10th Planet Watch – 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys Blog

Ok so helpfully you’ve read my two previous articles on the subject of the importance of good training partners. I you haven’t read them yet, why don’t you click here to see the first one, and click here to see the second one.

• Now you should be all caught up with what makes a good training partner. Going back, I realized I didn’t mention the obvious things that could make you want to, or not want to, work out with another person. Let’s make a list of things that would be important.

• Wear zippers, pockets or buttons. This can be annoying sometimes when you get scratched, but this can be fat out dangerous as well. We’ve had a student that actually needed stitches because there was a small zipper on the pant leg of his sweats. If he has to get stitches that can lead to missing class. Be mindful of what you wear to class. For this and a multitude of other reasons, I will be making a bottom half uniform in the near future.

• Wear unwashed uniform. This stinks, and it makes people not want to roll with you. If you get a reputation for being the class stinker, it will deter people from working with you. If they do work with you, they’ll have a terrible class because the’re going to have to smell you the whole time. Not only does this suck, but it also is dangerous. You can get all kinds of diseases from unclean uniforms. Nothing would be worse then getting staph from you training partner due to the fact he was too lazy to wash his clothing.

• Have bad body odor or bad breath. This sort of goes along with having an unwashed uniform. Go out and get some wipes from Defense Soap, click the link on the bottom of this page. You can also get some body spray and apply that sparingly to you body, it will make your experience at the gym more enjoyable, and make people show you all their secrets instead of avoiding you altogether.

I got loads more of these, tune in next time for more tips on how not to be a douche bag.

Coach Alder Hampel

www.10thplanetvannuys.com 

Something I address frequently at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys, is the value of having a good training partner. They can be very influential in your Jiu Jitsu career. This may seem obvious, but sometimes we need a good reminder. A good training partner, just like a coach, can be somebody that will help you to becoming a better practitioner. Brent Littel has been one of my best training partners/mentors over the years. He has helped me get to where I am as a player ,and as a coach. He’s kept me accountable when I was slacking. Without people like him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. You and your partner form a sort of think tank, where you can bounce ideas off of each other. You can form solutions as a team that you may not have thought about on your own. For the most part, our sport requires you do most of the movements on, or with another person. I’m a big fan of solo drilling, bridging, rolling and shrimping without a partner, but the majority of stuff is more fun, and more effective with another human being.

What I myself look for in a good partner is first and foremost, trust. I’m putting my safety in this person’s hands, I sure as hell don’t want to get hurt by a careless/crazy/ego driven person. I need to feel comfortable with them to be able to focus on my technique, and not be afraid he’s going to snap my arm. If I’m practicing a move, and I’m worrying more about that person spazzing out on me, my technique is going to suffer. If I don’t trust somebody, I don’t want to train with them. Will I? probably, I’ll make the best out of the situation, but I’ll be very careful as to what I let happen.

I’m careful in who I choose to roll with as well. I’m very concerned with injury. If I feel my partner will try to spike me with a power bomb while trying to get out of a triangle, I won’t roll with him. If I feel a partner will potentially put his knee on my orbital to escape a kimura, I wont roll with him. If everybody has this mentality, it should hopefully force the bad apple to either change, get kicked out or quit. Either way that’s a win for the team. Contrary to popular thought, you’re not a “wuss” if you choose to not roll with a certain partner, to avoid getting hurt.  I’ve accepted the fact that I’m going to get injuries here and there, but if it’s avoidable, I’d rather pass on training with a jerk today, than not roll tomorrow. I’m getting to be an old guy, I’m a product of the 70’s, I’d rather train smart, than be a tough guy and sit on the sidelines icing my wounds.

Part 2 coming tomorrow, stay tuned!

Coach Alder Hampel

www.10thplanetvannuys.com