Joking During Rolling: Okay or Not?

Uchi Mata said:
No, no I don't. I think keeping it playful is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Warmups fine, roll light. But if you're working to get better, FUCKING WORK TO GET BETTER! Joking is not a part of that. I'll joke with you all you want before and after training, but training is training, not some God damn ice cream social.
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You're gonna get better whether you have the occasional moment of light-heartedness or not. I'm not training for the world's. I'm not even bothered by competitions full stop unless I happen to feel like one. I'm training for my own enjoyment and fitness. That's it. If it's not fun I'm not doing it.

When I drop into my local judo club they seem to be having a lot of fun. They work hard, but as adults who are mostly past their competitive prime, they're not under time pressure to maximise every second of intense training. You fight hard enough but always room for a bit of chat. They never bang on about "leaving your ego at the door bud" but are far less egotistical than BJJers in my experience. BJJ seems to have adopted this bad-ass posturing from it's MMA/challenge-fighting roots that takes itself too seriously for me.
 
The thing about having fun while rolling is that for many, the actual hard rolling is the fun part. Joking around instead of hard rolling just cuts into that and ruins the fun. If you are still rolling hard, I wouldn't consider that really joking around.

That's how it is for me. The number of hours per week that I can joke around is pretty large. The number of hours per week that I can roll hard is much more limited. I give the latter hours priority and get my social club stuff in during all the other hours I have on hand to do that.
 
Codger said:
You're gonna get better whether you have the occasional moment of light-heartedness or not. I'm not training for the world's. I'm not even bothered by competitions full stop unless I happen to feel like one. I'm training for my own enjoyment and fitness. That's it. If it's not fun I'm not doing it.

When I drop into my local judo club they seem to be having a lot of fun. They work hard, but as adults who are mostly past their competitive prime, they're not under time pressure to maximise every second of intense training. You fight hard enough but always room for a bit of chat. They never bang on about "leaving your ego at the door bud" but are far less egotistical than BJJers in my experience. BJJ seems to have adopted this bad-ass posturing from it's MMA/challenge-fighting roots that takes itself too seriously for me.
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To me it's not about posturing or trying to be a badass, I'm 34 years old, I know who I am from a grappling standpoint. I'm never going to be the best competitor in the world, I'm very well aware of that fact. I think it's about time, and respect. I'm really, really busy and my mat time is limited, and I also care very deeply about getting as good as I can at grappling (which is why I still invest as much time and effort in it as I can though I could easily be doing other things). As such, when I'm on the mat I want to spend as much time as possible actively improving. If you're joking around a lot during training, that indicates that you're not taking it very seriously and as such you're not focused on getting better, which is what I'm there for. Grappling isn't striking, it's pretty hard to get better on your own. You need training partners who are also focused, who are also willing to work hard. So you can call it ego if you want, but it's only ego in the sense that I really, really care about being as good as I can be. And as I said, it's not like I don't hang out with BJJ people, or don't bullshit like anyone else before and after class. I love that aspect of being part of a gym but it's separate from the training which I do treat like important work.

You can say I take myself too seriously, and I do in the sense that I take my own improvement very seriously, but that's not synonymous with thinking I'm better than I am, and frankly I think everyone should take themselves seriously in the sense of trying to get the best out of their potential.
 
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I can roll my ass off and still smile and laugh. In fact, I often find it's in my really hard rolls with my coach where he'll just hit a crazy sweep and I'll just crack up laughing in an "Oh shit, I can't believe that just happened to me." kind of way. He's done the same with me, and he's a straight out of Brazil, second degree BB, so I don't think it's a big deal. And trust me, no one is giving anyone an inch in these rolls either.

I just think, if you're so serious that everytime you get swept, or lose a roll in training you're getting pissy and down on yourself, you're only setting yourself up for more disappointment. Personally, I can't stand rolling with those people either. For me, I'll laugh it off, think about what happened, and when I stop them from doing the same the next time, I'll give em a little knowing look, we'll both laugh and we'll work to up our game so we can do it all over again. I think rolling is fun, whether I'm kicking ass, or getting my ass kicked, so I'm going to enjoy, and it takes nothing away from my intensity.
 
thread has been enlightening into different ppls attitudes towards training. i think both sides can take something from the other, even if they disagree.
 
does it pass the helio filter is what you should be asking yourself in this situation
 
Lol at the people who think rolling hard and not wanting passive agressive joking during rolling as over compensating/taking it too seriously
 
Ryoto Machida said:
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I can roll my ass off and still smile and laugh. In fact, I often find it's in my really hard rolls with my coach where he'll just hit a crazy sweep and I'll just crack up laughing in an "Oh shit, I can't believe that just happened to me." kind of way. He's done the same with me, and he's a straight out of Brazil, second degree BB, so I don't think it's a big deal. And trust me, no one is giving anyone an inch in these rolls either.

I just think, if you're so serious that everytime you get swept, or lose a roll in training you're getting pissy and down on yourself, you're only setting yourself up for more disappointment. Personally, I can't stand rolling with those people either. For me, I'll laugh it off, think about what happened, and when I stop them from doing the same the next time, I'll give em a little knowing look, we'll both laugh and we'll work to up our game so we can do it all over again. I think rolling is fun, whether I'm kicking ass, or getting my ass kicked, so I'm going to enjoy, and it takes nothing away from my intensity.
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Eddie Bravo were making jokes vs Royler Gracie in their second bout and I would assume he was doing his best and were going hard too :)
 
A joke/comment here or there is one thing. When it starts to be a full stand up set is when it gets pretty obnoxious....but it's also a sign to me I'm not attacking enough. If someone is comfy enough to go that far, then it's partially my fault for letting have the opportunity to do so imo.
 
I will joke while going a 100%, i will joke when i get mounted and i will joke when i get mount. I'm just fucking enjoying the roll so im happy whether i am smashing or getting smashed and when im happy i joke. Never had anyone complain about it, sometimes people dont respond due to the intensity and that is cool.
 
Cant believe this is a thread.

Nothing wrong with a little comment or giggle every once and a while. Belts are irrelevant.
 
Uchi Mata said:
So on /r/BJJ there's a pretty long thread about whether it's okay to joke while rolling, and I got downvoted like hell for saying that I don't think it's okay and it annoys me when my partner is talking and telling jokes during a roll. Am I taking it too seriously or are all the white belts saying it's important to be able to joke around in the midst of training not taking it seriously enough? I was really surprised how in the minority I was in not thinking it was cool and that rolling is a time for working, not screwing around.
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I agree with you...if your focus is on coming up with a funny comeback, then you're not fully focused on training...you can get hurt, or hurt someone in an instant!

Joke all you want during the water break.
 
I will add this to the thread: Marcelo Garcia probably has more recorded rolls than any other human. Watch some. The majority of rounds are silent, but there are plenty of times someone makes an offhand comment during the round and he beams from ear to ear or vice versa. Especially after a sub occurs. No one is offended or thinks they're being robbed of their opportunity to improve.
 
People really need to not be purposely ignorant.. everyone who's actually trained knows what Uchi Mata is talking about..

Not the occasional joke or comment.. but the lower belt.. usually a white belt
. Who may or may not.. more often than not look a hipster for some reason. Passive aggressively compensating for losing or being tired by.. instead of just training.. starts trying to start a conversation, tell jokes that have nothing to do with it.. and tell the higher belt "good job". Which is distinctly fucking different from 2 older/higher belts cracking an occasional joke/comment/ or technical advice

No one is talking about taking rolling too seriously.. it's about maximizing your time and getting better and having fun in the meantime, there can be plenty of joking in between. In fact a lot of the hipster type bjj guys would be shocked about how much joking and fun goes on with wrestlers and wrestling coaches. But practice time, even when relaxed is fucking practice time.

Uchi isn't talking about taking training too seriously, he's talking about passive aggressive bitches who don't want to actually put in work, and yes children.. you can put in work to get better understand the fact you know you're not training for mundials.

And final thought.. I've had more issues with spanking and getting tweaked or hurt.. or hulk rolling after saying "let's go light".. from the jokesters than I ever have from the more "serious" guys like Uchi
 
SubmissionarY said:
Cant believe this is a thread.

Nothing wrong with a little comment or giggle every once and a while. Belts are irrelevant.
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I think TS is talking about when people talk and it disrupts the flow of the roll. For example if you're trying to pass or trying to get a submission and the other person starts to say stuff and it makes you give up the pass/submission because you don't want to do it while someone is trying to say something to you. At that point I would say you were kind of robbed of some good practice and all you can do is ask "was that pass/submission working" and hope that your partner doesn't lie to you.
 
Garlic yum said:
Eddie Bravo were making jokes vs Royler Gracie in their second bout and I would assume he was doing his best and were going hard too :)
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Eddie Bravo also laughed and said that he only jokes around to put his opponents into a mindset where he could beat them....essentially proving my point. :-/
 
You party poopers should just enjoy rolling w/ a goober you know isn't going to hang, or if they do they'll be a sandbagging white/blue glorified waterboy.

In other words the joke's gonna keep playing out whether they talk or not.

"Wow dude, that was really nice what you just did there. Reminds me of the time a pygmy, an eskimo, and @DanTheWolfman.com walked into a bar. They go over to sit at the bar and just then a donkey........Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z...z-z-z-z-z-z".
 
Minnja said:
I think TS is talking about when people talk and it disrupts the flow of the roll. For example if you're trying to pass or trying to get a submission and the other person starts to say stuff and it makes you give up the pass/submission because you don't want to do it while someone is trying to say something to you. At that point I would say you were kind of robbed of some good practice and all you can do is ask "was that pass/submission working" and hope that your partner doesn't lie to you.
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Not responding to "taunts" is part of practicing.
 
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