It's hard for me sometimes because progress is slow and you see yourself getting better at such a slow pace and there's so much to learn. It's easy to say "I suck" or "there's so much to learn" when you're being submitted a dozen times a roll. It's much more helpful to say "I'm much better compared to last month or even last week". Funnily, I think video games helped me with this mindset, which is an value I never thought I'd attribute a video game helping me obtain. But somehow it helps me when I do BJJ.
I think newbies concentrate on submissions because not only are they cool, but they're also what's ultimately making you tap every time you roll. So it's easy to think about the actual submission rather than thinking on how they gained the opportunity to do the submission.
I'm sorry about the arm, Walrus.
Thanks. To tell you the truth though, it put me down a strange path. My game is... bizarre. My teammates say I look funky/hilarious. Like Dark souls rolls to all sides.
Maybe it helped me learn light? Maybe it helped me having to focus on technicality.
I would get submitted 15-20-30 times every training. It was draining, but i kept showing up. I've never been someone who stuck with things. When I was a kid I had an affinity for gymnastics, for soccer, swimming. But when I became teenager I just became secluded and overweight and went into video games and not much else. And after that I just gave up when things got hard.
When you get tapped over and over in BJJ- it doesn't matter by who, or why. The results speak for themselves, and somehow, keep running into the lions den with all these great training partners just made me feel more bad ass. Eventually two years had passed and suddenly it was hard to tap me. I'd do these weird things where I would twist like a snake with my hips and get out from all sorts of positions. Suddenly I learned to roll out inverted, and hook myself out.
I think we sometimes get discouraged or feel progress is slow because while we cannot judge our own progress, we sometimes have a warped perspective because everyone else are also constantly improving. And then we feel that we are not!
And what I take away from it is that the people who inspire me the most in the gym are not the best at jiu-jitsu. There are some people who come in and they just have an easier grasp of it. They'll train 4 months intensively and they give people trouble who have trained for 3-4 years. It happens. But then you have people who have just been mediocre or straight abysmal for 5 or 6 years- or more. Everyone is just wondering why they haven't kept up. How can you keep going?
But I've had a few training partners like that, where it just took that long for them to find themselves. A mix of poor diet, inconsistent training, irregular training and poor conditioning probably hurt their growth a lot too. But it's inspiring when people overcome it. You see people change as people. As corny as it sounds, peoples lives really are transformed. I think people who have patience, self reflection and modesty and who can calm their ego a bit can see the good parts of getting tapped. Of being the bottom of the hierarchy. Now you're paying your dues, but if you have maturity and foresight to stick with it, you will reap the rewards.
In my case it was an eye opener, because at the time when I got into Jiu-Jitsu I had forgotten all about the value of hard work as a vehicle for self improvement. I feel that getting destroyed so much in the gym has made me a better person. It has changed what I thought about being strong. Small guys half my size, are crushing me. They can snap me in half if they want to and there is nothing I can do about it. i just feel this sense of humility and pride that they want to train and teach me things.
I'm also a 5'4 150 pound woman. So, rolling with big heavy guys like Walrus is really intimidating, especially the first time one pulled a basic guard pass transition to side control. Yikes. Depending on the guy and how much experience he has I could lose all the breath in my lungs depending on how he applies a side mount. That's when it's best to remember to breathe through the nose rather the mouth.
I try not to worry about injuries but you guys have me scared. I can't do BJJ the next few days (weeks?) because I have a rash. How embarrassing. This will delay my training and I was really looking forward to open mat this Sunday.
Good observation on 100% as well Walrus. There's a mantra that says you can go 100% in grapple arts when sparring so my logic is maybe I'm going to hard and there's a balance between 100% and pure brute force.
My spiral fracture was a freak accident. Adrenaline had me so excited I just didn't feel any pain. Under normal circumstances I would have tapped. He had me in Kesa Gatama / Scalfhold, and applied his other leg as a pendulum on top of the arm. Bone snapped like a spiral. It's very rare that this happens, so don't worry about that at all.
One of my training partners is your size, and I can tell you something- she is notoriously hard to control. I cannot contain mount because my thighs are too big. Its difficult to triangle her because her head slips out. Emily Kwon has some excellent side control survival tips;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iZjnbCun0A&list=PLyknAhj6gPvJE1wVYlbZ8jZDclBfi9wtY&index=5
There is also a sweep that is excellent to use against big guys like me. I am not sure what the name is, but its a sort of front headlock forward rollover. I really feel that nothing kills the big guys strength like putting pressure on his neck. It's quite incredible how much off base it takes him.
