Never ask a black belt to roll.

[Uchi Mata]

It's BS. Unless he feels like he can't say "No thanks, I'm going to train with this other BB instead", what's the problem? Why would he beat you up? Are BBs so high above the rest of us that they can't be spoken to? F that. Asking someone to roll is not a challenge or disrespectful, I don't get this at all. Maybe it's a Brazilian thing, I haven't ever really encountered it among Americans.

 

[DeadSexyBeasteh]

I will try this at a new gym after I tell them I've trained UFC for quite some time.

 

[boisefireman]

Crazy. I ask my instructor to roll and anyone can ask me to roll. I have the opposite problems. I can't get white belt to not be shy and roll with me.

 

[Jagcorps_esq]

Crazy. I ask my instructor to roll and anyone can ask me to roll. I have the opposite problems. I can't get white belt to not be shy and roll with me.

It's because you're a scary, large brown belt.

What person in their right mind would WANT to roll with you?

 

[lechien]

It is an old school mentality. Now flame away.

 

[smittaayymma]

ive rolled with 2 black belts. they completely tooled me but weren't rough or mad and definitely didn't act like they felt disrespected.

in fact, after every submission, and sometimes during the middle of our roll, they would take the time to instruct me and correct some of my mistakes. they have always been gracious.

this exact thing for me rolled with a black belt a couple times but i wasn't like hey let's roll. it was more like hey we can roll it would be awesome if during and after you could give me some tips to tighten my technique up or show me what you did.

 

[Cash Bill 52]

It is not disrespectful as long as you bow three times and offer gifts of spices and jewels.

Then, we're cool...

 

[TriangleMan]

Screw that black belt, roll with anybody you want.

 

[LS1Rx7]

Our instructor usually starts off light. If you try something he'll laugh and let you get into a good position if you earn it with good technique, but from there he'll obviously escape and then start the attack. The intensity knob just goes up and up until you get tapped from there, but I haven't rolled with him in.... say 6 months or more maybe which is kinda sad I think.

I asked him once and he had just got done doing back to back classes, doing cross fit and then rolling with some of the MMA team and he just politely declined saying he was beat. I think I'll ask again, I don't think he'd hold it against me.

I have visited other gyms and I was paying a drop fee so I wanted to get some good rolls in and get my money's worth. I wanted to ask the black belt instructor but I do fear that they may take it as a challenge as mentioned earlier.

 

[jdturner11]

I just use belts as a way to gauge experience. They're all nice dudes who'll help me, but I try not to ask them to roll too often only because they don't get much out of it. Not to mention they'd be less keen on helping me out if they felt I already wasted some valuable training time.

Not asking a black belt to roll because of some self imposed status, however, is as silly as bowing before you step onto the mat (sorry). They are a member of your gym, your teammates, they are your equals.

 

[TSO]

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

Are you a brown belt?

 

[platfox]

I visited my friend's school. I saw a 140lb white belt ask a visiting black belt for a roll. The black belt put a beating on him so bad the gym owner had to come over and tell the black belt to ease up. He didn't get mad at the black belt. Instead he pulled the white belt aside and said, don't ask black belts to roll from now on. It was disgusting and I told my friend I'm never visiting his gym again.

 

[Schizogenia]

Well, maybe tradition isn't such a huge thing here, and the trainings are so fast-paced, that usually we just pair up with the guy next to us when swinging partners. I usually TRY to get a higher belt/more experienced guy (We have excellent guys at white or blue who have trained submission wrestling/MMA for ages) if there is one handy.
Often the highest belts group up in the beginning and thus are not as available as the rest, but I would not shy away from a BB, especially, ESPECIALLY for some silly tradition.

I do get the point about maximizing your training as a BB, and I can take a "no thanks" like a grown-up...

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

You guys aren't paired up each roll by the instructor? Or at least put in lines that move in a pre set fashion? I hate free for all sparring time

 

[TSO]

You guys aren't paired up each roll by the instructor? Or at least put in lines that move in a pre set fashion? I hate free for all sparring time

I like the idea of a free for all, but being a bigger guy I hear "not today bro, my (insert fake injury here) is acting up", then they go and roll with someone else.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

Yeah, laziness is my main issue with the free for all. People seem to push harder and leave comfort zones when they have someone else dictating their training

 

[DeadSexyBeasteh]

Who in here is a black belt and wants to get smashed bestial sexy style?!

 

[randomg1t]

the blackbelt was just a big douche, then.

like SSR said, when you're rolling with someone much more advanced, you're pretty much wasting their time because they can do anything they want and you're not giving them any resistance. but so what if you are? it's not like a legion of whitebelts lined up and told the blackbelt he needs to roll with them for the rest of the year.

if you can't spare 7 minutes to roll with a beginner and help him out, then say so. don't roll with him, beat the living shit out of them and then sulk because you got asked. that's just childish as fuck.

 

[Schizogenia]

You guys aren't paired up each roll by the instructor? Or at least put in lines that move in a pre set fashion? I hate free for all sparring time

Nobody is paired up by an instructor per se. After the warmup we just pair up with someone to drill that evenings technique, and after that roll the first roll with said partner. After that its about 30sec to take a sip of water and adjust gear. So it has evolved to pretty much picking the guy next to us. But on an individual level, some decide beforehand to roll together at some point and just begin closeby to each other (to save time). It is not frowned upon to ask someone in specific either, if you just are ready to go when the buzzer sounds (regardless of rank. It is even encouraged to ask an senior/better grappler to roll. Not so much as to get an spontaneous slow clap, but as almost all instructors are old-school pre-MMA fighters, they do respect an attitude like that)
There is one guy that is very similar to me, style-wise and size-wise, but a shitload faster, as Im a wee tad stronger, and we often decide to roll "the third roll after the technique" or something like that beforehand, as we seem to learn much from each other, and get to go harder without smashing, or being over-efficient.

 

[BJJ Coffee Drinker]

there is a time and place for everything

If a BB instructor is mainly teaching class and did not join in on the rotations for rolling and you then go asking him to roll when he clearly did not intend to join in with anyone, is inappropriate.

If the BB did teach class but then joined in to roll and rotate with everyone, it should be fine to ask them to train. This is what my instructor did. He encourages us if we want to train, ask.