White Belt - How To Survive Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Part 7, Avoid Out Of Control Maniacs

White Belt - How To Survive Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Part 7, Avoid Out Of Control Maniacs

This one is a personal favourite of mine. For some reason I have generally attracted maniacs throughout the different stages of my life both personally and professionally, perhaps it’s because I am a borderline maniac myself, or perhaps it’s because I have some undiscovered maniac attractor gene – I don’t know to be honest.

But I can tell you that of all the tips in this book, this may be the most important one in terms of surviving BJJ as a white belt. The most over used jiu jitsu cliché is that of the ‘spazzy white belt’. This refers to someone doing weird, spasming movements with too much application of explosive strength and power without any idea where to apply the strength. We’ve all been through that phase, it’s a normal reaction to an extraordinary situation, most people don’t in their daily lives have someone pin them down and try to choke them unconscious or snap their joints! Obviously, that’s what Jiu Jitsu players do though, and eventually we nearly all grow out of the ‘spazzy’ phase.

However, and it’s a really big however, there are some people who as soon as they tap hands turn into demon possessed maniacs who pose a real physical threat to their training partners, and even other pairs on the same mats! Someone who is physically aggressive, frenetic, really strong and totally out of control can cause you injury, even when you know what you are doing. But when you don’t know what you are doing these types of people are really best avoided.

Avoid eye contact when you have that slightly awkward moment of selecting your next rolling partner. Decide that you suddenly need to sit out a round if the maniac is the only person left. Avoid them at all costs, because they are a fast track to unnecessary injuries.

Now just to counter my own point here – one thing I really do understand is this, the maniac is fighting in what is a fairly realistic manner. If you should find yourself rolling around on the pavement with someone who hasn’t trained in BJJ, then they are likely to be very full on and aggressive. In that circumstance they would probably also be punching, spitting, biting, gouging – you know, the full works!

So in my opinion, it will have some value for you if you roll with the maniac once a month or so as your technique advances to make sure it works against a loutish maniac. But the rest of the time I recommend rolling with either people who are better than you but technical versus hyper physical, or to really develop your offence roll with people worse than you and not as physical. This way you can have the best of all worlds without the injuries of going full on with the maniac every training session!