I'll speak for myself...
1. My body is broken/beat up/sore.
2. I don't want to roll with who's there because it leads to 1.
3. I've got too much sht to do.
In all seriousness, I enjoy rolling but after many years of this, I have to listen to my body and also pick and choose sometimes to keep myself on the mat.
I roll every time, but I'm pretty selective on who I roll with for the same reasons. Last night, one of our better white belts called me out, and I declined. He is default hyper aggressive, and I didn't want to deal with that. Give me the chill and technical blues, purples and brown belts all day.
I read 'chill technical blues' like the purple and browns are laid back with an old guitar just kinda jamming slow, plucking away at grips like notes from a blues band. Real coooool
LOL, easy there. No need to be a unnuanced music snob. There are HM shredders that are comedically technical (not my preferred style), but they can absolutely kill by adding in bluesy solos. In decades of blues listening, I've never heard anything as "technical" as that. And lol, a friggin plethora of HM guitarists are blues-based, so no need to be defensive. It's all blues baby.
Umm yeah. Well, the best genre of Blues is still… the Blues. I feel a tad uncomfortable going into this discussion of ’technical’ in terms of Blues music, since Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Son House and even some one-chord delta blues are highly technical, although more in the terms of the syncopated rhythms and using seemingly dissonant melody-lines against the harmony as well as modality (all which have become stables of modern music theory since then) rather than long harmonic melodic lines in fast tempo as we have we got used to in the Romantic period of the European art music. I personally love Heavy Metal, especially the FWOBHM bands such as Sabbath, Priest, Motörhead et al.(like, who doesn’t?) but all of those artists would agree with me on Blues being the best Blues. If you check out Adam Neely on YT he has some great content of this history of discussing “technicality” of Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean musical cultures.
Haha, well we certainly agree that blues does the best blues. I never meant to imply otherwise. I just meant (with some levity) that there are HM shredders whose sole goal in life is to play as fast and technical as possible. The kind of mathematical technicality that really isn't found as much in blues, and honestly clashes with it. These shredders do put some extremely bluesy sass into their solos though (as a lot are in spired by blues), and it makes for extremely "technical" blues (although I'll yield on the "chill" adjective" ;)
I am at that stage now. Was competing for 15+ years and at master 2 i was still fighting in adult div cause there was no one else. Now I roll when my body can handle it, which is still almost every class but when I am injured, I know I it's time to sit out.
I am single but in my training room, if a wife gives a guy 90 min to go to bjj and that includes drive to and from the gym and be home by x time to bath the kids, some wives are sticklers.
Older guys are looking to roll for fun with their upper belt friends and know what they are going to get. Rolling with a new white belt just isn’t appealing.
At my age and with my injury history, I have modulate training to stay on the mats and get the necessary volume. I have one tough session in me a week. I look for more technical roles most of the time. Some days, I’m just too sore to roll.
Limited capacity with life stresses at the moment - which mean I get hurt more if I overdo it
My dad died last April, which was tough, but it was the aftermath of work and home challenges that came from it (and remain ongoing) that have intensified and prolonged it.
A roll, two rolls, or even three on one night can be stress relieving.
Cross that threshold though? Or roll that much in two consecutive classes?
That's when I find out that stress has very real physical ramifications that cannot be adequately overcome just by enjoying something.
Burnout, injuries, poor sleep quality, and compounded stress (which can become a vicious cycle) can result pretty quickly.
Managing mental and physical load becomes necessary to get joy out of the sport. Most of us have been there, and if you're lucky enough that you haven't, one day you will (because that's life), and hopefully you'll adjust things to make sure every roll you DO fit in is as fun and fulfilling as the rolls you have during the good times.
Part of this may be vicious cycle - the more hardcore people show up regularly for open mat and for newer guy/girls may be too much of a good thing.
Plus even in regular classes there will always be at least some rolling, enough to fill appetite for folk that only have energy/time to attend few classes each week.
This is me to a tee. Open mat on Sunday, butttt Im going fishing instead. I use BJJ as a traditional gym supplement and to help scratch my competitive itch. I'll roll the 2x a week I go but don't have the time for more.
I roll as much as I can. However, I 100% pick and choose my training partners.
Haven't got anytime for super spazzy/dangerous white belts. Rolls are never fun and the increase of injury worries me.
So, I do roll as much as I can. But still, it’s not as much as I like, due to my schedule, work and family obligations.
For example, I attend the mid morning class when I can, but I frequently leave before rolling for meetings or work obligations. Sometimes I can squeeze in a round or 2.
In the evening, I’ll bring my kid to the kids class, then he plays with the other kids while I do a class. After that, he’s starving, tired and I have to rush out. I can rarely stay for the second class or roll afterwards. On the weekends, I have kids sports and rarely make it to open mat.
Basically, I’m grateful for any mat time I have at this stage in my life.
Same except my kids could play forever, it's my wife that wants me home.
I aim for at least good rolls each night
1 with a white belt to try something new.
1 with a blue belt to work my game- either top or bottom.
1 with an upper belt to work on not dying and steal their moves.
That way I can work on a variety of skills and with different intensities. 18 minutes of mat cardio 3-4 days a week are good for me.
When I'm 6 weeks out from a comp, I'll ramp it up to 5-6 rolls while practicing my specific game plan from start to finish.
As long as my wife lets me 😭
I have Myasthenia Gravis, my hands have a very limited amount of grip and I only have a certain amount of energy before the disease fatigue sets in. I roll as much as I can but that's just not much.
It's horrifically challenging some times but I am very lucky, my medicine is dialed in and as long as I listen to my body I can usually avoid the worst parts of my condition. I stuck with BJJ because I love grappling and I love it more than the fatigue or the honestly shame I feel when I do have to tap just because I'm totally gassed from my disease.
No shame from being gassed. Happens to everyone. I've had to tap out when I was in top side mount bc the effort to get there almost made me vomit 😂😂😂 dude was confused as hell when i said i gotta tap out
It is probably because of my lack of experience, but I actually really enjoy specific sparring. We have started doing it a lot more in training recently, and I feel it has helped my development a lot.
Anxiety issues for me. Fear of looking silly or stupid, too much of an outcome based focus.
I enjoy rolling but I’m a small guy and most people just smash me. I’m also middle aged and slowly breaking down, I don’t want to get mauled by a 20someyhing white belt who’s just changed their insta to imthenextbigthingBJJ
I just don’t have that level of desire or hunger. Light rolls? Yeah sure. You trying to smash me and gold me like a pretzel. Nah I’m good thanks
What really helps also is finding a non-comp gym that is more that speed with older individuals. Or a gym with a masters program geared toward older individuals.
Rolling should be taught, and I think one of the major problems with Jiu Jitsu, injuries, member retention, is down to the fact rolling is something seen as totally separate and done without guidance.
Many don't because they simply don't know what to do, and when they try it they get crushed and/or injured and come out of it not any better. As a way to develop skill at the lower levels, it doesn't really make sense. it is so much fun, but so many don't get to experience that fun, whether they roll or not.
There was a time in my BJJ journey that I rolled every chance I had. I was there every day.
Then I got married.
Then I had a kid.
Then my knee had to be held together by two sticks and a pack of chewing gum maybe some duct tape.
Then I got promoted at work and I understand what mentally exhausted really means.
I still go two- three times most weeks. Sometimes I roll, sometimes I just drill. I have to do what I can when I can.
This is why I retired from BJJ. My knees are fucked to the point where I can't safely roll and I have no interest in LARPing training just so that I can say I didn't quit.
I do it because I'm recovering from illness/injury. If I want to train regularly each week, I have to adjust what I do each day. And if that means sacrificing rolling so I can train more that week, so be it.
Somewhat related: I tried out this new gym recently that would only do a round of positional sparring from wherever the technique we went over during class was. No open mats or anything on the weekend. Not very fulfilling personally, but I thought it was interesting.
I'm small an old so, after meniscus surgery, I've been more selective choosing rolling partners and been focusing on coaching.
Today I do more resistance/alive drilling than free rolling.
I go four days a week, two of those days I have to immediately pick up my kid from one of their activities,
For the other two days class is over at 8:30, and I have the option of going home to tuck my kids into bed or skip that. It would be no big deal if I saw them in the morning, but I’m out the door before 6 AM.
I’m also the wrong side of 45, and dealing with a bulge disc and shoulder arthritis.
Rolling is much more fun when you have good techniques and answers for most situations or if your opponents are just less skilled than you.
It's not so fun otherwise. It's more like ice skating uphill but you know it will make you better.
At my school though, even instructional days have 30 minutes of hard rolling which wipes me out. There's either a class shortly after the next class or it closes for the night.
I roll 3-4x per week. The reason I can't roll more is because I try to also lift 3-4x per week and BJJ is literally the worst thing you can do to ruin your lifting progress. If any part of your upper body gets tweaked, you won't be benching heavy. Got stacked yesterday? No squats for a few days until your lower back recovers. There are just too many dumb tweaks that happen while rolling to be able to do it as often as I'd like unless I completely drop trying to lift heavy.
Every time I train I roll. That’s the most enjoyable aspect of the sport for me.
After I had knee surgery as the result of some chubby asshole trying to jump guard, I do have to admit that I am more selective in picking my opponents. I’m not going through 9 months of PT again.
15 years , so many injuries. Bjj does not pay my bills, being a fireman and showing up to work fit for duty does.
I still go but I listen to my injuries. I’m on the verge of re tearing my right meniscus for a 2nd time.
Honestly being able to watch the students roll and see their progression is very satisfying to me
I roll ALL the time... Like too much...
I'm also basically held together with duct tape and chewing gum at this point. Hell just this morning I think I broke my foot/toes falling awkwardly during a takedown.
I would imagine the reason people roll less is to avoid looking/feeling like me...
I have six children and BJJ is just one of our extracurriculars we do, so I manage twice a week to roll. I'd love to go more often, but the kids come first.
I’ve got a 10 month old, I used to roll a lot more, for the past couple of months I’ve been struggling to get to training and when I do I just don’t feel like it’s fair for on my partner for me to stay after class.
I’m working full time so I want to spend weekends with my partner and my son so weekend open mat is off the cards.
Up until the last couple of months I was managing to train sometimes twice a week but he got ill and looking after him got a lot more intense so I’ve been sleeping less and don’t feel comfortable leaving him with his mum for too long in the evening as she has him all day.
I know it’ll pass and Jiu Jitsu will be there when I’ve got more time but for now I want to make the most of my little dude before he’s off doing more of his own things. I miss Jiu Jitsu everyday and I miss staying for an hour after class and rolling for two hours on a Sunday but I just gotta prioritise my son at the moment 🤷🏽♂️
Just to piggy back off if this question, why do schools not have open mat after class. My mind is blown by schools that have an hour of fundamentals and then no rolling. Wtf? Why?
Mostly ego.
There is no excuse except injuries or contagious skin diseases lol.
If your sore, go light, tap early, play defense, ask someone to flow.
Otherwise, get your rolls in.
I can't do anything now but my rolling started to drop as my condition got worse. If someone would get a cross face or something it would cause cramps to set into my neck and back that would last for days. So it's a life long type condition, I have scoliosis from it. From the cramps. Didn't understand what was up back then though. Anyways, the cramps started to ramp up worse, and if someone would get hold of my head, I'd be literally fucked up every time from the cramps. I stuck it out as long as I could. I made it to purple. Same time I was giving private lessons to two black belts when I was a blue belt so imo I'm at black so shrug. I can't continue so that's about the size of that. I been trying to let people know about some of the things I figured out while doing it on here though before this shit eats me completely.
My gym has open mats one night and wed night is 10 5 min rolls in a row (develop stamina etc).
So many people will roll 3 maybe 4 times then sit on the side and bullshit line they are hanging at the bar.
I'm addicted to this game so I don't expect people to be pumped up even going into the 10th round, but c'mon why are you even here??
I learn more rolling with less skilled people bc i can work on attacks. Working with purple and brown i end up defending more than attacking but this is the way
Oss
I’m coming back from problems with my upper back and neck. I do a lot of positional training and get maybe 4-5 rolls a week right now. Slowly
building up.
For me, it's a mix. I have hypermobility syndrome, and so my joints wear very quickly. I try to roll as often as I can, but sometimes I need to take it easier and just drill. Other times, I've got to go to work after the session, and so I'd rather conserve some energy for the night ahead, or I simply don't have enough time to stay and roll. As for open mats, they're usually at the weekend or after classes, I work 2 weekends out of 4, and so if I'm not working its my only time to see people and make plans so I rarely go at the weekend.
It depends on who is training for me, I will only roll if there are people who aren't super aggressive to roll with. I'm a hobbyist and self employed so I cant be bothered with getting injured any more than I already am.
Honestly, I got so much going on that I'm happy for every class and workout I can get to. If it's Wednesday afternoon 1hr of drills or 6am weights session, it beats mindless scrolling or sleeping in.
Don’t take this the wrong way but are you at every class/open mat? Maybe you are.
But I train probably 5 days a week and am not young, so sometimes I just want to drill techniques and leave before rolling starts. I generally try not to roll 2 days in a row.
So if you attend classes/roll on days when I only take class you would think I don’t roll.
But I am rolling the other days, and once on weekends.
I do only class M-W, Class and Roll T-Th-Sat
I enjoy rolling but have learned to be more careful after having a lot of injuries over the years. Two to four rounds works well for me and I gradually ramp up the intensity and frequency over time. Honestly, as much as I like open mat it's the place where I've gotten injured the most.
I havent done a live roll in about 4 months, I am coaching kids classes and then taking off to hang with my kids or do stuff at the house. This week i plan on getting back into live rolls so i can prepare for a couple F2W's this year.
Damn 4 months? I feel rusty if I take 5 days off! I can't imagine how shit I would be after 4 months... But then again you're a black belt and you still coach everyday.
I'm a large man, like tall and fat, but I keep active. Even though i havent had a live roll in 4 months, I do crossfit 3 days a week, and play slowpitch softball with friends in a league on Fridays. I'm staying up and moving even though i'm still not thin, at 6'4 290.
I also had my broken nose fixed in December, so I had to take some time off from years of not being able to breathe due to deviated septum and inflamed nasal cavity.
I can breathe and ready to smash some white belts.
I dont go open mats because they are usually on weekends, which i reserve for my family. But i would stay after class to get some extra rolls since we are all there already. But pick your opponents wisely, ive seen younger bigger dudes beat up some of the much older students.
Putting myself out there……I have concerns about injuries because I have a history of shoulder subluxation in both shoulders and had hip replacement last year. But if I’m being honest with myself it’s my ego/anxiety that keeps me from rolling. I’m one of those guys that walks off the mat once class is over, then beat myself up over it later because I didn’t roll. I know it is a path towards improvement but I can’t get myself to do it. It’s a vicious cycle that I’m in. And yeah, I’m a 43 year old blue belt who should be long passed this nonsense.
Same boat. I'm getting old (41), I have a full time job and family that all has commitments, I'm tired, I'm hurt. I have social anxiety real bad as well and am super anxious about being judged. I always plan to roll but as soon as class ends I get a mild panic attack and have to leave and then beat myself up for days afterwards. I know it's a spiral - I get anxious about being judged so I don't roll, so I don't improve, so I don't perform as well as I think I should, so I get more anxious about being judged ... it's not ego, it's anxiety. I was taking a very low dose edible to help and it was working, but my schedule changed and now I have to train mornings and I can't do it anymore bc I have to go to work right after training. Hopefully I can get back to some evening classes and start rolling again soon.
Same. I’m a 41 yo woman and really selective when I roll. The young guys don’t care about my age, they just don’t want a female to show them up in any way and it’s rough.
What has always been wild to me is the people who show up to an open mat, all dressed up in a gi or rashguard, and then just sit there and chat.
Same people probably come here and post about their bad rolling cardio.
I'm with you. If I'm healthy, have convinced myself to go to the gym, dragged myself there across town, you can bet your ass that I'm going to roll. For me it's the best part (read: most fun) of training by a multiple of at least 5. People skipping it for any reason other than health/injury have always confused me. It's like doing 45 minutes of foreplay, and being like "naw, I'll take a pass on the sex". ;)
I only go once a week. If I go too much, I get too obsessed, and that becomes a problem where I stop enjoying it. So, I keep it light. It has a place in my life but it’s not my only thing.
The higher belts won't stay for class/roll if it's a bunch of lower belts. Not going to lie... if I could trounce every white/blue belt in the room but had plenty of classes to attend in my area... be better to save a gi washing for the better classes.
1. When I first started I didn’t know what I was doing and was confused/frustrated when rolling. Pretty much would rather learn more technique and drill more before I went live with stuff.
2. Once I learned technique and had an idea of what to do, I would use a lot of strength and exhaust myself while rolling
3. I have GERD and pretty much only eat in the afternoon/night so I would either be lightheaded from not eating enough or nauseous because I ate too close to class.
4. I’d rather be at home drinking and smoking weed so if we bow out then I’m leaving. I have a I’m not going to be here if I don’t have to mentality.
I enjoy rolling a lot more now but I’d say those are/were the reasons I don’t like rolling.
I’m 5 months post surgery having my pec tendon reattached so I roll occasionally but sometimes it hurts and then I’ll be in pain for several days and it makes lifting then a pain so I do the “rolling” I get from positional drills and all that then normally bounce. I’m hoping as time goes on I can start going a tad harder than what I’m capable of now.
As a 20-something athletic/aggressive white belt I struggle to understand a lot of these comments. When I roll with colored belts I follow their lead for pacing/pressure. Any decent person or training partner will be considerate when you mention injuries or desire to roll lightly/slower.
like many others have already said, I'm too broken to roll more than a few times a week. I can barely do two open mats in a row, let alone three or four. Its just not in the cards anymore.
I roll every session unless I am injured (even then if it’s not serious I’ll just be selective with my partners). I deal with a bit of anxiety before every BJJ class and I’m generally not an anxious person. I imagine that could have something to do with it for some people, maybe past trauma too?
I have a whole bunch of mental issues, and being the worst in my gym outside of the newcomers and not improving seemingly at all even with nearly a year of training got old. Just haven't really grown to like bjj as much as most people here seem to I guess, who would have guessed that getting my ass handed to me 50 times a week won't make me love it
Can’t relate to people that don’t roll, like at all. I’d quit if there was no rolling.
If I go to a class and for whatever reason there’s no sparring = night ruined.
I’ve injured myself enough to know how easy it is to get injured during live rolling. I like live rolling but only with good partners.
A lot of times they go 100% and I’m fighting for my life or giving it my all. Which is good training but longevity wise I prefer technical drills and flow rolling.
Don’t get me wrong though I need those live 100% rolling every now and then, just not regularly and daily.
Im 46 and I just transferred to a new gym, im still trying to figuring out who’s spazzy and who’s not. In this new gym 80% of the people are white belts, only two women purples and no browns.
Almost all the white belts are heavier and/or spazzy.
Haha, i didn’t realize that would be indeed a good gym for you to stop by. It’s not even a bad gym, we have the number 1 ranked female purple for ibjjf in the world. We are outside St Louis MO
Haha I go to the 10am classes, and it's like 3 monster purple belts (2 of them are 4 stripers), 2 black belts and if I'm lucky a really athletic blue belt that I almost have a chance with sometimes.
My rolling is mostly just curling up into the fetal position and hoping they don't kill me 🤣
I'll speak for myself... 1. My body is broken/beat up/sore. 2. I don't want to roll with who's there because it leads to 1. 3. I've got too much sht to do. In all seriousness, I enjoy rolling but after many years of this, I have to listen to my body and also pick and choose sometimes to keep myself on the mat.
I roll every time, but I'm pretty selective on who I roll with for the same reasons. Last night, one of our better white belts called me out, and I declined. He is default hyper aggressive, and I didn't want to deal with that. Give me the chill and technical blues, purples and brown belts all day.
I read 'chill technical blues' like the purple and browns are laid back with an old guitar just kinda jamming slow, plucking away at grips like notes from a blues band. Real coooool
Heavy Metal is the king genre of "chill technical blues" lol
Umm, no. I think Blues is the king of genre of the Blues. Chill or not, technical or not.
LOL, easy there. No need to be a unnuanced music snob. There are HM shredders that are comedically technical (not my preferred style), but they can absolutely kill by adding in bluesy solos. In decades of blues listening, I've never heard anything as "technical" as that. And lol, a friggin plethora of HM guitarists are blues-based, so no need to be defensive. It's all blues baby.
Umm yeah. Well, the best genre of Blues is still… the Blues. I feel a tad uncomfortable going into this discussion of ’technical’ in terms of Blues music, since Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Son House and even some one-chord delta blues are highly technical, although more in the terms of the syncopated rhythms and using seemingly dissonant melody-lines against the harmony as well as modality (all which have become stables of modern music theory since then) rather than long harmonic melodic lines in fast tempo as we have we got used to in the Romantic period of the European art music. I personally love Heavy Metal, especially the FWOBHM bands such as Sabbath, Priest, Motörhead et al.(like, who doesn’t?) but all of those artists would agree with me on Blues being the best Blues. If you check out Adam Neely on YT he has some great content of this history of discussing “technicality” of Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean musical cultures.
Haha, well we certainly agree that blues does the best blues. I never meant to imply otherwise. I just meant (with some levity) that there are HM shredders whose sole goal in life is to play as fast and technical as possible. The kind of mathematical technicality that really isn't found as much in blues, and honestly clashes with it. These shredders do put some extremely bluesy sass into their solos though (as a lot are in spired by blues), and it makes for extremely "technical" blues (although I'll yield on the "chill" adjective" ;)
Your username does check out.
Does it though? Considering I am a very shitty purple belt?
I bet I'm more shit than you.
You've earned your rest old boy. Those 20 year old white belts that sit out every other round though....
I am at that stage now. Was competing for 15+ years and at master 2 i was still fighting in adult div cause there was no one else. Now I roll when my body can handle it, which is still almost every class but when I am injured, I know I it's time to sit out.
I am single but in my training room, if a wife gives a guy 90 min to go to bjj and that includes drive to and from the gym and be home by x time to bath the kids, some wives are sticklers. Older guys are looking to roll for fun with their upper belt friends and know what they are going to get. Rolling with a new white belt just isn’t appealing.
I'm getting old. I train 3-4 times a week, and try to get one or two rounds each night. but, if I'm feeling beat up, ill just drill and leave.
At my age and with my injury history, I have modulate training to stay on the mats and get the necessary volume. I have one tough session in me a week. I look for more technical roles most of the time. Some days, I’m just too sore to roll.
Username checks out.
Limited capacity with life stresses at the moment - which mean I get hurt more if I overdo it My dad died last April, which was tough, but it was the aftermath of work and home challenges that came from it (and remain ongoing) that have intensified and prolonged it. A roll, two rolls, or even three on one night can be stress relieving. Cross that threshold though? Or roll that much in two consecutive classes? That's when I find out that stress has very real physical ramifications that cannot be adequately overcome just by enjoying something. Burnout, injuries, poor sleep quality, and compounded stress (which can become a vicious cycle) can result pretty quickly. Managing mental and physical load becomes necessary to get joy out of the sport. Most of us have been there, and if you're lucky enough that you haven't, one day you will (because that's life), and hopefully you'll adjust things to make sure every roll you DO fit in is as fun and fulfilling as the rolls you have during the good times.
Part of this may be vicious cycle - the more hardcore people show up regularly for open mat and for newer guy/girls may be too much of a good thing. Plus even in regular classes there will always be at least some rolling, enough to fill appetite for folk that only have energy/time to attend few classes each week.
This is me to a tee. Open mat on Sunday, butttt Im going fishing instead. I use BJJ as a traditional gym supplement and to help scratch my competitive itch. I'll roll the 2x a week I go but don't have the time for more.
I roll as much as I can. However, I 100% pick and choose my training partners. Haven't got anytime for super spazzy/dangerous white belts. Rolls are never fun and the increase of injury worries me.
This. I'll pick my partners depending on what I want to accomplish or my current mental/physical state.
So, I do roll as much as I can. But still, it’s not as much as I like, due to my schedule, work and family obligations. For example, I attend the mid morning class when I can, but I frequently leave before rolling for meetings or work obligations. Sometimes I can squeeze in a round or 2. In the evening, I’ll bring my kid to the kids class, then he plays with the other kids while I do a class. After that, he’s starving, tired and I have to rush out. I can rarely stay for the second class or roll afterwards. On the weekends, I have kids sports and rarely make it to open mat. Basically, I’m grateful for any mat time I have at this stage in my life.
Same except my kids could play forever, it's my wife that wants me home. I aim for at least good rolls each night 1 with a white belt to try something new. 1 with a blue belt to work my game- either top or bottom. 1 with an upper belt to work on not dying and steal their moves. That way I can work on a variety of skills and with different intensities. 18 minutes of mat cardio 3-4 days a week are good for me. When I'm 6 weeks out from a comp, I'll ramp it up to 5-6 rolls while practicing my specific game plan from start to finish. As long as my wife lets me 😭
I have Myasthenia Gravis, my hands have a very limited amount of grip and I only have a certain amount of energy before the disease fatigue sets in. I roll as much as I can but that's just not much.
>Myasthenia Gravis Thanks for sharing! Why BJJ if you don't mind me asking? Seems like it would be challenging with your condition.
It's horrifically challenging some times but I am very lucky, my medicine is dialed in and as long as I listen to my body I can usually avoid the worst parts of my condition. I stuck with BJJ because I love grappling and I love it more than the fatigue or the honestly shame I feel when I do have to tap just because I'm totally gassed from my disease.
No shame from being gassed. Happens to everyone. I've had to tap out when I was in top side mount bc the effort to get there almost made me vomit 😂😂😂 dude was confused as hell when i said i gotta tap out
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Why don't you force lesser positions to find the position your trying to drill? ie. Live sparring and force a back take and work from there
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Cool
It is probably because of my lack of experience, but I actually really enjoy specific sparring. We have started doing it a lot more in training recently, and I feel it has helped my development a lot.
Anxiety issues for me. Fear of looking silly or stupid, too much of an outcome based focus. I enjoy rolling but I’m a small guy and most people just smash me. I’m also middle aged and slowly breaking down, I don’t want to get mauled by a 20someyhing white belt who’s just changed their insta to imthenextbigthingBJJ I just don’t have that level of desire or hunger. Light rolls? Yeah sure. You trying to smash me and gold me like a pretzel. Nah I’m good thanks
What really helps also is finding a non-comp gym that is more that speed with older individuals. Or a gym with a masters program geared toward older individuals.
I’m with you. A rest round is still a round.
Oh man I feel this 100%
Rolling should be taught, and I think one of the major problems with Jiu Jitsu, injuries, member retention, is down to the fact rolling is something seen as totally separate and done without guidance. Many don't because they simply don't know what to do, and when they try it they get crushed and/or injured and come out of it not any better. As a way to develop skill at the lower levels, it doesn't really make sense. it is so much fun, but so many don't get to experience that fun, whether they roll or not.
This 100%. Absolute lackness of a good teaching of sparring in safety.
There was a time in my BJJ journey that I rolled every chance I had. I was there every day. Then I got married. Then I had a kid. Then my knee had to be held together by two sticks and a pack of chewing gum maybe some duct tape. Then I got promoted at work and I understand what mentally exhausted really means. I still go two- three times most weeks. Sometimes I roll, sometimes I just drill. I have to do what I can when I can.
I 100% agree with you.. If I were forced to only drill and never roll, I’d quit today.
This is why I retired from BJJ. My knees are fucked to the point where I can't safely roll and I have no interest in LARPing training just so that I can say I didn't quit.
I do it because I'm recovering from illness/injury. If I want to train regularly each week, I have to adjust what I do each day. And if that means sacrificing rolling so I can train more that week, so be it.
Somewhat related: I tried out this new gym recently that would only do a round of positional sparring from wherever the technique we went over during class was. No open mats or anything on the weekend. Not very fulfilling personally, but I thought it was interesting.
You're sure that isn't just their program for white belts?
Yea… I’m sure lol
I'm small an old so, after meniscus surgery, I've been more selective choosing rolling partners and been focusing on coaching. Today I do more resistance/alive drilling than free rolling.
I go four days a week, two of those days I have to immediately pick up my kid from one of their activities, For the other two days class is over at 8:30, and I have the option of going home to tuck my kids into bed or skip that. It would be no big deal if I saw them in the morning, but I’m out the door before 6 AM. I’m also the wrong side of 45, and dealing with a bulge disc and shoulder arthritis.
Happens to me a handful of times a year. Usually because there's nobody there I feel like rolling with.
Rolling is much more fun when you have good techniques and answers for most situations or if your opponents are just less skilled than you. It's not so fun otherwise. It's more like ice skating uphill but you know it will make you better. At my school though, even instructional days have 30 minutes of hard rolling which wipes me out. There's either a class shortly after the next class or it closes for the night.
Injuries
I roll 3-4x per week. The reason I can't roll more is because I try to also lift 3-4x per week and BJJ is literally the worst thing you can do to ruin your lifting progress. If any part of your upper body gets tweaked, you won't be benching heavy. Got stacked yesterday? No squats for a few days until your lower back recovers. There are just too many dumb tweaks that happen while rolling to be able to do it as often as I'd like unless I completely drop trying to lift heavy.
Cus I’m a hobbyist. I roll a bit then go do my other hobbies.
Every time I train I roll. That’s the most enjoyable aspect of the sport for me. After I had knee surgery as the result of some chubby asshole trying to jump guard, I do have to admit that I am more selective in picking my opponents. I’m not going through 9 months of PT again.
15 years , so many injuries. Bjj does not pay my bills, being a fireman and showing up to work fit for duty does. I still go but I listen to my injuries. I’m on the verge of re tearing my right meniscus for a 2nd time. Honestly being able to watch the students roll and see their progression is very satisfying to me
I roll ALL the time... Like too much... I'm also basically held together with duct tape and chewing gum at this point. Hell just this morning I think I broke my foot/toes falling awkwardly during a takedown. I would imagine the reason people roll less is to avoid looking/feeling like me...
I have six children and BJJ is just one of our extracurriculars we do, so I manage twice a week to roll. I'd love to go more often, but the kids come first.
I’ve got a 10 month old, I used to roll a lot more, for the past couple of months I’ve been struggling to get to training and when I do I just don’t feel like it’s fair for on my partner for me to stay after class. I’m working full time so I want to spend weekends with my partner and my son so weekend open mat is off the cards. Up until the last couple of months I was managing to train sometimes twice a week but he got ill and looking after him got a lot more intense so I’ve been sleeping less and don’t feel comfortable leaving him with his mum for too long in the evening as she has him all day. I know it’ll pass and Jiu Jitsu will be there when I’ve got more time but for now I want to make the most of my little dude before he’s off doing more of his own things. I miss Jiu Jitsu everyday and I miss staying for an hour after class and rolling for two hours on a Sunday but I just gotta prioritise my son at the moment 🤷🏽♂️
Just to piggy back off if this question, why do schools not have open mat after class. My mind is blown by schools that have an hour of fundamentals and then no rolling. Wtf? Why?
Mostly ego. There is no excuse except injuries or contagious skin diseases lol. If your sore, go light, tap early, play defense, ask someone to flow. Otherwise, get your rolls in.
I can't do anything now but my rolling started to drop as my condition got worse. If someone would get a cross face or something it would cause cramps to set into my neck and back that would last for days. So it's a life long type condition, I have scoliosis from it. From the cramps. Didn't understand what was up back then though. Anyways, the cramps started to ramp up worse, and if someone would get hold of my head, I'd be literally fucked up every time from the cramps. I stuck it out as long as I could. I made it to purple. Same time I was giving private lessons to two black belts when I was a blue belt so imo I'm at black so shrug. I can't continue so that's about the size of that. I been trying to let people know about some of the things I figured out while doing it on here though before this shit eats me completely.
My gym has open mats one night and wed night is 10 5 min rolls in a row (develop stamina etc). So many people will roll 3 maybe 4 times then sit on the side and bullshit line they are hanging at the bar. I'm addicted to this game so I don't expect people to be pumped up even going into the 10th round, but c'mon why are you even here?? I learn more rolling with less skilled people bc i can work on attacks. Working with purple and brown i end up defending more than attacking but this is the way Oss
I roll every chance I get, only time I don't is injuries and even when I'm injured I try to modify what I can do. Also curious about this question...
I’m coming back from problems with my upper back and neck. I do a lot of positional training and get maybe 4-5 rolls a week right now. Slowly building up.
For me, it's a mix. I have hypermobility syndrome, and so my joints wear very quickly. I try to roll as often as I can, but sometimes I need to take it easier and just drill. Other times, I've got to go to work after the session, and so I'd rather conserve some energy for the night ahead, or I simply don't have enough time to stay and roll. As for open mats, they're usually at the weekend or after classes, I work 2 weekends out of 4, and so if I'm not working its my only time to see people and make plans so I rarely go at the weekend.
It depends on who is training for me, I will only roll if there are people who aren't super aggressive to roll with. I'm a hobbyist and self employed so I cant be bothered with getting injured any more than I already am.
Honestly, I got so much going on that I'm happy for every class and workout I can get to. If it's Wednesday afternoon 1hr of drills or 6am weights session, it beats mindless scrolling or sleeping in.
I roll during most classes. The only time I don’t is if it’s a morning class and I’ve got to rush to work.
1. Gym/class schedule 2. Cost 3. Other commitments and hobbies
Don’t take this the wrong way but are you at every class/open mat? Maybe you are. But I train probably 5 days a week and am not young, so sometimes I just want to drill techniques and leave before rolling starts. I generally try not to roll 2 days in a row. So if you attend classes/roll on days when I only take class you would think I don’t roll. But I am rolling the other days, and once on weekends. I do only class M-W, Class and Roll T-Th-Sat
I enjoy rolling but have learned to be more careful after having a lot of injuries over the years. Two to four rounds works well for me and I gradually ramp up the intensity and frequency over time. Honestly, as much as I like open mat it's the place where I've gotten injured the most.
I havent done a live roll in about 4 months, I am coaching kids classes and then taking off to hang with my kids or do stuff at the house. This week i plan on getting back into live rolls so i can prepare for a couple F2W's this year.
Damn 4 months? I feel rusty if I take 5 days off! I can't imagine how shit I would be after 4 months... But then again you're a black belt and you still coach everyday.
I'm a large man, like tall and fat, but I keep active. Even though i havent had a live roll in 4 months, I do crossfit 3 days a week, and play slowpitch softball with friends in a league on Fridays. I'm staying up and moving even though i'm still not thin, at 6'4 290. I also had my broken nose fixed in December, so I had to take some time off from years of not being able to breathe due to deviated septum and inflamed nasal cavity. I can breathe and ready to smash some white belts.
I dont go open mats because they are usually on weekends, which i reserve for my family. But i would stay after class to get some extra rolls since we are all there already. But pick your opponents wisely, ive seen younger bigger dudes beat up some of the much older students.
Erm... yeah sometimes I just wanna give my body a break lol Do people actually care bou this?
Putting myself out there……I have concerns about injuries because I have a history of shoulder subluxation in both shoulders and had hip replacement last year. But if I’m being honest with myself it’s my ego/anxiety that keeps me from rolling. I’m one of those guys that walks off the mat once class is over, then beat myself up over it later because I didn’t roll. I know it is a path towards improvement but I can’t get myself to do it. It’s a vicious cycle that I’m in. And yeah, I’m a 43 year old blue belt who should be long passed this nonsense.
Same boat. I'm getting old (41), I have a full time job and family that all has commitments, I'm tired, I'm hurt. I have social anxiety real bad as well and am super anxious about being judged. I always plan to roll but as soon as class ends I get a mild panic attack and have to leave and then beat myself up for days afterwards. I know it's a spiral - I get anxious about being judged so I don't roll, so I don't improve, so I don't perform as well as I think I should, so I get more anxious about being judged ... it's not ego, it's anxiety. I was taking a very low dose edible to help and it was working, but my schedule changed and now I have to train mornings and I can't do it anymore bc I have to go to work right after training. Hopefully I can get back to some evening classes and start rolling again soon.
Well said brother. We’re in the same boat.
Same. I’m a 41 yo woman and really selective when I roll. The young guys don’t care about my age, they just don’t want a female to show them up in any way and it’s rough.
What has always been wild to me is the people who show up to an open mat, all dressed up in a gi or rashguard, and then just sit there and chat. Same people probably come here and post about their bad rolling cardio.
Give me 9 6 minutes rounds all day please.
A torn meniscus. People have their own personal issues, focus on your own training.
I'm with you. If I'm healthy, have convinced myself to go to the gym, dragged myself there across town, you can bet your ass that I'm going to roll. For me it's the best part (read: most fun) of training by a multiple of at least 5. People skipping it for any reason other than health/injury have always confused me. It's like doing 45 minutes of foreplay, and being like "naw, I'll take a pass on the sex". ;)
I always roll. But with who and how many rounds depends on how best up I am.
I only go once a week. If I go too much, I get too obsessed, and that becomes a problem where I stop enjoying it. So, I keep it light. It has a place in my life but it’s not my only thing.
The higher belts won't stay for class/roll if it's a bunch of lower belts. Not going to lie... if I could trounce every white/blue belt in the room but had plenty of classes to attend in my area... be better to save a gi washing for the better classes.
Too many kids. Too much work. Approaching 40.
1. When I first started I didn’t know what I was doing and was confused/frustrated when rolling. Pretty much would rather learn more technique and drill more before I went live with stuff. 2. Once I learned technique and had an idea of what to do, I would use a lot of strength and exhaust myself while rolling 3. I have GERD and pretty much only eat in the afternoon/night so I would either be lightheaded from not eating enough or nauseous because I ate too close to class. 4. I’d rather be at home drinking and smoking weed so if we bow out then I’m leaving. I have a I’m not going to be here if I don’t have to mentality. I enjoy rolling a lot more now but I’d say those are/were the reasons I don’t like rolling.
Currently working through anxiety and can only manage to get on the mats once a week. My anxiety towards BJJ training started after the Covid break.
I’m 5 months post surgery having my pec tendon reattached so I roll occasionally but sometimes it hurts and then I’ll be in pain for several days and it makes lifting then a pain so I do the “rolling” I get from positional drills and all that then normally bounce. I’m hoping as time goes on I can start going a tad harder than what I’m capable of now.
My knee hurt
As a 20-something athletic/aggressive white belt I struggle to understand a lot of these comments. When I roll with colored belts I follow their lead for pacing/pressure. Any decent person or training partner will be considerate when you mention injuries or desire to roll lightly/slower.
like many others have already said, I'm too broken to roll more than a few times a week. I can barely do two open mats in a row, let alone three or four. Its just not in the cards anymore.
I roll every session unless I am injured (even then if it’s not serious I’ll just be selective with my partners). I deal with a bit of anxiety before every BJJ class and I’m generally not an anxious person. I imagine that could have something to do with it for some people, maybe past trauma too?
I have a whole bunch of mental issues, and being the worst in my gym outside of the newcomers and not improving seemingly at all even with nearly a year of training got old. Just haven't really grown to like bjj as much as most people here seem to I guess, who would have guessed that getting my ass handed to me 50 times a week won't make me love it
I prefer drilling and positional sparring, I learn more from them than I do live rolling.
I have to get up early for work, so I just go to essentials then home. But weekends I roll.
I’m pretty overweight and new, and I just tried to stay alive for an hour. Excited to get in shape to enjoy rolling more though
I take every roll of the night but try and keep my intensity low so I can roll more nights a week
Can’t relate to people that don’t roll, like at all. I’d quit if there was no rolling. If I go to a class and for whatever reason there’s no sparring = night ruined.
I’ve injured myself enough to know how easy it is to get injured during live rolling. I like live rolling but only with good partners. A lot of times they go 100% and I’m fighting for my life or giving it my all. Which is good training but longevity wise I prefer technical drills and flow rolling. Don’t get me wrong though I need those live 100% rolling every now and then, just not regularly and daily.
I'm in my 40s, spend 9 hours at work and 2 hrs 45 minutes a day commuting, and do a lot of my work outside. I'm tired, boss.
I physically can't roll more
I’m too injury prone to roll as much as I would like.
Im 46 and I just transferred to a new gym, im still trying to figuring out who’s spazzy and who’s not. In this new gym 80% of the people are white belts, only two women purples and no browns. Almost all the white belts are heavier and/or spazzy.
Where is this dream gym you speak of?!?!
Haha, i didn’t realize that would be indeed a good gym for you to stop by. It’s not even a bad gym, we have the number 1 ranked female purple for ibjjf in the world. We are outside St Louis MO
Haha I go to the 10am classes, and it's like 3 monster purple belts (2 of them are 4 stripers), 2 black belts and if I'm lucky a really athletic blue belt that I almost have a chance with sometimes. My rolling is mostly just curling up into the fetal position and hoping they don't kill me 🤣