skribs
Grandmaster
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There's a guy at my dojo. Let's do the Chewie thing and call him Bob. Bob is a 4-stripe blue belt, nearly purple belt. He's also a 4th Dan in Taekwondo, which is something that he and I bonded over when I first started BJJ. He's a nice guy, very unassuming. Until you roll with him.
In the past, folks have complained about his spider guard. I get it, that's a tight position. I've noticed in the past that he's much more intense than others who vastly outrank me. But, he's given me good advice, and he's shown me some cool moves.
Some of you may have seen the image in the general section, in Balrog's thread about knees. This blue belt is the one that accidentally injured my knee. I showed him the bruise, and he did seem a bit guilty, so I assured him that it's all soft tissue and that I don't hold a grudge. To prove it, I rolled with him again this weekend. This is when I realized that he only has one gear. Because here he is a week after injuring me, and he's still going at full intensity. It actually led to what I think is the dumbest tap I've ever seen: he was trying to get me in a triangle, and I was trying to posture up. He was pulling so hard that my frames almost broke his rib and he had to tap out. The really dumb part is, if he would have stopped pulling me into him, the pressure would have stopped, so it's not like he even needed to tap.
Later that day, I got to talking to some of the other white belts in my dojo. They were telling me that they've had similar issues with his intensity. Although in their case, they've noticed that if he knows you have an injury, he goes there. For example, one guy has a bad ankle, and this guy always goes after ankle locks on that ankle. Which tells me he's not training, he's just trying to win (against no-stripe white belts). It really surprises me, because not only is he one of the higher ups in our school, but he's done way more martial arts than just the BJJ.
For him to go hard against me the week after injuring me (to the point of nearly injuring himself), and then to hear the other folks say they don't trust him either, I think I'm going to start avoiding rolls with him.
In the past, folks have complained about his spider guard. I get it, that's a tight position. I've noticed in the past that he's much more intense than others who vastly outrank me. But, he's given me good advice, and he's shown me some cool moves.
Some of you may have seen the image in the general section, in Balrog's thread about knees. This blue belt is the one that accidentally injured my knee. I showed him the bruise, and he did seem a bit guilty, so I assured him that it's all soft tissue and that I don't hold a grudge. To prove it, I rolled with him again this weekend. This is when I realized that he only has one gear. Because here he is a week after injuring me, and he's still going at full intensity. It actually led to what I think is the dumbest tap I've ever seen: he was trying to get me in a triangle, and I was trying to posture up. He was pulling so hard that my frames almost broke his rib and he had to tap out. The really dumb part is, if he would have stopped pulling me into him, the pressure would have stopped, so it's not like he even needed to tap.
Later that day, I got to talking to some of the other white belts in my dojo. They were telling me that they've had similar issues with his intensity. Although in their case, they've noticed that if he knows you have an injury, he goes there. For example, one guy has a bad ankle, and this guy always goes after ankle locks on that ankle. Which tells me he's not training, he's just trying to win (against no-stripe white belts). It really surprises me, because not only is he one of the higher ups in our school, but he's done way more martial arts than just the BJJ.
For him to go hard against me the week after injuring me (to the point of nearly injuring himself), and then to hear the other folks say they don't trust him either, I think I'm going to start avoiding rolls with him.