Confessions of an early tapper
So, first a bit about myself:
I am a big guy. I’m 6 feet tall, and about 260 pounds.
Also, I am one of the most advanced students at the dojo where I train. Especially when it comes to big guys. Most of the large guys at my dojo (other than my instructors) are white belts.
So, here’s my problem: I am used to either rolling with people who are smaller than me, or people who are less experienced than me (or both.) What this means, is that I tend to be in dominant position a lot, and when I’m not, I don’t tend to panic much, because I’m either stronger or more experienced than the person on top of me (or both.)
The result is that I don’t often get in serious trouble form someone big. But this means that I’m really not very used to that situation. the result (unfortunately) is that when I do get there, I panic and tap.
I’ll be honest, this is all a little embarrassing to say. But it’s something I’m determined to overcome.
Last night I rolled for a while with Bill, one of my instructors at Hidden Valley. Bill is a big, strong guy with great experience and technique. I spent the first little bit on top, actually pretty pleased with myself, and how I was doing. But eventually I got rolled onto bottom, and Bill started to work toward a submission. As soon as he got even close to it, I panicked and tapped. I wasn’t hurting. I wasn’t stuck. WTF??
It was almost like a weird claustrophobic panic or something. As soon as I thought there was now way out, I tapped instead of fighting.
I throw this out there, not as advice to anyone. But to just let you know, that if this is you too, then you’re not alone. I intend to fix this. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I know the feeling…before I started studying Jujitsu, I was a (WTF) Tae Kwon Do practitioner and in that instance being bigger than my sparring partners actually made me faster and more agile…at comps I was way faster than anyone in my weight category.
Jujitsu however is an entirely different ball game…Ive been training with students on my skill level that are also at least 10KG lighter than I am and much shorter, and while I have not yet encountered the problem as you described it…it is something that has bothered me for a while…how would I fair against someone my size or bigger?
The only thing I can consciously make an effort of avoiding at this point is using strength as apposed to technique while training with a lighter or smaller practitioner…I figured that relying on strength at this point would probably hamper my abilities later against a larger opponent…very interested to see where this goes for you.
Veen, Thanks for chiming in! I know that the phrase “using my strength” is a bad word in the jiu jitsu world. And I don’t want to give the impression that I am just muscling my opponent rather than using technique. But and example of where strength really comes into play is bridging. I have a very strong bridge. A smaller person is going to have a really tough time holding me once I am in a position to bridge. Similarly, coming from a wrestling background, I have a good base, and good weight distribution. this means that I do a very good job of keep my own balance when I am on the top. Being heavy makes this an even bigger issue for my opponent.
Excellent insights though. Again, thanks so much for sharing. I’ll elt you know how things progress. I need to start letting myself get into serious trouble more often against my bigger training partners.
Do you practice armbar escape drills?
http://drannmaria.blogspot.com/2011/07/armbar-escape-drill.html
I have athletes do drills all of the time where they are caught in an armbar and have to escape. When it happens in randori or a competition, they don’t panic because it’s not an unfamiliar situation.
I don’t think you’re alone at all – its a natural thing to freak out occasionally. I’ve seen this in myself in striking as well as grappling. For me, it gradually went away.
I read a blog post (from Dave Camarillo, I think) that mentioned that there are three experiences common to everybody in grappling: dominating an opponent, getting dominated and having a tough equally-matched battle. Perhaps a blend of each helps smooth out these things.
I just want to give you props for calling yourself out publicly. Hard to do, but a great way to pressure yourself to progress. Good luck.
Chad, thank you for the support. I have already made some headway. I have found that a choke or arm bar does not panic me in the least. It seems that my big problem is with having my face covered by the persons gi or body. Sort of a claustrophobia I guess. Now that I know this, I try to calm myself I those situations. It has been helping.
[...] Weak Things May be Made Strong Not long ago I wrote about my Confessions of an early tapper. Basically, I recognized that as a large, fairly skilled person, I tended to find myself in top [...]