TEAM SUKATA BJJ ETIQUETTE & UNWRITTEN RULES

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Jiu-Jitsu is a fantastic experience. You will meet new people, have fun learning new techniques, and you will laugh with your training partners. Jiu-Jitsu is also a culture of order, respect, and etiquette. There are certain things that your training partner will expect from you and vice versa. To have the best experience possible with your team, consider the following as a guide on your BJJ journey:

 

• Be clean. Wash your gi after every class. Keep your fingernails and toenails short so as not scratch your training partners. Make sure your hands and feet are clean.

 

• Be humble. Jiu-Jitsu has a way of humbling those who become cocky about their ability. It is bad taste to brag when you submit your training partner. Every dog has his day.

 

• Be considerate. If you’re sick in any way, skip training. Don’t be the one that gets ten other students sick. Come back when you feel 100%.

 

• Be cooperative. When sparring, you learn by resisting and countering your opponent's movements, but drilling technique is different. Drilling is when you work together, letting your partner do the technique so they can learn.

 

• Be cool. Remember, what goes around come around. If you insist on sparring hard with all of your partners, eventually all of your partners will spar hard with you.

 

• Be careful. When you’ve won the battle for a position, you don’t need to apply the submission full force. In fact, if you do, you will injure your training partner. Give your training partner a chance to tap. One day they will return the favor to you.

 

• Be punctual. Things come up. We cannot control the traffic, our children or any other unexpected event, but when possible try to be on time for class.

 

• Be patient. Jiu-Jitsu isn’t easy, but you will get better by drilling and training. If you don't understand a certain technique, do not get frustrated: ask questions, give yourself time to learn and then go back refreshed the next day. The first 6 months of training are the hardest. 

 

• Be respectful. It is an unspoken rule never to “call out” a higher belt. But, if you ask respectfully and with the intention learn, they usually don’t mind. 

 

• Be loyal. Your training partners become your friends. They are your tribe. They will help you on and off the mats. Be loyal to them, and they will be loyal to you. 

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WHY DO WE BOW IN BJJ MOVE OVER AND RESET IF YOU GET TOO CLOSE TO UPPER BELTS WHILE ROLLING OR DRILL.

 

Bowing is about heart and feeling and it's about what is said without speaking. It is about paying respect. Bowing also symbolises humility. When you bow to a higher grade you are acknowledging they know more about martial arts than you.

 

OVER AND RESET IF YOU GET TOO CLOSE TO UPPER BELTS WHILE ROLLING OR DRILL.

 

The rule is that if you’re a white belt, you move when you bump into (or get close to) colored belts on the mats. Also, NO MATTER your belt color, you move when you bump into (or get close to) a higher ranking teammate or your instructor.  If either member of the pair you bump into is a higher rank, then you move.  Respect the hierarchy.  Later on, others will move for you.

 

NOTE: If both pairs are the same rank, then be courteous and one of you please move over.  Moving over is not about anyone looking down on you; it’s just being respectful.

 

  You will notice as you continue in BJJ that higher belts barely think twice about moving for others as it becomes an ingrained part of rolling.