Rolling = Honesty

            In the world of Brazilian Jiujitsu I have heard it said that there is no way to fake your way through this sport.  You either are what you say you are or your not.  There is no in-between and no gray area.  One of the reasons I have such a passion for this sport is the fact that it keeps me honest and on my toes.  When I get submitted (which happens every training session:) the act of me tapping has a finality to it which says  “hey you got me, I don’t want to continue this fight”.  It is through this sort of brutal realism with oneself that I believe you see what your truly made of.  It keeps you honest and humble which I believe sparks an attitude of learning within yourself and allows you to continue to progress.  Anyone that has trained for any amount of time has probably seen the guy that can’t swallow his ego, who can’t just relax and accept that there are others better then him on the mats.  I think this sort of person does not stick with BJJ for very long and if they do they quickly make enemies of their training partners

The beauty of jiujitsu is that it pits you against an opponent in a manner that forces you to accept what the other person brings to the table and it usually exposes what you lack in  a way that can’t be ignored.  During a rolling session for example I must accept that yes this guy just passed my guard with ridiculous ease.  Now I have to address the problem at hand which most of the time is the threat of submission.  I must deal with the reality that I allowed my training partner to gain an advantageous position and the only person I have to blame is myself.  Now I must escape, recover guard, reverse, etc in order to get myself back on an even playing field.  Once I attain that more advantageous position however the fight doesn’t stop there, now I must impose my will on the other guy.  Its time to pass his guard, sweep, or submit.  I think of a rolling session as a ever shifting pendulum with the momentum of the fight constantly shifting.  This sort of fight in my experience most often occurs when you are rolling with training partners of relatively similar skill levels.  You both have your bread and butter techniques and you are both going to go to that comfortable place where you see a lot of success.  Whether that is playing guard, top control, half guard or any other number of positions. (Below is an excellent example of me being forced to accept that I gave up top position in my first ever no-gi match;)

What this all boils down to is the fact that in Jiujitsu you must deal with the situation at hand and in that moment you are addressing either your weaknesses or your strengths.  In that moment you are honest with yourself and your training partner is as well, otherwise he/she will either submit you or be submitted by you.  So if you ever get frustrated during a rolling session just relax and remember that you have no one to blame but yourself for what happens.  More importantly however, understand that the honesty of the entire situation that is Brazilian Jiujitsu will keep you humble and working hard, which at the end of the day equals progression.  Relax, have fun, and roll:)