BJJ No-Mind Sparring
One way you can mix up your BJJ training is by sparring with ‘no-mind’, letting your body or subconscious take control. This is definitely an advanced exercise. You are letting your muscle memory do all of the work, so if you are just a beginner this is not an exercise for you. You haven’t built up much muscle memory in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so you will be using your pre-Jiu Jitsu instincts which will build bad habits. As a beginner you need to be focused on increasing your ability to perform techniques properly and improve your timing and control. But if you are advanced, or when you get there this can definetly take your game to a new level.
Here are a few rules to follow while practicing BJJ ‘no-mind’ sparring.
Allow your body to work on autopilot. You might make mistakes. But by constantly moving you are almost guaranteed to find new techniques or bridges between techniques that you have never thought of before. You want to flow from one thing to another without hesitation or gaps in time between two movements. This is what separates the intermediate and advanced student in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We tend to hesitate because of fear of loosing position, or the uncertainty that we can pull-off a certain move. But during this exercise, you are simply reacting, proving that your body knows much more than you give yourself credit for.
So you never want to stop moving, but you also don’t want to get stiff or use too much muscle. If you do, you’ll begin to get defensive and that’s not what this BJJ exercise is about. You want to put your opponent on the offensive. If you go for a move and can’t get it, then move right on to something else. It can be good to be persistent when going after a submission or some other move, but again, that’s not what this exercise is about. Using a lot of muscle will fatigue you very fast. You will loose sight of your goal during this exercise and get right back to being defensive and slow. A lot of times when you practice this, you will find that you do not get as tired as you normally do while sparring. This is because you are constantly moving and finding weakness in your opponent’s game.
Let your eyes scan your opponent’s body as fast as they can move. Don’t let your eyes settle on one place for more than a second. Let them move on to another area that you weren’t aware of. By using your eyes like this, you increase your awareness of yourself and your opponent and you begin to see how things connect in Jiu Jitsu. Like if your opponent is leaning a certain way, they are much more off-balance and easier to sweep. Or maybe they only go for a certain guard pass once they’ve settled themselves a certain way. Have you ever seen a dog or a cat about to pounce on something? They keep their head low and stick their butt in the air and shake it a bit right before they attack. It’s called ‘telegraphing’ and a lot of times you can see your BJJ opponent doing it right before a move. They probably don’t wiggle their butt, but they may tense up or posture a certain way right before they go for certain moves. You probably do it as well, and it’s something to be mindful of. By being more aware of your opponent you can begin to pick these things out.
Letting your body take control in BJJ is not about being a mindless creature, but about letting your instincts take control and sitting back and watching the show. If you can really let go, and pay attention you will discover new things about your self, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Check out these ways to keep track of your BJJ progress.
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