Welcome

Welcome to Rolling with the Big Boys, a blog by a small BJJ girl in a big BJJ world.

There are a lot of different things here, from technique discussions to narrative essays, gear reviews to learning Japanese, so feel free to wander around.

Some recommendations to start you off:

Sitting, waiting, wishing, watching

A couple days ago I put on a gi for the first time in five months.  It was just to take some pictures for a gi review post but it was strange.

Strange how everything was so easy to put on – not just the fit though to be honest, I was more than a little proud at that, but the fact that I still remembered how to put it on, how I put it on. (Shake out the pants before shimmying in, tie the inside knot on the left side, double knot, tuck in.  Shake out the jacket in the same way, twirl it around the back like a regular jacket and fail once more to look cool.)

Strange how I got the ends of the belt to be even length on the first time. The knot even looked decent.

Strange how there was no mat to bow to, no break falls, no hip escapes.

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Get better at BJJ by studying videos of yourself

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million. An easy (and cost-effective!) way to get priceless feedback on your BJJ performance is to simply record yourself during training.

I’ve done this regularly and when most folks ask, they often express hesitation in filming their own self because they feel like there would be no point in studying themselves. In their mind, they already know so little, so how could they help themselves?

This is understandable since for many people, “learning” is an act that requires a teacher. But really, there are two ways to learn:

  1. Learning through understanding mistakes or through the giving of advice
  2. Learning through observation of patterns and intention gaps

The first method is what people traditionally think about for “learning” – it’s how our education system is set up, etc.  Learning is done via an instructor who imparts their knowledge to you, be it piecemeal advice or a structured curriculum.

The second method, however, is what is typically chalked up to “experience.”  Over time, you’ll learn – often the hard way – the proper grips for a toreando pass, or the proper escape from mount, for example. However, studying video footage of yourself allows you to shortcut this process.

One of the biggest values of studying footage of your own self is being able to uncover the intention gap.  Only you know what was going on in your head during the roll, which allows you the opportunity to analyze the thought process that led you to making those decisions.

In other words, if you were to give video footage of yourself to your instructor, they would definitely be able to give you valuable feedback and advice – what you should have done in this situation, what other options were possible, etc.  However, only you would be able to suss out what were the intentions or assumptions you had at the time that led you into those situations in the first place.

For folks both starting out or more advanced, being able to pinpoint what patterns are leading to your most common mistakes and also how to capitalize on your successes is crucial in naturally developing a game/style that’s unique to you.

Here are some recommendations on how to get started.

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Kitsune Views and Heroes gi jackets

Kitsune gi review: Views and Heroes

Previously, we talked about some tips for buying a womens gi as a smaller player and mentioned some money-saving options, like getting a cheaper gi to start (I still stand by Fuji as the best starter BJJ gi).

This post, however, is a bit different.  If money isn’t too much of a concern and you like Japanese ukiyo-e prints, I’d like to turn your eye to Kitsune.  Below, we’ll cover why I have two gis from this brand (and contemplating getting even more from them), a comparison of the Views and Heroes gis, and some further thoughts.

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Tips for buying a womens BJJ gi as a small player

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If your default is extra small, this post is for you.

Before we begin, let me be clear: This is not a buyer’s guide. If you’ve never bought a gi before or buying one after a long time, I highly recommend doing a Google search and reading the top handful of results that show up before continuing with this post.  I will not be going over general best practices – this post is meant to be an addendum to those guides.

Finished? Great.

Some background: As of this writing, it’s been 10 years since my first BJJ class and since then, I’ve gone through dozens of gis.  Not hundreds, as I’m not swimming in money and also because I’ve learned a couple things so I’m not swimming in my gis.

This post is a collection of those learnings, a handful of practical tips that have saved me both money and frustration – because let’s face it, BJJ is hard enough without your gi working against you.

This post will consist of two parts: Getting a gi that fits, and extra money saving tips.

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Pandemic perspectives

Every one of us has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially with regards to training BJJ. Curious as to how others were dealing, I reached out to several women in the BJJ community to find out how they’ve been facing this unprecedented time. The short answer: Head on. The long answer: It’s complicated, it varies, and it’s likely to change.  

An accompaniment to the article Lessons in Lockdown for Girls in Gis, the below is a Covid-19 style asynchronous, social-distanced round-table crafted from the reflections of three women navigating this uncertain moment in our world.  

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Training without a gym: Pre-mortem

Previously, we discussed using mental exercises such as the Feynman technique and 6 degrees to deepen knowledge in a particular aspect of BJJ and find connections between different areas (respectively). In doing these exercises – and training BJJ in general – it can be easy to feel overwhelmed with all the details, variations, and situational nuances. To help level-set and remember the core ideas and concepts, I suggest performing a pre-mortem.

Pre-mortem

From Wikipedia:

A pre-mortem, or premortem, is a managerial strategy in which a project team imagines that a project or organization has failed, and then works backward to determine what potentially could lead to the failure of the project or organization.

The beauty of a pre-mortem is that it can be adjusted based on your needs at the moment. A light version can be performed to quickly review what you’ve learned and identify the core ideas and concepts to focus on. In contrast, a more in-depth version can be performed while preparing for a competition, identifying the most important areas of your game to solidify and key opportunities to take advantage of while you still have time to train.

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When we say goodbye (An ode to my gym)

The mats were blue. They were long enough to fit at least seven forward rolls during warmups, wide enough to fit five pairs for footsweep drills, though someone always ended up swerving last minute, either to avoid the pair next to them or the soft spots between the mats.

On Saturdays, sometimes six pairs could fit for rolling, with a corner coned off for drilling, and a rope laid down to mark the space for those practicing Muay Thai. “Don’t get too close to Muay Thai land,” was the caution if you didn’t want an errant knee to your head.

The mats were chilly in the winter, slippery in the summer. Enough give for us to dive recklessly, enough resistance to make us think twice, but still try again.

(When we say goodbye, the mat is damp, clean, shining in the sunlight.)

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Fear of forgetting (When we return to BJJ)

‘Will I remember,’ I wondered in the middle of a butterfly sweep, legs lifting an invisible partner, ‘Will I remember what to do when we’re all back on the mat?’

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2020 was supposed to be a big year. I had gotten promoted near the end of 2019 and the tug of competition had grown more insistent at the turn of the decade.

Injury kept me from the first competition of 2020. Part of me regrets not participating in spite of it.

Who knows when the next one will be now.

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Training without a gym: How to study BJJ videos

The main way BJJ practitioners learn BJJ is through live training with an instructor leading the class.  Video can be a powerful supplement to live training if utilized effectively. Unlocking the potential of studying BJJ through video lies in how you go about choosing what, who, and when to study videos.

Note: At the time of this writing, the COVID-19 pandemic is in full swing, causing many BJJ practitioners to completely halt their training.  While videos do have power, using videos to learn brand new positions are best when coupled with live training (see Choosing what to do after studying). 

Since we don’t yet have a way to download abilities a la The Matrix, a general recommendation during this time is to study videos to supplement positions you already know.

Choosing what to study

Video resources can be roughly separated into two types: Tutorials and rolling footage.

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