Why You Should Roll with BJJ White Belts Like It’s a Fight

Today's video is from a BJJ White Belt who's about 2 years into Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and says that he is always getting injured. His question is whether or not BJJ is even right for him. Possibly he's too fragile or something.

Now I cannot answer that question, because who knows? I've seen some seemingly frail people become expert grapplers while some stout dudes ended up quitting early on.

Instead, I went on to ask him more about his rolling and he said he tries to take things slow and easy during rolling. Now this might seem like a smart idea, and against higher BJJ belts it can be.

But as I'll explain in the video. Rolling like this against lower belts can be downright dangerous.

Hopefully the video is useful to you with your training and hopefully helps you avoid some injuries.
-Chewy
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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

[espada]

I seem to encounter 2 types of white belts and treat them both differently. The younger athletic or "spazy" white belts who are out to win ADCC gold each roll I have to smash, so they settle down and use technique. The other white belt who is timid and unsure I try and help with basic concepts so that each time they roll they start to build some defense and can come up with a plan of attack based off technique. The strong college wrestlers are another story, at 58 years old sometimes it's just survival and treachery when I can get away with it.

[mattgchev]

Back when I was able to do bjj, as a white belt, I was told by higher ranks that I was great to roll with. I just kept calm and tried to figure out what in the world I was supposed to be doing, maybe get a better position/ submission, but most of all, that nobody got hurt. Maybe that was my kickboxing background kicking in, I dunno... but when I rolled with other white belts, it was like Hell in a Cell with a racoon on cocaine

[Alvin-xsdb]

Whitebelts will f* you up if you go too easy on them

[Swuesman]

Good video. As a blue belt myself, I just see it as an opportunity to simulate what grappling with someone off the street might be like, probably untrained, possibly strong, drunk, or on drugs, and definitely meaning me bodily harm. So I just try to shut them down with technique BEFORE they get a chance to injure me or themselves. It doesn’t always work, but I think it’s a good mindset to work from.

[ZapPy]

Perfect timing. I’m a blue belt and I’m used to play not fight with some of the white belts. Until yesterday when one of them came from a sort of turtle, back turned to me, elbow swinging twister right in my mouth. He didn’t mean it, but I took it as my fault for not controlling his movements.

Note to self for next time. Thanks for the video !

[ucrsae]

I completely agree. I never thought of it the way you phrased it, but it is more of a fight. I focus on very dominant positions like gift wraps and back control to eliminate the spaziness of white belts. I’m 47 and have been doing BJJ for 2 1/2 years. I roll hard with everyone because I’m the old man in the gym. Gotta represent.

[josephbreza-grappling]

A friend I roll with asked me “but why are those crazy whitebelts so strong?”
I asked him, “how long has it been since you’ve had adrenaline while training?” They are full of adrenaline, because they are scared, so they are truly going 100%. You’ve probably gone nowhere near 100% for a long long time. Once they stop being so scared, then they won’t be so stiff and full of adrenaline. Best thing is to take it seriously enough to just keep them from hurting themselves or you. They can’t keep up that pace forever. I don’t even work submissions all that much, I just get position. If it happens then ok, but a lot of them don’t even know that they should tap when they really ought to. More often than not, I will use chokes over joint locks, because a lot of them won’t tap and don’t know how much danger they are in. When they are full of adrenaline, they literally can’t think that they are capable of ending it with a simple tap. Stay safe out there

[Patrick-shtt]

I always roll with white belts to comletely shut them down and submit them without injuring them. It´s about a good a gauge as you have to how effective your jiu jitsu actually is. Rolling against higher belts is usually more of a game and/or you know eachothers´ game. The unpredictable nature of white belts/beginners is what makes them so indespensable as training partners.

[kenseisato]

Rolling is like a dance/talk. I believe it has to do with selfishness, poor self awareness, and ego. Most people start at almost zero when rolling first.

Who wants to dance with the guy that goes at a faster rhythm then you or the guy who talks just to hear himself talk?

You get most out of a dance when things are in synch.
You get most out of a talk when information and ideas are exchanged.

You get the most out of a roll when you can roll more because you're not injured/exhausted from competing/defending against someone

[joeboom]

I rolled with a white belt on his second day of training and he broke my neck. I strongly suggest that when rolling with brand new white belts stick with limited rolling and teaching them how to relax and be more thoughtful.

[jamestickle]

Great example last night. I’m white belt, so was he. I’m heavy fat and he was heavy fit. Lucky me.

He started very aggressive and had me in technical mount. I got a little lucky and swept to side control. I got a choke. He took forever to tap. I just gradually kept tightening not trying to be a douche. Eventually he gave up and tapped.

But he was super pissed. After we caught our breath we started again and he came at me like a freight train. Smashed me into the mat and got super aggressive on an arm lock. I tapped quickly but he still cranked my elbow a bit.

I left the mat, got some water, and called it a day.

Ego.

[calebschaaf]

Super helpful, thanks Chewy. My professor has told me things like this before, but hearing people put it different ways helps big time. When you said not to "go easy" when we were messaging, I told my wife what you said and we talked about it for a while. I used this advice on a first-day meat-head white belt in our gym yesterday and it really did save my bacon twice.

[chrisrobinson]

Everyday as a whitebelt is a whitebelt deathmatch, especially brutal as a heavyweight. Even drills are a torture session, but still show up. Something must be wrong with me lol.

[nerdobject]

I feel this video speaks directly to me. I’m going through this realization that trying to be more playful and slow just doesn’t work with white belts. I’ve also been taking injuries from white belts by try to play. No more.

[douglas]

This is literally me. I just started and try to take it easy. I am training 3 days per week. Some of these white belts go so hard and are using way more strength than technique. I have had 3 injuries so far (shoulder, right hand, left hand). Last time coach put me with a higher level white belt that had like 100 lbs. on me. I told him my shoulder was still recovering and he immediately starts going for a Kimura. I ended up really hurting my hand against him. I don't mind getting beat and learning, but at this rate with the injuries I am going to start missing class more and more due to recovery.

[dixonbuttes]

This is hugely good advice. I once had a knee injury from a white belt who used to be a marine & just started grabbing legs and going insane.

I didn’t wanna tell him to stop cuz I didn’t wanna be a wimp, but I was mad about it. My buddy just played it positionally and kept him contained

[oosik]

If someone is new, I always roll with them cautiously. Otherwise I’ve learned some people I need to tap early because they sub hard/fast and others will let me practice escapes and play around. Even blues in my class sometimes seem over zealous or rely on strength/speed that ends up injuring white belts.

[gvrmntflu]

Omg! This is the video I didn’t know I needed. I get injured soooo much more with white belts, and I also play very loose with them. I kept thinking doing so with help them develop a better game instead of doing the same one move they know, but you’re right. Giving them too much slack just makes them go out of control with excitement lol. Thanks!!

[rohitchaoji]

As a newbie with some months of experience, I often find that rolling with higher belts is better because I'm not constantly worried about injuring my bicep AGAIN, as they don't crank submissions. It also helps me improve my technique because without correctly applying them, or just using brute strength, I find myself unable to do things like escapes, sweeps, passes, etc.

[Scbirdsfan]

I’m a white belt. I’m older (39), a big guy, and usually only train against blue belts (mostly BC they are the other heavyweights). I find myself in an absolute brawl against other white belts. To the point where I have to try not to get us both injured. Given I’m a newbie too, I’m just spoiled by having controlled partners most of the time.