How much agro is too much/not enough?

[Bruce Calavera]

When everybody starts out in any sort of combative training they spaz. Whether it be BJJ(in my case), Wrestling, Judo, etc and even striking arts. It's just a fact of life. Eventually once you've studied a dissipline long enough you start to relax and use the techniques as opposed to hulking your way through things(Hopefully). My question is once your start relaxing how do you know whether or not you're using too little strength/aggression?

When ever I'm rolling and I try to go for a technique if it isn't initially easy to control and execute I switch to something else. I feel like my level of relaxation is much higher than my level of technical ability and arsenal or techniques. This seems to make me feel like I'm being lazy. Bigger less experienced people seem to smash through my technique and I think it's mainly due to the fact that I'm not using enough strength/aggression. Has anyone had any experience with this? And if so how did you find a balance of strength and power vs relaxation and method? Does it all depend on who you roll with?

[rarmonio8920]

Originally Posted by Bruce Calavera

When everybody starts out in any sort of combative training they spaz. Whether it be BJJ(in my case), Wrestling, Judo, etc and even striking arts. It's just a fact of life. Eventually once you've studied a dissipline long enough you start to relax and use the techniques as opposed to hulking your way through things(Hopefully). My question is once your start relaxing how do you know whether or not you're using too little strength/aggression?

When ever I'm rolling and I try to go for a technique if it isn't initially easy to control and execute I switch to something else. I feel like my level of relaxation is much higher than my level of technical ability and arsenal or techniques. This seems to make me feel like I'm being lazy. Bigger less experienced people seem to smash through my technique and I think it's mainly due to the fact that I'm not using enough strength/aggression. Has anyone had any experience with this? And if so how did you find a balance of strength and power vs relaxation and method? Does it all depend on who you roll with?

Well, how are they blasting through your technique? You're giving us a very vague problem.

But just because you're more experienced than someone doesn't mean you can relax. My buddy's a 170 lb. purple belt that normally grapples against a 260 lb. white belt. If he relaxes then the big guy could get the better of him.

All the black belts I've rolled with are able to roll with a lot of finesse against big powerful guys, so they definitely have the technique. Even still, they have to use some degree of power.

I'm not sure how to answer your question. Please clarify what's going on.

[yoder]

i have the same problem. when i get a little more agressive my technique actually gets a little tighter and i don't allow some of the dumb mistakes i would have if i was being laid back.

i have to remind myself sometimes that even though technique is best, this is a contact sport where people will actively try to resist you. my problem is getting my game face on when i need to.

[Bruce Calavera]

Originally Posted by rarmonio8920

Well, how are they blasting through your technique? You're giving us a very vague problem.

But just because you're more experienced than someone doesn't mean you can relax. My buddy's a 170 lb. purple belt that normally grapples against a 260 lb. white belt. If he relaxes then the big guy could get the better of him.

All the black belts I've rolled with are able to roll with a lot of finesse against big powerful guys, so they definitely have the technique. Even still, they have to use some degree of power.

I'm not sure how to answer your question. Please clarify what's going on.

Actually with your post I think you did answer my question but I'll try to ellaborate anyway.

If I have someone in side control and they wrap their far arm around my far shoulder and neck I'll try to peel it off to go for a kimura but if it doesn't initially come off with ease I give up on it and try to go for something else. Maybe I'm just making ignorant noob mistakes because of a lack of technique. The fact that I'm fighting a strong arm with a weaker one doesnt' help matters either. I do understand that their are much better ways to get your arm out of trouble I'm just using this as an example.

The reason I feel it's overpowering is because when I do the exact same thing from bottom the top guy can usually peel my arm off and start attacking with the kimura. I'm not a very weak person either it's just that in this kind of battle I'll usually let them use some strength and give them the arm because I'm conserving energy instead of using all my strength to keep the arm up. I know this is still pretty vague.

[Newbjitsu]

I fall into lazy man bjj at times and at times I'm too aggressive and wear myself out. I actually let my opponent dictate the pace, if they are aggressive I usually am.

I probably try too hard to not be the crazy spaz guy because I know that how stupid injuries happen. Just the other day I rolled with someone for the first time in no gi. No clue he level. He spazzes out and headbutts me. Nice shiner.

[MickCollins]

One question in this vein I have is this: How tightly should I hold full guard? Usually, I let it get broken fairly easy and just go to open guard but I'm starting to think I should be squeezing my legs tighter and trying harder to hold people in it.

[dr.feelgood]

One of the biggest myths of BJJ is that you shouldn't use strength. People that take that literally end up in your situation. The only time you should use zero strength is if you're working with someone that you know you're a lot better than and you just want to work your technique. Besides that you should always use technique, but use your strength too. It's only spazzing if you're using strength without technique, using strength WITH technique is what you're suppose to be doing. And by strength I don't mean straining all your muscles as hard as you could, I mean using just enough to make the technique work.

[TheAth-ah-lete]

I think strength and conditioning are legit tools in grappling. You may not want to always go 100% with your training partners, but you do need to train like you are going to fight in competition some of the time.

I guess it's a style thing though. I ascribe to the philosophy of punishing yourself so you know your opponent will have to break before you, but some people have less aggressive styles that play to their strengths.

[Droogan Leader]

If I'm a lot more technically proficient than my sparring partner, I let them dictate the pace. In fact, I usually try slow things down by maintaining an advantageous position without necessarily attacking.

Them going agro-angry (to the point where either of us are gonna get stupid hurt), usually lands them in submission much quicker and tighter than if they had just focused on training the techniques.

Really, the only time I go 100% is when our instructor tells too (which is usually only when we are getting ready for a tournament).

[rarmonio8920]

Originally Posted by Bruce Calavera

Actually with your post I think you did answer my question but I'll try to ellaborate anyway.

If I have someone in side control and they wrap their far arm around my far shoulder and neck I'll try to peel it off to go for a kimura but if it doesn't initially come off with ease I give up on it and try to go for something else. Maybe I'm just making ignorant noob mistakes because of a lack of technique. The fact that I'm fighting a strong arm with a weaker one doesnt' help matters either. I do understand that their are much better ways to get your arm out of trouble I'm just using this as an example.

The reason I feel it's overpowering is because when I do the exact same thing from bottom the top guy can usually peel my arm off and start attacking with the kimura. I'm not a very weak person either it's just that in this kind of battle I'll usually let them use some strength and give them the arm because I'm conserving energy instead of using all my strength to keep the arm up. I know this is still pretty vague.

Yeah, that's still pretty vague and I'm not sure what you're saying.

But in general, you want to focus on your technique. But just because you focus on your technique doesn't mean you become 0% power. An example I have is finishing an armbar from mount, but they end up holding their hands in this position:



Against one of the girls or the kids, I could just pull my hardest on the arm to extend it, but that won't work against a big, powerful guy... or maybe even a guy my size. So I'll use a technique that breaks their grip. And I'll use enough power to pull off the technique.

Again, it's still not 100% power, but you don't go 0% power. Just gotta find the right balance to make it a good roll. In fact, don't worry about it too much. You'll figure out just how much power you have to use. It's only training, after all. Play around with it.

If you're finding you're being overwhelmed, then obviously your technique still isn't there yet. Figure out what you're doing wrong, and adjust accordingly. Use a little bit more power so you could slow down the game and figure it out. But eventually, you'll have the technique to stop what they're doing.

Example I have is when I roll with one of the girls that's almost a blue belt. I'm stronger than her and more technical, but she can roll pretty hard. What I do is match how much power she uses against me and roll from there. It depends on what I'm practicing, but it normally produces a pretty good roll. Occasionally, it's back and forth and she even caught me in a nice kimura once. I had a split-second chance to power it, but chose not to because a guy my size, in that same position, would've gotten the sub on me. So I chose to learn from that.