Come to the Light Side

It’s not what you say that matters…
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… but it’s what you do that matters.
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The same goes for a certain BJJ expression we’ve all heard before.
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“Let’s roll light.”
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You thought it really was going to be a light roll…
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… until the other person started “losing” and then going harder.
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So I get it that people tend to be skeptical of light rolling (or people who say we’re going to roll light).
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And then some people take pride in never rolling light. (But wait until they start skipping rounds… another discrepancy between words and deeds!)
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The thing is, if you and your partner can roll light with the right intention, light/flow rolling can be one of the best ways to improve your skills.
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When you roll light, you can and should focus on how you move your body.
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You don’t have to worry about winning or losing in this case, and you and your training partner can simply explore what’s possible.
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What’s excellent about BJJ is that you could improve your skills just by understanding what’s possible and how to make these possible moves happen.
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You already have enough strength to do these moves.
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In short:
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You can discover how you could move in different or effective ways through light rolling.
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And these discoveries will upgrade your understanding of how you could move.
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When you know what’s possible and how to do it, your BJJ skills will improve accordingly.
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Of course, you may need to keep refining these new moves, but that’s what regular sparring is for.
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I hope you have trustworthy training partners who can indeed roll light.