rolling vs tournament

[redraptor]

Unfortunately for me I can really afford $100 or more a month for bjj classes so my training consists of submissions101 videos and rolling with my older brother who watches them too. One thing i notice when my bro and I practice is that when we decide to roll, we are a lot more explosive than what I usually see when people roll in other youtube videos. I really only see people roll with so much explosiveness in BJJ tournaments.

It didn't really hit me until i went to a BJJ school which offered a free class to new people who showed up. So me, my bro, and another friend of mine who sometimes practices with us went to milk out at much jiujistu as we possibly can. After we learned the kimora from guard and did conditioning all the people who have been there for a year or more got to roll with a partner. Thats when it really hit me. Because it was almost as if they were doing the jiujitsu chess thing that Ari had in one of his videos to practice submissions.

I guess my big question after all that is should me and my brother start going slower when we roll so we can work more on our technique or are we fine with being very explosive with every sweep and position?

[Oneiros]

FOr me it is always "slow and chess"
with explosiveness comes a sloppy technique...
sloppy techniques tend to injure people if they are explosive...

I always try the techniques as slow as possible and if I am comfortable enough I start "gain momentum"...

but thats just me...
________
TEAM EUROPE (http://www.toyota-wiki.com/wiki/Toyota_Team_Europe)

[BadKarmaRising]

I guess my big question after all that is should me and my brother start going slower when we roll so we can work more on our technique or are we fine with being very explosive with every sweep and position?

Why not spend time doing both? Just be careful "exploding" into joint locks. It's your garage, not Abu Dhabi.

[Chris Herzog]

Its because training at the gym is about getting better.

The key to success is to drill, drill, drill and spar. Sparring should be about working the techniques you drill in a competitive (read that as rolling with resistance) environment....not competition.

There are times you can turn up the heat, but I don't suggest it on a daily basis, maybe 2-3x a month. When we roll at my academy its about 60-70% tops.

Its how you get better and at a pace that allows you to learn and adapt and work transitional flow. Not rolling to "fight for your life" like you would in competition. Save going that hard for actual tournaments. You'll find you learn faster, and will be able to hit those moves you drill in competition easier and with more efficiency.

[Ari Bolden]

Most people who start doing jiu jitsu are explosive, stiff and compensate using strength over technique (they don't know any better). Going slow and steady is one of the defining qualities of jiu jitsu players. While that explosiveness is a good tool to use, it should be used wisely. Trying to buck a guy off you using all your power is going to drain your gas tank real quick. Then, the guy on top, is going to handle you like a doll in a dogs mouth.

Going super hard can also lead to injuries at a much higher rate. Jiu Jitsu literally means gentle fighting art or using technique (leverage, balance, etc) to defeat your partner. That is why many small jiu jitsu players can defeat people much larger than them.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Now you may say "Well, at ADCC, they go all out." The reality is, they do and they don't. The skill level of these guys is world class so their explosiveness isn't stiff. They don't have 'useless expenditures of energy'. Everything has a purpose and they don't grapple like to bulls in a china shop.

I see this a lot. It takes time to get smooth and replace that UMPH with a little smmmmmooooth.

[redraptor]

Thank you guys so much for the advice. I guess the part I really have a hard time with is when i see a submission coming and i know that if i just move a little bit faster I can counter it and get a better position in turn. Or if i want to do a sweep or pass i know i have to be fast to get them because if i go slow the other person will know and defend for it. And once i move fast for the better position or defense then my bro is gonna have to move fast to get the submission and then we get back to being explosive.

If you guys could give me help on that problem I would really appreciate it because it happens to us every time we want to practice.

[the viking clan 777]

good points ,a lot of guys simply are to slow ,relaxed or not agrisive enough.when they come to tourney against guys who are wrestlirs or sambo or what ever they get beat.a lot of guys go to bjj tourney and are wrestlirs or some kind of grapler and they are explosive like a grenade

[jakem]

try drilling ari's ju-jitsu chess drills.this requires you to plan moves,not rolling around like two lizards.this is pure technique drills.check it out in the vids section.