The Art of Playful Sparring
“Did they just let me do that?”
The art of playful sparring
You ever roll with someone and think “did they just let me do that?” The answer is always - yes.
In a tournament match or competitive sparring round, I want to dominate the action from start to finish. To improve and have more fun in BJJ, you need to learn playful sparring.
A lot of times, a more experienced grappler will allow a less experienced grappler to gain good position or a few successful moves in a row. You may start thinking, “hey - I’m really doing well today”. Then they hit you with a sweep or submission and make your world come crashing down.
Playful sparring keeps BJJ a lot more fun. I used to be someone who never wanted to ‘tap out’ to my training partners. We always took a lot of pride in being tough to submit, tough to score points on. Trying to win every single round.
Now I’ll sometimes let my training partner put me in a bad position or submission then I will try to escape. Sometimes I have to tap out. But honestly who cares. Tapping out is a great way to check your ego.
Training in this way made my escapes a lot better and increased how many overall techniques I’m confident in. When you’re confident in your technique you will take more risk in sparring.
Playful sparring takes some of the stress out of it. I always felt pressure to do well in sparring, which honestly made some of the sessions not as fun. Some days you’re gonna want to push yourself and “go hard”, but other days when you don’t feel as sharp or strong try to make sparring a little more playful and you will still have a fun and productive training session.
What can you do to make sparring more playful?
Move slower
Start from a bad position
Don’t put all your weight on your partner
Let go of something and transition to another technique
Don’t stay in the same position for more than 10-15 seconds
BJJ terminology
Flow rolling: When two people are sparring at much lighter pace than normal. Around 50%. Offering very light resistance and focus on flowing between positions and submissions.
Regular rolls: What most coaches call live sparring rounds. Two practitioners sparring at full resistance. Starting position is determined by coach prior to the live rounds or quickly agreed on by practitioners before starting the sparring round.
Positional rolls: Working from one position with both people having specific goals. Similar to a mini game. These rounds are often very short. Example: starting from back control, one person tries to hold the back while the other tries to escape. Any change in position results in a reset to back control.
Open mat: A class to train and roll with anyone you like. Open mats invite athletes from the other gyms in their area to come for the purpose of learning something new from each other and sharing their passion for the sport. There is often no lesson plan to follow. Sometimes these are free classes, which is something I generally don’t agree with but to each their own.
BJJ holiday gift ideas
New gear
Everyone loves a new rash guard (training shirt), pair of shorts, gym bag, or maybe even a new gi. I’ve seen guys keep gear for way too long, since the Kimbo Slice days.
Pay a month of their BJJ membership
Contact the gym they train at and tell them you want to cover fees for a month.
Private lesson
Ask them who their favourite coach is. Book a private lesson. You could also buy them an online instructional video.
Something to relax.
Massage. Foam roller. Massage gun. Spa. Yoga class.
Mouth guard
Everyone should wear a mouth guard. I recommend getting one from a dentist that they mould from your teeth. It’s a little more expensive but it’s worth the money. Alternatively, you can get them on Amazon or a sporting goods store.
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