Aggressiveness in BJJ

[finalboss]

I keep on hearing BJJ is a soft art, very passive games, spending a great deal of time conserving energy, grappling defensively and hoping an opponent makes a mistake or leaves an opening, learning to "flow" and "roll light", allowing grips, or not aggressively pursuing your own grips, and assuming an opponent will simply allow you to take them. This while I hear aggressiveness is frowned upon. Now I'm not talking about spazzing out, but I never hear "be aggressive" and that it has a negative connotation and is less superior than being passive. Everyone is different, whether it be physically, mentally, and emotionally. So they adjust BJJ accordingly to their game. It just seems so narrow minded and not open to new ideas, kind of the old school thinking of Kung Fu. So what do you think? Are you aggressive in your style? What makes your style aggressive? Is there anything we should know from this style of thinking? Any ideas concerning this subject are appreciated in advance. Thank you.

 

[Knock Out Ned]

I keep on hearing BJJ is a soft art, very passive games, spending a great deal of time conserving energy, grappling defensively and hoping an opponent makes a mistake or leaves an opening, learning to "flow" and "roll light", allowing grips, or not aggressively pursuing your own grips, and assuming an opponent will simply allow you to take them.

Who tells you this?

We don't train like that at my gym. I've also never had an instructor tell me that.

 

[finalboss]

My coach doesn't say this, but it seems that the BJJ community follows this as their motto.

 

[metalbeat]

If your rolling with respectable grapplers and your not aggressively fighting for grips and control, your probably gonna find yourself being sweeped or passed a lot.

There are certainly times where it is better to be conservative with energy and remain passive, but I don't think a respectable coach will tell you to never be aggressive, or to always flow. If you wait all day for a good grappler to make a mistake your gonna lose, you gotta force them to make a mistake.

 

[lts5025]

This passive defensive mindset is a Helio thing. Carlson broke away from Helio's mindset and proved that strength, aggression and conditioning count in BJJ.

 

[CYKO]

This passive defensive mindset is a Helio thing. Carlson broke away from Helio's mindset and proved that strength, aggression and conditioning count in BJJ.

Helio's mindset was fighting with strikes assuming a larger, more athletic opponents that you couldn't be "aggressive" with. I don't think Helio was wrong, and neither was Carlson or anyone else among those successful old school guys for that matter. It's situational. You fight a guy with 50 pounds of muscle on you and you're going to power through him? I don't think so.

I'm not saying anyone should be passive. Just that aggressiveness, strength, and power all have their place and time, just like energy conservation, defense, etc. Timing is everything.

 

[Minnja]

The only people I roll with who aren't aggressive are the guys who can end me any second they want, so they let me do some stuff until they decide it's time to exploit a mistake I make.

 

[Dogstarman]

Where did you get this idea that bjj doesn't promote aggression?

I have never, ever heard a good Bjj coach ever say give up grips and never fight for grips. I know bjj instructors focus on different aspects of their game, be it half guard spider guard or whatever. But to say instructors don't want you to be aggressive is generalizing bjj.

I know some dudes like to warm up with a flow but that isn't how they train. I know guys who like to drill a bunch. This does not mean they don't find time for rounds.

The black belt at my school loves leg locks. He will find a leg lock from anywhere. He is highly aggressive and if you turn it up full he will match your aggression.

I did a 30 minute straight round the other day with another purple belt. You had to be subtle because we were doing a long round. If either of us went balls out the first minute, one of us would have gassed. I ended up gassing at about the 35 minute mark made a mental mistake and was submitted. The round was full of scrambles and stalls. It wasn't a bad round and it was fun.

 

[Thrawn33]

There is a time for agression, just make sure your partners willing to play the same speed.

This passive defensive mindset is a Helio thing. Carlson broke away from Helio's mindset and proved that strength, aggression and conditioning count in BJJ.

I'm at a Royce affiliate, and while there are "keep it flowing" days there are also "kill or be killed" days

Not to mention our MMA fighters.....

As a former wrestler and Judoka I made a concious effort in my early days at the club to dial back the intensity level so as not to be "that white belt"...

In the past few weeks I was told to push the pace on some of the higher belts. Coaches were happy, and I snagged a couple more stripes. (been there about 6 months now)

 

[These Two Hands]

When I act with certainty (being sure of myself and believing in my action, acting with a sense of true intent so to speak) and aggression, I beat people I didn't think I could.

When I play more of a wait and bait game, or use a lot of caution I get shut down or leave too much room for the other person to impose their will - unless I'm using it as an active defense, that is.

I have to kind of force myself to favor aggression, but it works well for me when I do.

 

[Gambledub]

When rolling with small opponents who are brand new, they are sometimes timid. A couple of elbows from mount usually sends them the right message to work harder.

 

[number9dream]

I feel like the "take it easy" advice is good for beginners. Most new guys flail around too much and get themselves off balance etc.

At that stage the advice makes a lot of sense. Even if objectively it might be harder to sweep someone going psycho on top, but they'll gas and won't learn.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

All depends on the opponent, and what were working on that day. Aggression is only bad if you're unsafe to train with, as in going too hard outta nowhere after agreeing to drill positions.

But with the guys on my level, I prefer we both get after it. I like the feeling of spending 3 hrs on the mats setting up kills and testing our resolve.

Very few "Flow" days

 

[INTERL0PER]

I've honestly never heard anyone recommend being "passive".

However, there are plenty of situations that call for being "defensive", and it's always good policy to use "controlled aggression".

Spazzy, white belt aggression is a no-no.

I love listening to Josh Barnett talk about his. I've heard multiple interviews where he says that while BJJ is known as the "gentle art", every black belt he's rolled with is aggressive as fuck and uses a lot of strength.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Yeah, defensive is a better word than passive. Like, I'll willingly start from tough spots so I can focus on staying calm while in danger. But I'm always looking to sharpshoot a mistake to hit a sweep, so there's nothing passive about it.

 

[DrJitsu]

I feel like the BBs at our gym value someone who can roll aggressively and with skill. I know that people who have stalled out their game or become too "passive" (if that's the word) are sent to roll with one of a small group of more aggressive and skilled people. So I think being able to harness controlled aggression into skills is very useful and good for your jiu jitsu.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

I feel like the BBs at our gym value someone who can roll aggressively and with skill. I know that people who have stalled out their game or become too "passive" (if that's the word) are sent to roll with one of a small group of more aggressive and skilled people. So I think being able to harness controlled aggression into skills is very useful and good for your jiu jitsu.

Very true, and I think that passivity is often a symptom of over thinking as opposed to trusting your body to operate with efficacy.

I've made the mistake of waiting for a "Perfect" opening (which hardly ever falls out of the sky for me) so now I try to focus on turning a small space into a large gap through applying proper mechanics without hesitating due to it not being gift wrapped, and it's helped a lot.

 

[jack36767]

You can't learn how to relax until you know how to fight

 

[Uchi Mata]

My coach doesn't say this, but it seems that the BJJ community follows this as their motto.

That's a bit of a myth, or at least outmoded. There is a small contingent of Gracie die hards who try to sell passivity (mostly for marketing reasons IMO), but the vast majority of BJJ practitioners, certainly competitors, are very aggressive and recognize the value of aggression. There's something to be said for spending energy efficiently and not going harder than the position requires, but that's not the same thing as being passive. In general, most good people will come at you hard and try to dominate you very aggressively if it's a serious roll or a match.