Use of Excessive Force

If you have been reading Shark Girl, you know that the only thing I hate more than 30” of snow is being muscled by a big dude (you can read some of my previous tirades here and here. I also especially liked this one from leaahh).

At an astonishingly small 4’11”, pretty much everyone is a big dude to me. Most of my classmates are great about working their technique when they roll with me. Some of my favorite rolling partners weigh in at over 250lb (113 kg). But then there are a few guys that I pretty much want to, well, choke out. I have dropped hints, told them directly, stopped rolling with them, all that $h!t. Nothing works.

Let me describe a typical roll with this kind of d-bag training partner (DBTP for short):

1.      DBTP works to get some kind of mount or side control

2.      DBTP uses their body weight to flatten me out.

3.      DBTP goes for a submission.

4.      DBTP can’t get a clean sub because I am in high defense mode.

5.      DBTP keeps their body pressure on me, fearful that any space they give will be used as an escape route.

6.      DBTP crushes their forearm into my jaw to try to move my chin up and steal a choke

7.      This usually fails so . . .

8.      Shark Girl stops struggling and just lays there because I don’t want to tire myself out

9.      We are at a boring impasse.

10.  Go back to #6.

And on it goes in a dull, infinite loop until we are so bored I would rather be doing a book report on the Yellow Pages or chatting with my accountant about the new tax codes.

The last time this happened to Shark Girl, DBTP, unwilling to give up his position but unable to submit me, actually entered a conversation (not even about jiu-jitsu!) with some guys sitting on the sidelines. Highly insulted, Shark Girl told him to take a walk.

Anyway, as you may know, I am buried in a cocoon of snow and nursing an injury. I decided to open my copy of Jiu-Jitsu University to a random page to keep myself sharp and see what tips I could pick up. Saulo did not fail me. Here’s what I read:

“Once you decide to use your jiu-jitsu on the bottom without resorting to strength, you will find that you gain confidence as your partner tries to use more and more strength to surpass you. To help with your mental development, try this drill: every time you feel your opponent having to muscle through your defense, take this as a mental victory that your jiu-jitsu holes are getting smaller.”

 —Saulo Ribeiro, Jiu-Jitsu University, p.43

It’s good to know that my jiu-jitsu holes are getting smaller. If only I could make jiu-jitsu a-holes smaller, too.

PS: Pardon my coarse language. Husband was offended that I told everyone to "suck it" in my last post. It's just how I feel in the dead of winter. I promise I'll have more decorum once the sun gets back to my part of the world.