will give you control of the roll and let you guide where you would like the roll to go. You have to become a top player.
Something else you can do is ask the aggressive person to roll at 50% or to just flow. You can also ask to roll where you will trade moves for the entire round. Or you can ask to work from certain positions so the roll doesn't go beyond certain boundaries.
You can also go to class at a different time if necessary. Just as many academies have women's classes that are on Saturdays' or Wednesday nights, you can go to morning classes or afternoon. The earlier classes usually are less dense and in some cases, less competitive. A lot of them are filled with people who work shifts and want to get a little exercise before crashing for their next shifts. The young bulls usually don't come in until the noon classes and at night.
I hope this helps.