Spazzing. v. Not knowing what you're doing, but doing it as fast and as hard as you can.
[definition paraphrased from a comment by kintanon over at the Jiu Jitsu Forums]
When I first started jiu jitsu, I didn't know what I was doing about 95% of the time. I was like a crack whore that stumbled upon her pimp's stash of meth. As a former wrestler, I was accustomed to the idea of grappling... I just didn't know how that translated to jiu jitsu. A half nelson isn't all that effective in the gentle art.
To make matters worse, I was relatively strong compared to others my age and size thanks to my (then) current job as a lumber handler at a lumber yard. To make matters even worse, I had a crazy endurance base from years of running ultramarathons on high altitude mountain trails. Running up and down mountains for 30 hours translates into pretty decent mat endurance.
It was a perfect storm for spazzing. I was fine when drilling at a low intensity. The game changed when it was time for live rolling. I didn't understand the positions. I didn't understand escapes. I didn't understand submissions.
The result was a lot of hyperactive wrestling technique applied to my partners as they tried to practice. I would try to power out of various positions. Most experienced jiu jitsu players would simply lock a spaz in a position, let them wear themselves out, then submit them. Unfortunately, my endurance base gave me enough stamina to spaz for 20-30 minutes. I'm sure the experience was similar to being seated next to a three year old on a trans-Atlantic flight.
It took awhile a good month or three before I started to learn to calm down. I realized my hyperactive thrashing was completely destroying my opportunity to learn. I was relying on physical attributes to mask shitty technique. The only way I was going to learn the very basic techniques was to chill out. Relaxation was the key, which is a little ironic given relaxation is a major component of my barefoot running teaching methodology.
Here are the steps took (and still take now.) And yes, most of these will be obvious to anyone except complete newbies... but that's the point of the post:
1. Relax via deep, slow breathing. I started by consciously slowing down my respiration rate before rolling. When the rolling started, I would practice slow, deep breathing. This naturally limited by aggressiveness and kept me calm. If I started breathing too quickly, I just slowed everything down. I'm sure the hyper/lethargic cycle annoyed the first few sparring partners, but I eventually got the hang of it.
2. When in an inferior position, I practiced good posture and waited. Previously, would immediately try to explode to a better position. This never really worked as it just exposed my neck or an arm. Flailing isn't a good strategy in line at the grocery store, nor is it a good strategy on the mat. Now I'll wait to see what my partner is doing to do. I'll look for the opening they create instead of trying to force an opening. This has also taught me the power of baiting them into a position to dictate which escapes I can use. I've even started intentionally seeking out inferior positions. It's common to start rolling on our knees. I'll almost always allow my partner to pull guard just to get more time working defense.
3. I started allowing them to submit me. This is more or less the same idea as above. Tapping allows me to feel the subtle nuances of their movement through the entire process of the submission. If I were spazzing, I wouldn't have the ability to perceive their subtle weight shifts or micromovements. This also helps me see how to defend submissions from various stages- before they sink it, while they're sinking it, and after they sink it. I'm still pretty bad at defending pretty much everything, but at least I've set up a great opportunity to learn. I've also started asking more questions after the rolling session ends.
4. I started seeing jiu jitsu progression as an exercise in efficiency, not the practice of collecting techniques and submissions. Continually marching toward ever-more efficient movement requires relaxation, which is exactly like the idea of trailcraft I discuss when teaching about trail running. The goal is to cover the gnarly terrain as fast as possible with as little energy as possible. It's like flowing over the trail. Jiu jitsu is the same "learn -> refine" exercise, and framng it in that way helps immensely.
These four techniques won't magically make me better overnight, but they DO inhibit that spaz response. If I'm going to be an annoying white belt, I might as well be "inquisitive annoying" instead of "spazzy annoying."
What about others? How did you overcome the spazziness that seems to affect almost all white belts? Share in the comments section!
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