Should I Stay or Should I Go

[TK (Taylor Kelly)]

Sorry ahead of time for the lengthly post but anyone patient enough to read through it and lend their opinion will be much appreciated.

I have been doing Muay Thai since the beginning of the year but I only recently started taking BJJ classes about a month ago and started going to the MMA as well. In short, my grappling really sucks. I go 5-6 days a week and participate in MMA, MT, and BJJ each twice a week.

Ive tried to be as dedicated as possible so today after my MMA class when one of the two coaches said anyone who wants to roll can stick around, I joined. I drive an hour to train so given the $10 gas fee every time I come, I always stay to spar or participate in the end of another class if the one I attend ends earlier than the other.. but this was the first time I stayed to roll. I was pretty tired after training MMA for 2 hours but I wanted the opportunity to get better.

Anyways out of the 14 of us the only ones that stayed were the coach (black belt in BJJ) and another guy who was a purple belt.. I on the other hand only have like 8 BJJ classes under me not to mention they both fight professionally at welterweight while I'm 5'9 162 at my natural weight.

Based on this info you might be able to guess how it went. I rolled a 5 minute round with each of them and got slammed and submitted more than a few times. I don't mind getting beat up, usually if we do a sparring drill that involves calling out your next opponent I will choose the coach just to get myself more comfortable with uncomfortable situations. The thing I felt bad about was after a couple minutes in, they decided that the guy not rolling would sort of give me instructions and yell out what I should do to defend, sprawl, get hooks in, scramble.. stuff like that.

I felt really bad because even though I was trying my best, I just really was out matched and ended up tapping a bit (especially towards the end of the rounds when I was gassed) including on a tight guillotine and a nasty armbar while the other guy was trying to coach me to fight out of it.

I post this asking really what the code of conduct should've been when the coach asked guys to stick around and roll. Like he just got done coaching for 2hrs, did he really want "the new guy" to participate and turn his roll time back into teach time? I would do it all over again if the opportunity comes up after next class but I don't want to be that guy who doesn't really know what he's doing and ends up being a nuisance. I didn't feeling any sort of resentment towards me, I just can't help but to try and view the situation from their perspective.

So simply put, should I not hesitate to stay after or should I wait until I take more BJJ classes and get better before I roll with the more experienced guys?

 

[ultimateriley-o]

If you weren't welcome the coach would say something like "blue belts and up are welcome to stay" or "any experienced guys want to stick around" or he would just grab someone and ask them to roll or drill. My coach at my last gym would grab individual guys after class all the time and ask to work with them on specific things so he could get some reps in; other times he would just roll with whoever including the brand new white belt.

Don't sweat it. If you're not wanted, you probably won't be invited, but most coaches appreciate anyone who puts in extra effort.

 

[rmongler]

Sounds like you're more worried about your own performance anxiety than whatever imprecation it may have on them.

Well, the only way to get better is to do it, so go ahead and do it.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

are you trying to reference this song?

 

[Liquid Smoke]

are you trying to reference this song?

 

[biscuitsbrah]

That's pretty considerate of you but I wouldn't sweat it. Honestly it probably is a minor nuisance but that's what a coach is for. They are professionals but it says a lot if they are willing to take the extra time to build guys who start from literally nothing. Especially since they are professional fighters and have their own careers to worry about. Mad respect.

They are investing their time into you so you can become a valuable training partner for them in the future too.

 

[Quebec Nick]

I also feel that I'm slowing down the group but I learned that it matters less in BJJ than it does in kickboxing/standup

Guys love to choke out new guys because it's more real than drilling and you can try stuff that you can't against someone your level or higher.

In standup, if you spar against an unskilled guy it sucks more. He won't attack a lot so you have no defense to practice on and you go super easy on the guy because you don't want to hurt him.

Where I train, it's all about work, so the ''advanced BJJ class'' is for whoever wants to stay. The main trainer asked me to stay on the very first class, saying that we will work on guard pass and that it's the best way to get good at BJJ. I didn't stay the first time but I did afterwards and even if I was getting destroyed I've seen some good results when going to regular classes.

BTW I also divide my training between BJJ and standup and I also started BJJ afterwards. Instead of going 2 times each every week, I cut down my standup training to once a week and I go to 3 or 4 BJJ classes (gi and no gi) for about 2-3 months. It gives you a better chance to learn quick and to feel confident on the ground. After that I will go back to 2 times each.