Are we ready to spar?

Watch the video and read the text…

I started pondering this question that I occasionally encounter while leading BJJ training sessions. What thoughts does it evoke in you?

Do you want to learn, win, fight, or battle for your life? In the gym, you can train in many different ways and at different levels. There are classes for beginners, fundamentals, advanced, and competitors. At each level, there are basic training sessions, themed classes, and open mats. Training intensity varies, and the right mindset is crucial for learning.

Here are my thoughts on different levels:

Solo drill: Exploring body movement on your own. The goal is to understand the technique or develop fitness/mobility. Feldenkrais or other somatic methods are great for improving the foundation, upon which more complex movements with a partner can be built.

Flow rolling: Rolling with a partner without submissions. The goal is to understand where your partner is, where they’re moving, and what you should do. The idea is not to stop your partner’s movement but to go along with it – hence the term FLOW. It’s an excellent sport-specific warm-up method if both keep the intensity low.

Blind rolling: Similar to the above, but with eyes closed, enhancing the somatic sense of the body. Extremely beneficial but not widely known. Recommended to try with a skilled partner.

Technical drilling: Training with a partner without resistance. The goal is to learn the steps and fundamentals of a technique, why each step is done, and the smartest order. Here, too, the role of the partner is crucial as they should provide the “right” response. This is usually part of every guided training session.

Positional sparring: Training a technique with a partner using progressive resistance. The partner gradually makes it more challenging, yet the practitioner always succeeds in the end. For example, moving from an open to a closed guard or from standing to side control, executing a submission or sweep. The first round is easy for the practitioner. Subsequent rounds are 1% more challenging but never impossible. Partner ensures that intensity doesn’t jump from 0 to 100% immediately. Great for learning techniques, suitable for practicing fundamentals. The importance of a good partner is again emphasized.

Technical sparring: One or both have a specific goal, like one looking for an armlock and the other a closed guard. This can also be done progressively or even with eyes closed. The goal is learning, not winning. Suitable for those slightly more advanced who want to apply fundamentals in changing situations.

Normal sparring: No specific limitations. Intensity can range from gentle rolling, focused preparation for competition, or anything in between. A special case is the so-called ‘meat-head sparring,’ where both go all out, should be done only when partners know each other very well and agree to push hard.

Competition sparring: Usually aimed at winning, involving understanding one’s game plan, studying the opponent’s weaknesses, exploiting the rules, and following corner advice. Going full throttle might not always be the best tactic. Competing is an art in itself. Highly recommended to try at least once.

Some professions involve sparring aimed at quickly de-escalating a situation and minimizing damage, like security work. Professionals have their own rules, obligations, and responsibilities. Some schools and styles train for these situations.

Outside the gym, there might be, for example, ego sparring, like fighting at a hot dog stand, usually when drunk. Here, one defends their bruised ego, resulting in physical or mental damage. Self-defense might involve dealing with threats, fighting for one’s life in violent situations, or extreme cases like war. In these scenarios, gentleman’s rules don’t necessarily apply. Anything goes, and the craftiest wins. The goal is to survive, except if facing legal consequences, then knowledge of excessive self-defense would be useful to set aside the ego and avoid the whole situation. I don’t recommend these to anyone and hope no one encounters them.

In normal practice, there are always two training partners, learning and developing together. Either both are winners (both learn and develop) or both losers (neither learns anything). If the latter starts happening, if spars become about winning at all costs, training partners will gradually disappear, leaving one alone and without a partner. A good partner’s role is essential for learning; how you help your partner succeed helps you learn too.

Here’s the translation of your provided Finnish text into English:

Everyone can learn from each other, usually different things but at the same time…

When you wrestle with someone less skilled, you have plenty of space and time to think about what you are doing, or what you allow the other person to do. You usually get to choose what to practice – offense, defense, passing, guard, sweeps, submissions, etc.

When you wrestle with someone of the same level, you get to test your own abilities because there is less space and time, and your game needs to be clearer and more purposeful.

When you wrestle with someone better than yourself, there is no room or time, no margin for errors, and you are accountable for every mistake, learning to defend and survive in tough situations.

… all the above are needed and usually implemented in a single training session by changing partners.

Fundamentally, everyone is responsible for their own health. That’s why we tap out when the situation becomes uncomfortable, some earlier and some later. Especially for beginners, often ego is an obstacle, leading to tapping out later and sometimes too late, resulting in injury. The longer one has trained, the better understanding they generally have of themselves and when it is wise to tap out. When training with less experienced partners, I feel responsible for both of us, adjusting my actions so that learning is possible for both. As the underdog against someone better, the focus is on my own health, and it’s okay to say if the pace is too intense or rough.

The reasons why we train are also varied. One wants to compete, another is interested in techniques, a third wants to exercise, a fourth is interested in body mobility, and a fifth in the mental aspect of the sport, etc… Sometimes desires align, and sparring is equally joyful for both. But not always. Here, the individual’s own responsibility for themselves and their partner is emphasized. If your body only needs movement, perhaps just technique drilling, then competition sparring might not be the right choice. It’s good to communicate this to your partner.

In guided training, the responsibility lies with the instructor to ensure activities follow the agenda and also with participants to adjust their level according to their partner, so that both have the opportunity to learn.

In open mats, you can express what you personally want to do, and your partner either helps in your development or then you train with someone else according to your own agenda. To those who like rough play, you can say that your body can’t handle it. We are of different ages, carry different amounts of injury history, limitations, etc. A smart partner understands this without words, a novice learns, and the stubborn often don’t last long in the sport.

How would you like to spar now?

BJJ black belt – Marko Seppälä, hipko.fi, Finland