BJJ Brown Belt Demolished a Mat Bully (Feels Upset About It)
Have you ever heard of the term “Gym Enforcer” at your Brazilian Jiu-jitsu academy? It’s a pretty simple idea. Just like the old hockey enforcers who were sent out to check certain players on the ice.
A gym enforcer is there to check certain behaviors on the mat. In this video our friend Dee was put in the position as gym enforcer by his coach.
There was a mat bully in the BJJ gym he trains at who was roughing people up unnecessary and not being safe. The coaches had talked to the guy. But he still continued. So Dee, who is a BJJ Brown Belt, was told to put it on the guy and he did.
The bad part for Dee is that the guy hasn’t made it back to training since. And he feels like maybe he ruined someone’s BJJ experience.
In this video I share that the idea of a gym enforcer in your Brazilian Jiujitsu gym is fairly common. You don’t rough people up unnecessarily but you need people to be aware of reality.
If you were on a basketball team and you had a new player who wasn’t very good, but better than some, begin talking trash to the players.
You might have one of the better players school him on the court to check the situation before it becomes negative to the whole team.
I also share how being a gym enforcer is helping maintain the safe boundaries inside of your gym and share a term I read in a book called Iron John.
The term is Walled Garden, and simply means establishing a secure place for us to cultivate ourselves. This cultivation cannot happen if people are creating negativity inside the ranks of the gym. Enjoy the video!
-Chewy –
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Hi Nick. I posted this on what seems to be an outdated wordpress site, so I moved it over here to see what you think if you have the time. I’ve been following your YouTube videos and really appreciate your approach to teaching, so you seemed to be a good person to consult.
I’m a white belt in gi at a new gym (and a rusty, barely blue in no gi at a gym from ancient history). I had an experience at my new gym where I was rolling with a 12 year old kid who is very advanced (orange black I think?). The first time I met him he asked me to roll with him, and knowing he was much more skilled than I, my only objective was going to be avoiding getting submitted by a 12 year old. He tried absolutely everything he knew, and it took absolutely everything I had to avoid getting submitted. At the end of one 6 minute round I was bloody and felt like I had been in the fight of my life, even though I outweighed him by 70 lbs and 25 years.
After the round he was clearly furious and seemed a little broken by the experience. My coach spent a few mins comforting him. I felt like a complete asshole. I walked over to his parents (who are my age) and told them what a fierce competitor he was, and they seemed befuddled by the fact that I went so hard with him (internally I was wondering the same thing about HIM). To clarify…if I’m rolling with someone at my level who is smaller than me, particularly women or kids, I go very easy as I’m extremely strong for my size. But this kid would have beaten the crap out of me had I maintained that level. Hell, he did beat the crap out of me. I just never had to tap (barely).
I’ve tried to be friendly and complimentary with the kid since then, but he just gives me a hollow stare that indicates if he does get the chance to submit me he’s not letting go if I tap. I should have talked to my coach about how I approached my roll with him, but he never mentioned it to me, and I didn’t want to call more attention to it since I was already feeling pretty low.
The kid just is a kid, and he has growing up to do. He doesn’t realize yet that it was an equally valuable experience for him. He may not ever. The parents? Meh, they can think what they want. Hell, they’re not the ones who had to roll with him.
The whole experience made me gun shy though. Basically I started going so easy with everyone I roll with that I never have a chance to actually set up anything because I’m feeling like Lenny in “Of Mice and Men.” Purples and above are going to submit me regardless, so I don’t ever really feel like I have the opportunity to go toe to toe in a competitive way.
Obviously I’m way in my head about the whole thing, but if you happen to stumble across this comment I’d be curious about your take.
Adam
You did the right thing. And I may cover this in a video.
But it’s like my boxing coach used to say. Only punch as hard as you’re willing to get punched.
And in BJJ. Only roll as hard as you’re willing to get rolled with.
Sadly, he’s a kid wit a super power who got upset because the superpower failed him. He should be thankful for you being tough because it will make him better. Hopefully over time he’ll learn.
But until then, do your thing. I believe you went about the roll the right way.
hey chew, big fan got a question for you! still a white belt with about 6 months bjj. recently moved to a new city and joined a gym where the arent too many fellow white belts, i’m actually the only white belt in class most days. i miss having other white belts to train with and kind of be stupid together and kind of discover jiu jitsu together if you what i mean. how do i make the best out of my situation because now i feel like someone is holding my hand through every class. Thanks chewie
Just keep training. I remember being in a similar position at times early on. I would be the low man on the totem pole and felt completely stupid on the mats compared to everyone else. But give it sometime and you’ll be right there in the thick of it with your teammates.