Rolling from knees? wtf

[Zankou]

I hate it when people act as if focusing on one specific part of grappling at a time is somehow counterproductive. Based on that principle, we'd never do drills at all, we'd just spar with strikes from standing, since it's more realistic.

If you want to get better at ground grappling, best way is to do a lot of ground grappling. Not exhaust yourself, with a high risk of injury, in a long all-out takedown battle first. That's what you do when you want to work on takedowns.

 

[stlnl2]

I went to check out an ATT gym that opened near me, and they start rolling from their knees? wtf is that shit. The instructor is a cool guy, a pro fighter, BJJ black belt, Judo Black belt, and i asked why do you roll from knees, and he said "because this is BJJ, we start on feet in our UFC stand up class"... wtf?

Hmmmm, maybe he knows about 1000 times more than you do what it takes to develop all around for MMA?

 

[VladKGB]

I'm just used to rolling from standing in my Gracie school, and i thought starting from knees was an anomaly, i guess its standard. Thanks for the all the intelligent explanations.

 

[XJ3B]

we start standing at my school, but we have ample space.

 

[Cyclone Mike]

what gracie school are you with? every school iv ever been to starts from the knees unless theyre specifically training for an upcoming competition or just want to work takedowns

 

[Terere**]

who the heck starts standing up? its BJJ ffs, not takedown into sidecontrol and lay there sleeping, repeat

 

[Mikey Triangles]

who the heck starts standing up? its BJJ ffs, not takedown into sidecontrol and lay there sleeping, repeat

we start standing about 80% of the time at my school since it's 4,000 sq feet and we're big on competition. most of the rest of the time we start with one person up and the other down since it's a familiar position in competition.


the only time we ever really start both people on the knees is with new people, injured people, and a few others. not that there's anything wrong with it. we just happen to like wrestling, judo, flying submissions, etc. a lot, and we have the space so we usually take advantage. just because you start standing doesn't mean you stall and sacrafice technique.


starting on the knees is great though, and i think it's completely necessary for newbs.

 

[D Train]

We have too many guys to start on our feet. We typically begin on the knees, but occassionally, half the class will line the walls while the other half starts standing, then will swap it up. It's no big deal.

 

[PsyKahTik]

Lol your instructor does MMA, is a BJJ and Judo black belt, but you think that he has no idea what he's doing...I hope youre a shitty white belt or just have no common sense.

Its rare for schools to start standing up during regular grappling. Sure stand up is important, and we do stand up drills, but when rolling live...you start from the knees most of the time.

If that is new to you...where the fuck have you been training?

 

[Art Vandelay]

I try and start standing my first 3 rolls of a normal night, and if possible, I'll work takedowns for 30-60 mins once a week.

Stand-up grappling is definitely my weakest area, definitely if I am offensive. Obviously, if I started standing all the time, I'd be better than I am currently.

However, I estimate the wear and tear from bringing it to the mat is tenfold what it is from the knees to submission. I am not willing to sacrifice total time on the mat to expedite my stand-up game.

Everyone who responded has already stated all the obvious reasons why a club can't have all their guys work from the feet, and why it is not great for specific individuals to start from the feet.

 

[alaskajits]

Lol your instructor does MMA, is a BJJ and Judo black belt, but you think that he has no idea what he's doing...I hope youre a shitty white belt

im guessing thats the case.

 

[djsoma]

we don't do it all the time but we have it done it before- don't see the big deal

 

[PsyKahTik]

^^^Just because we all thought it was funny how grappling from the knees was new to him...

 

[The_Grinder]

I'm at MMAA, we mainly start on the knees. When we work stand up, a lot of it is reversal/defensive.

 

[Timbaland]

I kind of thought the same way at first but I understand the reasoning why they do this. One of them is mat space. If a bunch of people are training on the mat and everyone starts from standing chances are someone is going to get hurt. I've been kicked and kneed in the face accidentally by people training from standing.

Another reason is some people stall. Theres some wrestlers where I train and they will catch me with a takedown. I'm a guard player so I can keep them from passing my guard and they don't want to go into my closed guard so they stay standing. Because of this I work for a stand up.

My school also trains from standing but we limit it to only 2 matches on the mat during this time as our mat space isn't that big and the instructor will watch us and yell at the people who stall.

 

[georgejjr]

Mat space is a big reason, as people pointed out. It also allows you to concentrate on groundwork. What we do (MMA club) is to start in one person's guard (you can alternate) rather than knee to knee, simply because knee to knee is a relatively rare occurrence in MMA. Some guys prefer to start in side mount, simply because they want the practice escaping etc.

You can go this route yourself btw, just immediately drop into guard when you start, and then you're in effect starting from guard.

 

[BrokenCouch]

we usually don't even start at the knees, just from someone's guard. if there is enough mat space we'll go at the knees, but as a white belt ive never done standing with the exception of training with the blue belts

 

[TheMadOne]

I hate it when people pull guard, plus takedowns are pretty important for competitions, you can win with one solid takedown. Also it would translate better to mma or a street fight. Anyways you all make good points, it is more dangerous having dudes dance around the mat in a clinch trying to get a takedown.

We practice takedowns in sub wrestling class. Usually we will finish a class starting up standing through the takedown, then transition into BJJ until there is a sub. That way we can practice putting everything together.

 

[TKDGrappler]

starting from the knees...normal....people grip fighting from there instead of pulling a guard...annoying and unrealistic

 

[jjmuaythaiguy]

I'm just used to rolling from standing in my Gracie school, and i thought starting from knees was an anomaly, i guess its standard. Thanks for the all the intelligent explanations.

Name of school, head instructor, link to the academy, your belt rank and years training. I want to see what Gracie school starts standing when rolling.

I mean what the hell are the white belts and brand new students to do.

My school starts standing only for self defense, muay thai, judo and take down class. The rest is from the knees when its ground work.