He tapped.
The message was clear: injuries aren't worth it – and that goes for everyone.
We want Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to
be a positive force in the world. Take the advice of the Jedi Master's Jedi Master, Yoda. Don't let the Dark Side of the Force win.
These points will help:
- Check your ego at the door
- Take care of your training partners
- Don't crank submissions and give your opponent a chance to tap
- Tap early
- Take extra care when training with newbies, women (if you're a man), or people much lighter than you.
- For women, newbies, or both, choose your training partners carefully
- Dangerous moves to be careful with in training.
BOTTOM LINE: Check your ego at the door.
"Ego is the BJJ demon," says our very own Jedi Master Niko Han. It's something we all struggle with, all of the time, at every stage of BJJ, on and off the mat.
Ego can slow down learning; make us bad training partners, and most of all, highly potential to be downright dangerous.
Ego is what makes someone crank a submission.
Ego is what stops someone from tapping when they should.
Ego is what makes you slam your training partner
Please note, the ego does not mean you're arrogant or sombong. It can just mean you're afraid of losing, have to "win" every roll (even though it's not a competition), especially with those you perceive to be less skillful or physically weaker. The ego is also what stops you from rolling with certain people for fear of losing.
So please, as far as you can, leave your ego at the door during training.
Point no. 1: Take care of your training partners
We are here, coming together for a common goal: to get better TOGETHER AS A TEAM.
As a team, it matters a lot less whether we win or lose during training sessions. What matters is to improve ourselves, physically and mentally. Take the opportunity to practice different moves that you're not too comfortable with, to practice with different body types, people with different strategies, and different skill levels.
As a team, we are expected to throw away our egos and help each other. For instance, the more experienced students letting the least experienced try some of the moves just being taught (and try different defenses and escapes), giving them chance to practice their defense and escapes, and guide them on when to tap.
In relation to injury to training partner or yourselves, think of the following consequences:
1. Injuring a training partner means you will have less people to train with, as people will be reluctant to train with an 'unsafe' training partner
2. Injuring a training partner mean you expose the club to certain degree of reputational risk
3. Getting injured means medical bills to pay and reduced efficiency during our day-to-day work, which potentially affect the total income of the injured individual
So, as a team, we don't beat the crap out of each other to satisfy our individual ego. As a team, we help each other get better, regardless what level you are in.
Point no. 2: Don't crank submissions and give your opponent a chance to tap.
This leads on from Ego. Cranking submissions and/or doing super-fast submissions which don’t give your opponent a chance to tap. We've all either done it or had it done. All of us hate to lose, but not giving your opponent to tap means that you put your training partners in danger.
Moreover, it is a sign of lack of mastery in technique - as mastery of technique means control - which means knowing how much, how to apply the force, and when to stop.
If you are about to apply a technique which you are not too familiar on how to control it, then do it slowly and take a lot of extra care when applying it. If you end up in an awkward position with a potential submission, then be careful and don't move too fast, or you might give your training partner a submission without giving them a chance to submit (since you don't realize it's a submission)
Point no. 3: Tap early
Training is training. You can always tap. Sometimes injuries happen because a person won't tap, because, yes, you guessed it. The ego.
Tap early. Save your joints. It's not worth breaking bones or joints. You'll fight another day instead of going for physio for at least the next 6 weeks.
Tapping doesn't mean you suck. It means that you have a lion's heart to admit your weakness, improve it, and be a better player
Tapping means you can train on the next day, reflect on what happened, and close that weakness at a faster rate, as you will stop training if injured
Point no. 4: Take extra care when training with newbies, women (if you're a man), or people much lighter than you.
If you're more experienced and/or heavier and stronger, you probably have an advantage. But you might still want to "win" the roll, so you go hard. So, as much as the art is designed for the weak to triumph against the strong, you have to take extra care under these circumstances.
Firstly, with people physically weaker than you. Consider this: 60kg fighter against an 80kg fighter. If we have 80kg fighter on top, the 60kg fighter is pressed against 1.33 times his weight, while if we reverse the position, the fighter on the bottom will only have 0.75 times of his own bodyweight pressed against him. You see how the pressure to the lighter person's bodyweight is multiplied? So, take into consideration of this factor when fighting against lighter training partners.
Secondly, newbies. The newbies tend to lack the experience to know dangerous positions and sometimes might not tap in time, or even, diving into dangerous positions not intended to happen. If you think it's dangerous, let them go and start again.
Thirdly, Women, as they tend to have lighter bones, smaller bodies, and weaker pound-per-pound against most men.
Please understand (if you're a man), a BJJ or any martial arts environment can be an intimidating place for a woman. That's why men generally outnumber women 10 to 1. Ironically, as any martial art is designed for the weak to triumph over the strong, women probably need it the most.
So, when training with these three groups (even more so if a person is included to more than one of these groups), use it as a chance to train your technique, sensitivity, reflexes, and finesse (detil2 halus).
Point no. 5: For women, newbies, or both, choose your training partners carefully.
Most of you know this already, but you really have to know who you're rolling with. Senior grades, people who've been training a long time, are usually safer to train with. White belts and new guys, even if they are nice, might end up hurting you out of inexperience.
In addition, although it has been pointed out on point 4; please make sure that you are comfortable with your training partner. Despite the fact that we have put certain levels of safety standards into our class, some tend to be safer training partners than others, and you can observe during training.
Take BOTH of these factors into account when choosing your training partner
Point no. 6: Dangerous moves to be careful with in training.
I'm not saying don't do these moves, but apply them with extra care to your training partners. Make sure you know when to stop to give your opponent chance to tap:
Arm bar from the mount
Americana
Kimura from guard, side control, or any time.
Heel hooks
Knee bars
Neck cranks (often illegal, anyway). Note that a slight difference in some chokes can result in neck cranks (e.g.: side choke, guillotine choke)
Final Thoughts
As a closing remark, safety is always paramount in our class, even more so since we are learning a lethal art. Having said so, I would like to highlight that any action showing gross negligence on safety of others, or any intentional harm toward others, will not be tolerated to ensure a safe and enjoyable training environment for everyone.
Our club is named "Synergy". Synergy means that team members help each other improve, not about who's the king of the hill. Synergy means taking care of each other during training, so that your training partner can improve and push you even further and able to make you a better fighter.
See you all at the mat. :)
This article originally made by Bramono Lunardi, and my instructor Niko Han sent it by email to me…
Like I usually told you in the end of every class sessions: Safety first...guys! Then Play the Game! :-)
