Tips For Being A BJJ Spaz And Dealing With A BJJ Spaz

I saw this article floating around on Jiujitsu Times yesterday about a guy who rolled with a BJJ Spaz. You can check it out here https://www.jiujitsutimes.com/a-reader-question-i-hate-rolling-with-the-class-spaz/.

I wanted to write a blog post about this because as a converted white belt BJJ spaz. I know the frustration of being yelled at for being too rough or doing stupid stuff.

Over the years I’ve developed “gears” and can adjust my style to a small child or a super heavyweight bruiser in an open division.

But this wasn’t always the case.

When I first started I was the spazziest spaz ever. Seriously! My nickname Chewy came from that. Originally one of the higher belts called me a big dumb wookie and that turned into Chewbacca and then Chewy. But it was originally meant in the same way you would call someone a big dumb idiot. He said this because I fell into him and bumped into his face.

People would complain all the time at me for being reckless or being too rough on the mat. I hated upsetting everyone. They were my buddies after all and I felt terrible when I did something dumb. For some reason though, whenever it was time to roll, my switch flipped and I just went hard. This might have been partly a consequence from wrestling. I know wrestlers seem to struggle with slowing down a lot. I also think it was an effect of my low self esteem at the time. I didn’t want to lose.

It’s important to understand though, that when you roll with someone that is a little reckless with their movements. What you might call a spaz. They probably don’t mean to go so hard. Below are some tips for being the person who is rolling with the BJJ spaz and someone who is the spaz. Again the tips from being on both sides of the situation.

Here are a few tips to consider when rolling with a BJJ spaz

Understand that becoming more relax and less “spazzy” is a process that takes time. Just because you told your partner that he needs to chill out, doesn’t mean he will be able to. He can mentally be committed to relaxing and just training, but his body can have other ideas once you guys lock horns on the mat.
Keep them tight. When you give someone who is inexperienced or reckless with their movements too much space. They have a tendency to come crashing into you. Keeping them close will lessen that possibility.
If the person is super new. Do some situational rolling from the position you worked on during class. Many times when I rolled early on. Accidents happened because I didn’t know what to do, so I’d sling my body in one direction or the other to see what would happen. If they have a technique to focus on it will help eliminate the possibility of them doing something that might hurt you or them.
Use it as an opportunity to see how your BJJ skills work against someone who isn’t engaging the same way as everyone else. It’s good practice.
If they do stuff that is dangerous (elbows, headbutts, knees, etc). Talk to them and bring it to their attention. Again, it won’t be an immediate fix but it will bring their screw ups to their attention and over time help improve the situation.
If the person is being overly aggressive (no tapping, cranking submissions too quick, etc) bring it to your instructors attention. There is a difference between being inexperienced and sort of clumsy with your movements, and being aggressive and almost angry. If you get the vibe for the latter. Speak to your coach

Here are a few tips if you are the BJJ spaz (These are things that helped me).

Focus on your techniques. While you do need to experiment with positions and techniques to learn. If you’re a inexperienced practitioner. Really focus on what you’ve been shown. It will act as guide and help you from injuring someone. Many times I see newer white belts doing really weird stuff like squeezing on someones neck or spinning around with their elbows flung out. I try to get these people to focus on what I, or other instructors, have shown them in the past.
Do a little soul searching. Figure out why you feel the need to go balls out to win every single time you roll. Mine was because I was insecure and felt like that if I lost a roll, my day was a failure. Stupid yes, but that’s what I thought. Yours might be different. Either way. Understand that your BJJ progress is not predicated on whether you win every roll during training.
Roll with someone smaller or someone that you can easily control or don’t care losing against. Rolling with a couple of kids we used to have in class helped me tap into a slower gear. I didn’t care about being tapped or anything. They were kids. This allowed me to be more relaxed with my movements and just goof off. It gave me a feel for how I could turn down the intensity but still move around.
Put yourself in uncomfortable positions and learn to relax and be comfortable in the uncomfortable. Learn to stay calm and not to freak out when you’re in an undesirable spot.
It’s not the world championships every time you roll. On most days of training. You’re there like everyone else to get better and develop as a team together. Training is about building each other up, sharpening each others skills and growing with one another. Not about tapping them out and standing over top of them in victory.
BREATHE!!! I see so many newer people get crazy on the mat when they’re rolling. Then they take a deep breath and they’re able to relax. If you feel like you’re getting frustrated, angry or whatever, take a deep inhale and push the air out of your body. This always helped me. In fact, it was one of the queues my coaches used during my matches all the time. I would get to a position holding my breathe and I would just be going nuts. Then he’s say, “breathe.” With the exhale, everything seemed to slow down a bit and I was able to think more clearly which helped me relax.

So take it easy on those spazzy people in the gym, we all make mistakes. Be careful for sure, but unless you get the vibe that they are angry or just being mean. They are probably inexperienced and aren’t completely aware of how they’re rolling. They might even actively be trying to chill out.

If you are the so-called “spaz” in your gym. Learn to tone down the way you roll. Use some of the tips above and keep working. More than likely, as your experience grows, so will your level of comfort on the mat. The more comfortable you become the more relax you will be when you’re tangled up with someone during a roll. But keep training because even a crazy white belt spaz who freaks out on everyone and gets yelled at. . . can be a smooth rolling black belt that people enjoy rolling with.