Avoiding the big, spastic white belt could be bad for your Jiu-Jitsu

Listen, we’ve all been there. It’s a random Wednesday night, you’ve had a long day and you just wanna get some easy rolls in. Then your coach is like: “Hey, go roll with big Rob”.

You’re like: Oh crap, not him!

Big Rob is the proverbial wild white belt. Big, strong and had “no technique”. He hasn’t learned that it’s not the worlds or a street fight just yet. He thinks it’s still about fighting and “all he has is his cardio and strength”. You don’t like rolling with guys like big Rob. You’re always on the bottom getting crushed by their weight. You always get an extra bruise or fat lip when you roll with someone like him.

Look, it can’t be the mundials every night. But if you really want to learn BJJ you cannot avoid these types of partners all the time. Jiu-Jitsu is meant for these types of partners. Especially BEFORE they learn how to play the game. If you’re at a good school these types of people will eventually learn when to roll “hard” and how to train with smaller partners safely.

But if you avoid them (all the time) you will NEVER learn how to use your art for self-defense. And if you’re someone who smirks at “fake” martial arts you might not be laughing so much anymore.

Seek out these types of partners as much as you can. You’re not getting mugged by a black belt in BJJ. At least I hope not. Lol! If you ever must defend yourself physically it’ll probably be against a younger, stronger, bigger adversary who will be going “too hard” and will have “no technique”. Get more comfortable with it in the relatively safe confines of your gym.

Now, this doesn’t mean that every night must be fight club. Or that you should be physically broken from constant hard training. Everything in moderation.