Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a key part of the combat sports world that is uniquely suitable for smaller, less robust humans. In fact, it’s often joked (but seriously) that it’s rife with killer nerds who you’d never suspect would be able to control and submit the big strong guy. Since much of the technique utilises leverage of stronger body parts against weaker body parts of the opponent, as well as strategy, creativity, speed, and agility, being the biggest and strongest isn’t always necessary in order to come out on top in BJJ. There are lots of BJJ gyms in Melbourne (and the world) these days and more and more students joining by the day, hoping to up-skill and be part of this every growing combat cult.
That said, once you’ve actually joined a BJJ gym it takes some time to become one of the nerd killers, and until then, you may just be a nerd, or just a small person in class, and this can bring up some safety concerns. While you are early in your training (and even as you progress), you will likely find yourself partnered up with someone much heavier than you. If they are not very skilled (and sadly, even if they are), they may decide to rely only on the weight discrepancy during rolls and you may find yourself smashed under side control for the duration of the round, doing your best to brace your ribs in hopes that they don’t all crack, and trying desperately to hold out from pressure tapping.
Worse than simply being steam rolled by larger teammates is the danger of an untrained, larger person, putting pressure on your joints or other body parts in such a way that you get injured. Not only is injury awful to begin with, unnecessary and avoidable injury that puts you out of training, costs money to repair, and reduces your quality of life really sucks.
So now that we’ve established the perils of being the small person in class, let’s talk about a few tips for training safely. Ultimately, you want to feel confident heading into your BJJ gym (even if you might get an ego smash), and the last thing you want is to stop showing up because you don’t feel safe with your training partners. So here they are, tips for safe training at your BJJ gym when you’re the small person in the room:
1. Find other small people to train with.
This sounds really simple and obvious, which means you should definitely do it! You can seek out the other smaller people and approach them to be training buddies, or choose them for live rolls. Don’t be afraid to ask people to roll with you. Look for the skinny guys, the other super nerds, the dainty chicks, etc. Keep in mind that these smaller people at a BJJ gym may be actual nerd killers and totally wreck you, but you won’t be put in danger by sheer weight and the dangers of a heavy and cumbersome person.
2. Turn people down! Avoid the extra large or extra spazzy people.
This is super important for anyone training at BJJ gyms in Melbourne or anywhere. Even if you aren’t small! You can totally say no to rolling with people. The BEST people to avoid are new, white belt guys who are bigger than you and seem a little too eager. These are the classic “white belt spazzes” who get too pumped, try to hard, want to “win” at training, and often hurt people, even people their own size. There are many times in life in which we should not judge others, but this is not one of them. Judge away! You might be wrong about their spazz status but it’s better to avoid the possibility if you aren’t sure. People doing Jiu Jitsu can learn to get used to having their feelings hurt. If it offends someone to be turned down for a roll, that’s a them problem to work on. That said, you can be polite about it and just say no thanks, or that you’re sitting one out.
As a reminder, you can turn down anyone, not just spazzy white belt guys. If someone makes you uncomfortable or you don’t know how they roll, sit one out and watch first.
3. Have a conversation with your rolling partner.
One thing you can do in a BJJ gym is communicate with the other adult human! Truly, you can actually just talk to your partner and say hey look, I’m smaller than you and I’m a little worried about getting injured. Let them know you’re still learning and that you’d like to take things down a notch. There is the risk that they will agree and spazz out anyway, so you’ll have to use your judgement as to their character. If you do ask to “flow roll” or “go light” then you better also follow through with that and not try to take advantage of them going easy on you, unless they’re cool with it. But in general at BJJ gyms, don’t be afraid to speak up.
4. Ask your coach/professor/teacher for help.
Your coach should know who is safe to roll with, so ask them to pair you up with someone. Have a conversation with them and let them know that you are concerned about getting injured, that this isn’t your professional career etc. and you’d like to train in such a way that you get to keep enjoying your life for a lot longer. They should be more than happy to help pair you up with reasonable people.
5. Move up a weight class.
This is sort of a joke! But in all seriousness, if you’ve just joined a BJJ gym in Melbourne, or wherever, and you’re doing zero cross-training or strength and resistance training of any kind, this would be a great opportunity to start. Not only will packing on some functional, lean muscle mass make you stronger and heavier, it will protect your joints during rolling, make you feel more confident, and generally improve your health and reduce all cause mortality. You don’t have to become the hulk, but putting on some muscle has benefits far beyond the BJJ gym and everyone should take part.
Hopefully you’re feeling more confident now about training safely in a BJJ gym, even if you’re still a murder nerd in training. If you haven’t yet joined a BJJ gym in Melbourne, we obviously recommend joining ours. But honestly, just get into it however you can.