Gameplan for rolling with higher belts

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1PBCE1

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So in my second ever BJJ lesson I had the privilege of rolling with a brown and then a black belt.

It was, of course, a no contest, but I found myself a little deflated after a few taps, an almost 'what's the point in this' feeling.

What should the gameplan be? defence defence defence? Try this to see what they do etc..?
 
Just remember if you keep showing up you will be one of them some day.
And you will realize it doesnt matter right now. Don't sweat it just keep training.
 
This is going to sound odd but.

Make a goal of breaking their posture once during the roll. Or resisting a choke a little longer. Something small.

I've rolled with my bb instructor for around 1.5 years and I have gotten side control, while he is trying, twice.
And then he whooped my ass in the following 15 seconds. :-D
 
I would think it more deflating if you were able to keep up with them on your second time out. What would be the point in studying the art then?
 
just stay relaxed and do not go over agressive.

just enjoy the roll.

tapping is learning
 
I know it feels futile, and at your point you aren't going to tap those guys but you have to roll like you can. Roll technically (don't spaz) but always roll like you can beat them. I say this because if you don't then you never will beat them. It's a confidence thing. When you resigned to thinking it was futile, in a way you gave up. Maybe not fully, maybe you still tried to retain guard or whatever but in the back of your mind you were saying hes just going to tap me again. Jiu jitsu can be quite cerebral, a lot of people overlook this aspect.

On a side note don't keep track of who you beat in the gym, Gym records don't mean shit.
 
Put them on their back. You will have a better chance of winning if you are on top. If you have good takedowns try to get a takedown straight into side control and avoid the guard because it saves time since you have already gotten past their guard. From there work for a sub from side control or go into mount. If you are in their guard, work for a pass or a leg lock. I have seen white/blue belts who trained leg locks tap out browns. Some people don't train leg locks AT ALL, so you will have a chance at getting a tap by going for a heel hook, toe hold, or a knee bar, but make sure you know what you're doing and that you don't injure your partner. I tapped purples with leg locks when I was a white belt and kimuras too.
 
Try to figure out what they did, very generally. Why did they get that tap? Oh, my arms were loose....keep my arms tighter. How did they get that sweep? I over committed my weight. Try to maintain balance and feel when it's being broken.

It is, in getting tapped, that you begin to learn situational awareness...knowing when you are in danger.
 
I play a very cautious game with brown and above with a focus on getting my grips right and forcing them to attack me and then focusing on improving my position. As a white, any aggressive forward movement you make will likely turn into you racking up frequent flyer miles, so unless they're clearly letting you work your game, stay away from this

The other part of my gameplan (with any colored belt) is to find one thing they did to me that really stood out and after the roll, request that they show me how they did it and or how I can defend it. My game has improved massively as a result of this
 
My instructors tell me to never stop attacking when I roll with them. I have absolutely no chance of catching either of them, but it gives me a chance to see more defenses that I haven't seen before. Other than that, just keep at it.
 
Grapplingwizard said:
Put them on their back. You will have a better chance of winning if you are on top. If you have good takedowns try to get a takedown straight into side control and avoid the guard because it saves time since you have already gotten past their guard. From there work for a sub from side control or go into mount. If you are in their guard, work for a pass or a leg lock. I have seen white/blue belts who trained leg locks tap out browns. Some people don't train leg locks AT ALL, so you will have a chance at getting a tap by going for a heel hook, toe hold, or a knee bar, but make sure you know what you're doing and that you don't injure your partner. I tapped purples with leg locks when I was a white belt and kimuras too.
Click to expand...

This is probably the worst advice ever for a few reasons:

1. You don't know how to do any of these moves, which can be dangerous and are illegal for white belts under almost every rule set. Heel hooks are considered dangerous by virtually the entire sub grappling community and are usually only trained by very experienced grapplers.

2. You'll learn less if you just try to find tricky ways to beat upper belts. It might work once, but if you get good at passing guard that will work far more often.

3. If you as a white belt go for a heel hook or some other leg lock on an upper belt, they will think (with justification) that you're not safe to train with. If an upper belt thinks you're not safe to train with, they won't teach you anything, and they very well might protect themselves by dominating you and never letting you work anything at all. That would be my response, at least until I felt you'd learned better etiquette.

Just try to stay relaxed and work what you know. Don't be afraid to ask a few questions about how to deal with specific positions. I'm never offended by white belts requesting explanations of how I did something, though I might not tell them if it's something that's way over their head. BJJ takes a long time to learn, establishing a reputation in your gym as a safe, relaxed, but focused student will go a long way towards upper belts helping you improve both formally and informally. You're not going to beat brown and black belts (to the extent that anyone 'beats' anyone in rolling) for years and years, so focus on learning and don't worry if they decide to submit you.
 
Uchi Mata said:
BJJ takes a long time to learn, establishing a reputation in your gym as a safe, relaxed, but focused student will go a long way towards upper belts helping you improve both formally and informally. You're not going to beat brown and black belts (to the extent that anyone 'beats' anyone in rolling) for years and years, so focus on learning and don't worry if they decide to submit you.
Click to expand...

And this.
 
Aesopian said:
Gameplan: show up for your third class.
Click to expand...

This. LOL "its my second day" how do I beat brown/black belts. Sounds like another person that won't stick w/ bjj in the long run.
 
bjjaz said:
This. LOL "its my second day" how do I beat brown/black belts. Sounds like another person that won't stick w/ bjj in the long run.
Click to expand...

I don't think he is asking how to beat them, i think he is asking how to not get discouraged when they slaughter him.
 
Just use the Flying Gogoplata, bro. No-one can resist it - watch the instructional on youtube and you'll be tapping black belts with it in no time.
 
When rolling with upper level belts I try to stay composed enough to ask myself the following questions:

1) what do they want from me? (that grip, my arm, break guard, etc.)
2) How can I prevent them from getting what I want? (twisting their collar into my grip, keeping my elbows in, not letting them past my guard/going for a sweep, etc.)
3) If it's inevitable, how can I make it as difficult as possible for them?

I'm not always composed enough to be able to think like this ("Ack! Get the eff off me you arm-barring beastie!") but when I do, I generally get positive feedback. It's still "tappa, tappa, tappa" for me but at least, sometimes, I can make them work a little for it.
 
LMFAO @ the guy who said start throwing up heel hooks at a black belt on your 2nd day-do NOT do this haha
 
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