Never ask a black belt to roll.

[icemanliddell]

Hmm...that's funny. There was one black belt whom I used to roll with actually tapped on purpose. Sometimes there was a technique he wanted to perform and when it did not work to his liking, he just gave the fight to me.

 

[fozzit]

That's old school Brazil mentality that mostly died out. Back in the day bb chose their sparring partner and there are cases when lower ranks would issue a challenge.

 

[crazyjames1233]

personally i think its bull. always ask higher belts to roll with you because you can learn the most from them and thats the way it should be. but at some places thats taboo so so be it. probably be best to know whats kosher beforehand

 

[nefti]

personally i think its bull. always ask higher belts to roll with you because you can learn the most from them and thats the way it should be. but at some places thats taboo so so be it. probably be best to know whats kosher beforehand

not really, depends on your belt lvl. white belts rolling with blacks seem to be a waste imho. also higher belts require other higher belts to get a good competitive roll

 

[BJJArsenal]

I don't ask my coach to roll (if it's the blackbelt taking the session). He wouldn't mind it if I asked, I just don't.

Pretty sure I did when I'd only been there like a week though, which doesn't really add up.

 

[beamlord]

We've got two gracie barra black belts at our gym. Both of them are super friendly and always happy to teach you some tricks and give you pointers. But one of them is kind of hesitant when it comes to rolling with me. Provided, I'm an inconvenient sparring partner. I'm totally inexperienced and heavy. So I can totally understand that he doesn't want to waste his time and/or get hurt. That's fine.
The other guy though, uses every possibility to roll with me and apparently enjoys that.
Both are cruiserweights at around 180lbs. And both are brazilians. So it's a character and a personal preference thing that makes it different, I guess.

 

[iama]

At my club black belts often do stand up or ne waza with anyone no matter what rank.

 

[Dogstarman]

If they don't want to roll they usually say, I'm going to roll with this guy then we can go next round. No disrespect and I get the point. If he feels like he he will roll if not then, meh.

 

[Dirty Holt]

Im guessing said black belt is in his mid 30's. That generation grew up with movie stars who all said one liners after they killed a guy. Had you been 36 years old and tapped the black belt, the appropriate thing to do would be cooley stating "looks like its a white christmas."

 

[tenniswhiz]

I got spoken to by the instructor once when I was really tired and turned down a purple belt who asked me to roll. The code being that being a blue, I was obligated to fulfill the request of a higher ranking team member.

 

[pesadissimo]

My black belt coach has rolled with me a handful of times, but always because he asked me. This is more on me than on him, since I've never really felt comfortable asking him. The brown belt coaches, however, are all more than willing to roll at any time.

 

[randomg1t]

I got spoken to by the instructor once when I was really tired and turned down a purple belt who asked me to roll. The code being that being a blue, I was obligated to fulfill the request of a higher ranking team member.

god that's stupid. i mean sure, a coach telling you to stop being such a pansy and roll, that's normal as far as i'm concerned. but giving you a lecture about how you should accept the invitation because the guy outranks you is just stupid.

he has a higher belt, which means he's better than me at the sport. it doesn't mean he holds any authority over me or is in a higher caste for crying out loud.

 

[Apple Pie]

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.

It's so sad BJJ and martial arts in general is so impeded with /\/\ mentality.

 

[Human Bass]

I've rolled with 2 or 3 black belts, one that was a mundial champ as brown, of course they owned me, but they were never brutal and gave me some space so I could at least try something before ragdolling me.

It's very enlighten and inspiring to roll with a black belt as a white, as long the black belt shows off technique.

 

[Uchi Mata]

god that's stupid. i mean sure, a coach telling you to stop being such a pansy and roll, that's normal as far as i'm concerned. but giving you a lecture about how you should accept the invitation because the guy outranks you is just stupid.

he has a higher belt, which means he's better than me at the sport. it doesn't mean he holds any authority over me or is in a higher caste for crying out loud.

I think it's bad form to turn down a roll if a higher belt offers just because presumably you'll learn more than they will and they are in some very small sense doing you a favor, but it's not really that big a deal. Nothing that deserves a lecture. Blue belts decline rolls with me at the end of class...I give them hell about it, but I get it. People are tired, have to work, etc. Not the end of the world.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

Schiz, that's the strangest rolling policy I've ever heard of. Do you only droll technique for one five minute round? Or is the round prior to rolling a recap?

We get paired by the instructor every roll, except for Saturday open mats. I definitely roll with an assortment of guys different than what I would if it was open

 

[luckyshot]

It depends on the class composition and the guy. If there a 7 people in a particular class, then, yeah, everyone is pretty much going to roll with everyone.

If there are 30 people in class and the black belt in question is a serious competitor actively training for something, then I could see him being a little irked when a white belt wants to use his time. Nothing that justifies being a dick, but I could see a little "message sending" under these circumstances. Not by being unduly rough or anything, but just by dominating.

Personally, I'm usually happy when a new guy asks me to roll. It's nice to have a bit of a break between hard rolls.

 

[randomg1t]

I think it's bad form to turn down a roll if a higher belt offers just because presumably you'll learn more than they will and they are in some very small sense doing you a favor, but it's not really that big a deal. Nothing that deserves a lecture. Blue belts decline rolls with me at the end of class...I give them hell about it, but I get it. People are tired, have to work, etc. Not the end of the world.

well sure, if you refuse to roll with someone because they outrank you, then you deserve a lecture. you're gonna get your ass beat, but that's the point. you will learn. stop being a pussy and take your ass whooping.

but being tired, sleepy, feeling sick or just not feeling like doing it isn't some insult to the higher rank, it's just that you don't want to roll. it's retarded to be offended by that.

 

[Wanderlei Industries]

not really, depends on your belt lvl. white belts rolling with blacks seem to be a waste imho. also higher belts require other higher belts to get a good competitive roll

I fail to see how it's a waste of time for either side. Black belt gets to practice teaching technique to a beginner. White belt learns technique from expert.

 

[Protectandserve]

I've rolled with several blackbelts, both drilling and sparring. Never had any issue, they dominated the shit out of me but it never was in an egotistical manner. Generally my experiences rolling with blackbelts has been great, they have all been really good at explaining holes in my game and little fixes on what I was doing wrong.

For info I'm still only a blue belt.