{"id":19236,"date":"2023-05-16T11:20:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T16:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rollingaroundbjj.com\/?p=19236"},"modified":"2023-05-16T11:20:34","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T16:20:34","slug":"rolling-bjj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rollingaroundbjj.com\/rolling-bjj\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling In BJJ (Ultimate Guide)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Practicing skills designed to hurt another person is a tricky task in all martial arts. You cannot be good at it without practice, but you also need to be safe to practice for long enough. Sparring aims to replicate competitions or real combat more safely, and it\u2019s a crucial element of many martial arts, including BJJ. But in jiu-jitsu, sparring has another name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparring in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is called rolling. Rolling is an essential part of BJJ practice and lets you test your skills and knowledge against training partners in a more realistic scenario. The intensity of the sparring can vary from very light to 100%, but the key is that it\u2019s not prearranged like drilling. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling can be daunting even when you are experienced, but it Is something everyone loves to do and the only way to truly know how good you really are on an everyday basis. Regardless if you are fresh in the gym anticipating your first sparring session or someone with hundreds of rounds under their belt, there is also something more to learn.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Rolling in BJJ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rolling is the word used for sparring in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Because of the nature of the sport and the fact that 99% of the time is spent on the ground, rolling is indeed a more appropriate specific word to describe sparring in BJJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling is a crucial element of the sport and the expression of the philosophy of effectiveness before everything else, implemented from the very first days of BJJ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other traditional martial arts, where choreographed and pre-arranged forms of drilling take up the bulk of training time, BJJ focuses entirely on live drilling and sparring. This approach is inherited from judo, where it\u2019s called randori and is also the main training method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparring, randori, and rolling are basically the same thing: a free practice where you test your skills in the martial art against training partners in conditions similar to a contest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means your moves will be resisted, defended, and countered, and you will try to out-grapple your partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparring partners try to take each other down, advance position, and finish a submission according to the agreed rules and etiquette. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a submission is not necessarily the goal every time. Everyone can have a different focus each session or even each round, like achieving or holding a specific position, not letting the partner do something specific, or trying out new moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although rolling simulates competition, the intensity is not always 100%. Depending on the level of the practitioners and the individual goals for the session, rolling can be very light. But the conditions of not knowing what the partner will do are what make rolling what it is, not the intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling is the most fundamental element of training because it is the only way to test your skills for real and be truly prepared for competition or a real-life situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big factor differentiating effective martial arts like BJJ from ineffective ones like Aikido, for example, is precisely free sparring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you are accustomed to overcoming a fully resisting opponent who is also trying to out-grapple you, I can guarantee you will not be able to pull off a single technique the first time it happens to you for real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s exactly this live sparring approach to training and testing against different styles that have made jiu-jitsu so effective as a grappling style, for self-defense, and in MMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Should You Start Rolling?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"What<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is no specific time you should start rolling. In most places, the coach will wait at least a couple of months before he lets you participate in free rolling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BJJ is an extremely information-dense martial art, and it takes some time before you can start piecing all the information together and understanding how everything works in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are places where you will spar in the second class of training. Is this a good idea? It depends a lot on previous experience and fitness level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first started grappling, I already had 10 years of striking experience, so I was used to sparring and the mental aspects of it, so I started rolling from the first day. Of course, I was demolished, but this didn\u2019t dishearten me; it just showed me how much I have to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for someone with no martial arts or athletic background, this experience is very likely to be overwhelming and just put them away from the sport. This is why most coaches wait a few months before they allow new students to spar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this initial period, you will learn the concepts and pillars of BJJ and drill the new techniques. By drilling, you get accustomed to the feeling of the positions, of being on bottom and under pressure, the feeling of having your neck squeezed, your arm extended, and all the “sweet” stuff you will be constantly put through on the mats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginners Guide To BJJ Rolling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Does<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are so many tips I can give you on how to survive and get the most out of your early sparring sessions. Perhaps the most important thing is to try your best to be calm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know it\u2019s easier said than done, but only after you learn how to remain somewhat calm will you be able to apply your skills and not act based on instinct, which in the beginning is usually the polar opposite of what is right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on Defense<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before you become a proficient submission artist, you will first need to learn how to defend. First, you must know how to survive bad situations, escape, and reverse bad positions before you can win dominant ones and start locking in submissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially as a white belt, a huge portion of rolling consists of trying to escape mount or side control and not get strangled at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling as a fresh white belt, you should focus on defending the most common submissions and the most important positional rules, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n