Weight difference causing problems

[hoshin1600]

Here's the advice I give to students who are frustrated because they are consistently getting dominated in rolling by someone for whatever reason (physical attributes, experience level, whatever):

The trick to progressing quickly and not being discouraged by your lack of "success" in rolling is to change the game. More specifically, change the "victory conditions" of your game.

1. In the beginning, you end up in positions where you just don't know what to do. Literally, you're not sure what you should even be attempting to execute. At this stage, your victory condition is to make a note of the details of where you found yourself, consult with your teacher (after the roll) as to what your best tactic should be, then come back next time and the next time you end up in that position actually remember what it is you should be trying to do.
2. Now you end up in the position, you remember what you were supposed to try, but by the time your remember the technique and how to do it, the moment has already passed. ("Darn it. I had the chance for that double ankle sweep, but I didn't react in time.") Now your victory condition is to be alert and recognize the opportunity for the technique while it still exists next time.
3. Now you know what to do, you see the opportunity in time, you go for it - and it doesn't work, and you don't know what you did wrong. Now your victory condition is to go back and review the details of the technique (consult with your instructor as necessary), so you can identify what you did incorrectly next time you attempt the move and it fails.
4. Now you know the details of how the technique should work, you recognize the opportunity when it arises, you go for it - and it still fails. You realize that in the heat of the moment you only nailed about 2 of the 10 most important details for making the technique work. Now your victory condition is to get more of the details right next time you try the move. If there's one specific detail you always miss, focus on that. Otherwise just try to get more of the details right - go from 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, and so on.
5. Now you're making improvement in your timing and technical execution. Once you're consistently nailing 50-60% of the important details then you'll be having some success against partners of your own size and skill level, but not so much against those who are bigger or more experienced. Now your victory condition is to roll as much as possible with those tougher opponents to expose your remaining technical mistakes and start identifying and eliminating them.
6. Now you're rolling, you see an opportunity, you go for it, you get the technical details right (as far as you can tell) - and it still doesn't work. Maybe there are some details you're still missing - in that case go back to step 5. Otherwise there a couple of possibilities. A) You executed the right technique at the right moment correctly - but your opponent performed a counter you didn't know how to deal with. In this case your victory condition is to learn your best follow-ups to counter that counter, then go back to step 1 to start developing and polishing those moves. B) You executed the technique correctly - but it wasn't actually the right movement for that moment. Something about your opponent's position or momentum or his relation to your body made it so you actually needed to do use a different variation. In this case your victory condition is not just to learn the new variation, but learn to recognize the difference in the situation which requires one or the other. Now go back to step 1 again to start developing this movement.
7. At a certain point, after you've been through steps 1-6 with countless moves, your focus shifts from individual techniques to the bigger picture. You understand that your sweeps only work when you've disrupted your opponent's balance. You understand that your submissions only work when you've disrupted your opponent's structure. You understand that it's easier to control your opponent's balance and structure when you have superior grips and angles. Your rolling sessions become primarily about fighting for grips, angles, structure, and balance. You know that if you win those battles, then the "techniques" will happen. You go back to step 1 to start polishing your methods for controlling grips, angles, structure, and balance.

You'll notice that at no point in this process is there a requirement for being able to "beat" anybody in particular. You're focused on incremental gains which should be manageable for anyone with good coaching. If you're on step 4 and you manage to improve your triangle choke from 30% correct to 40% correct, then you can walk off the mat with your head held high and go home feeling good, even if you didn't tap anybody out. In fact, this approach will significantly speed up your progress in "winning" matches, but you don't have to focus on that to get the benefit.

very well stated. i am going to print this out so i can refer to it over an over. (if you dont mind)

 

[Tony Dismukes]

very well stated. i am going to print this out so i can refer to it over an over. (if you dont mind)

Have at it!

 

[stonewall1350]

Heavy weight here. My advice? Win the standing game first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Flatfish]

@Tony Dismukes' post was fantastic. What has worked for me to get over frustration (to an extent at least) is to focus on the positive things. Yeah I eventually got tapped, but before that I did manage a sweep and got in side control or I almost had that choke, or I lasted three times as long as the last time I rolled with the same guy, or I did manage to get out of that triangle by stacking him etc. It seems to help. Of course then there are days where you just want to cry

 

[kuniggety]

@Tony Dismukes' post was fantastic. What has worked for me to get over frustration (to an extent at least) is to focus on the positive things. Yeah I eventually got tapped, but before that I did manage a sweep and got in side control or I almost had that choke, or I lasted three times as long as the last time I rolled with the same guy, or I did manage to get out of that triangle by stacking him etc. It seems to help. Of course then there are days where you just want to cry

That's how I like to focus and, I think, a lot of people gravitate that way after spending a little time in the art. In the beginning, the drive is the tap. It's not to say that I don't still think "awesome", when I catch someone, but I'm looking for what I did wrong in order to find out what I need to work on. At some point, you'll be tapping out all of the white belts. Do you keep patting yourself on the back? Or go, okay, I should be challenging myself against the exerienced blues and the purples. I didn't get the tap, but, like you said, you got in the sweep and grabbed side control for a second.

When I was trying to learn open guard, I would get very frustrated as I would get my guard passed over and over and over. It was frustrating. Do you know what it did though? It helped me a lot on my side control escapes. I can now frustrate the hell out of anyone trying to hold me in side control and, unless they make the transition to full mount (in which I'll still be fighting) they won't be getting a tap from me.

 

[Headhunter]

Strength 100% makes a difference that's why there's weight categories. Everyone likes to point out royce gracie in the early ufcs. Well yeah okay but first back then no one knew a thing about Jiu Jitsu but now it's widely know and if you roll with someone in class they'll obviously know a bit so if they're stronger and have the some skill set as you they have advantage. Second royce gracie has been doing Jiu Jitsu his entire life you can't compare him to people who've only been training a few years

 

[Grange]

I routine roll with guys much bigger than me. I'm only 5'6" and about 168 lbs, but I roll with a couple guys that are half my age 8 inches taller and probably have a good 60 lbs on me. While I have a little more grappling experience (about 2 years to their 4 months) they have about 13+ years wrestling experience. Now I do work out regularly so I am fairly strong for my size, but still can't out muscle this guys. Needless to say they can dominate me when it comes to positioning. What I do is really focus on technique with guys much bigger than me and it is paying off. I kind of count being able to maintain top position as a victory and being able tap out my partner and a big victory. I like to train at slow speeds and/or at 50 % or less power at least once a week to help me "see" things so when we go full strength and speed I'm more prepared.