Never ask a black belt to roll.

Mooner said:
That's just stupidity. A black belt isn't some sort of privileged member of society, black belts are also students of an art.
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just how it is. my instructor is brazilian and thats how a good chunk of them are. that attitude has shut off a few students who've left for other gyms. i stay though because i have no problem with respect and he's the highest ranked guy within 150 miles.
 
I don't see anything wrong with it. I don't mind at all when any one of any belt color asks me to roll. If I don't want to roll, then I'll say no, thank you. If it seems like a challenge, then I either assume they want to test themselves against a black belt, which is valid, that they have some ego stuff going on, which is silly, or my judgement is skewed, which is possible. Any way I slice it, if I think I'll have fun, I'll roll with the person. If I think I might get hurt, or it's going to be a stupid experience, I'll politely decline.
 
I think it's understandable for a black belt to turn rolling down with a white belt if they are trying to accomplish something specific with their rolling for the day. I remember when I started and just feeling like black belts were bored as hell when they were rolling with me. Even as a blue belt I sometimes want (But don't) turn down rolling with white belts who I feel like rolling with won't help me progress in some way with what I'm working on (Specifically if it's heel hooks or something of that sort), so keep that in mind if a black belt turns you down.
 
It's an important thing to know if you are traveling and visiting other gyms. Just assume every school has that rule.
 
this is why i hate gi...because of all the elitist attitude that comes with "rank"... people should train with anybody of any skill level just like wrestling,no belts in that
 
I'll ask my coach and friends that are black belts to roll. But I won't ask ones I don't know.
 
I thought it was common knowledge etiquette that you don't ask higher belts to roll, they ask you.
 
Just know that often if you are asking a much more advanced person to grappler with you, you're asking them to waste their time on you. I never say no to a white belt who asks to roll (I'm a purple), but sometimes I'm frustrated, because I get a limited time to train and I like to maximize my time on the mat. And as you get more advanced it's harder to progress, you need challenges to get better, so I'd rather roll with more advanced students. I'm not saying I always hate rolling with white belts, but aside from occasionally trying new things it doesn't do much for me. So the white belt is essentially asking the black belt to donate his time so the white belt can get the experience.

Again, I'm not endorsing the practice, but I'm saying there is an argument for being respectful of the training needs/goals of more advanced students.
 
hell wall said:
this is why i hate gi...because of all the elitist attitude that comes with "rank"... people should train with anybody of any skill level just like wrestling,no belts in that
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Nobody is really following your gimmick.

And for the record, when I was wrestling sometimes at summer clinics there would be some local guys from Hofstra (D1) getting some work in. Me being a 10th grader or whatever I was, I wouldn't just stroll up to them and ask to work with them for a round.
 
I'm a white belt and
During open mat the only one left for me to partner
With was a BB so I asked him to roll and he gladly accepted
He then proceded to handle me like I've never been handled before
Lol I couldn't get off my back and once I thought I had the opening I got collar
Choked with him standing over me it was awsome lol there was also this one point during the roll
Where he was in my gaurd and just stood up to fix his belt while I was trying to pull him back downbut but after the roll he gave me pointers and I felt honored to roll with a black belt and I don't see why any BB should refuse
To roll with anyone they should want to spread their knowledge
 
when a white belt is asking a black belt to roll you are basically asking him to teach you. Black belts get paid a fair amount of money to do this as a private. That is why I ask my coach and my friends only. I'm lucky enough to have been around many black belts that have asked me to roll
 
TheFirstMohican said:
Black belts do the asking /thread
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Sure...stuck up ones do.

Listen, if I'm visiting a gym and don't know a black belt, I'm not asking to roll with the black belt. I get that. I certainly may ask to speak with the black belt to thank him for allowing me to train there, but I'm not calling him out.

BUT, if I'm training at a school for any length of time, I have always ended up being in a position where I could ask the black belt to roll.

Because most of them aren't dicks, believe it or not.
 
TheFirstMohican said:
Of course some won't be dicks about it but it isn't proper etiquette.
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I'm done with flimsy etiquette rules from Brazil man.

If Brazilians would actually give keenan shit for leaving Lloyd, calling him "creonte" then their etiquette rules are worthless to me.
 
Jagcorps_esq said:
I'm done with flimsy etiquette rules from Brazil man.

If Brazilians would actually give keenan shit for leaving Lloyd, calling him "creonte" then their etiquette rules are worthless to me.
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I don't know if I would base that opinion on someone from this forum that was clearly trying to troll. I think the vast majority would have no problem at all with someone leaving that team right now.
 
How is Keenan's bullshit relevant, and it isn't about being a brazil rule. You just don't ask, it's about being respectful.
 
KGB256 said:
I don't know if I would base that opinion on someone from this forum that was clearly trying to troll. I think the vast majority would have no problem at all with someone leaving that team right now.
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I know. I'm partly trolling myself right now.

I do see the sense in this particular form of etiquette, but I've known too many black belts that think it's a silly rule too.

I just play the situation by ear and I'm certainly not going to enforce it, should I become a black belt.
 
Some of you guys are idiots. It isn't an ego thing. Black belts get essentially zero from rolling with lower belts, and at the same time, lower belts tend to go buck wild thinking they need to "do their best" because they're going with a black. The truth is, a lot of the time the black belt is doing nothing but exposing himself to a dangerous spaz most of the time he rolls with a lower belt.

And what happens is all the blues and whites want to roll with the black. So during an open mat the black belt will come off as an asshole if he's refusing to roll with all these guys. The "rule" just helps eliminate this bullshit. There's nothing wrong with asking, especially if he's obviously looking around the room for a partner, but give the guy a chance to get the same thing out of open mat that you would want to get by letting him choose his partner. Most of the time it isn't even a big deal. But it most definitely can be.

This brings up the converse "rule": if a BB asks you to roll, you should roll with him.
 
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