Invisibilest Jiu Jitsu

Rolling with your eyes closed

I often get asked why I close my eyes when rolling / competing.

The answer is very simple. There are four reasons:

1). You feel better. Once you are close, it is all about connection, angle, posture, weight distribution, breathing and pacing.

2). Your eyes deceive you. By closing your eyes you become immune to feints.

3). It calms your nervous system and it prevents it from overloading. Every time you react, your nervous system ininvigets more tired and your reaction time diminishes.

4). Last but not least… it prevents accidental eyepokes

Invisible Jiu Jitsu, taken very literally 😄

Do you roll or compete with your eyes closed?

This is how I roll Jiu Jitsu training philosophy by Wim Deputter the mirroring principle

Wim rolling with Liza, photo by Morgane Gielen

This is how I roll – The Mirroring Principle by

Whenever I roll on training with someone I don’t know…

I like to start standing, let them get their grips and let them choose top or bottom.

Training is not always to see if I can beat someone with my A game.
It’s most often to check if I can play your game, defend myself and still come out on top.

The harder people go, the calmer I go. When they go hard (and they often do ?) they get tired in the first few minutes. I keep pushing the same pace.
When it’s someone who goes slow as well, we have a nice technical roll. You build respect and trust for later, more higher paced rolls.

If I can allow someone’s A game while rolling calm and still come out on top. I know I can do the same thing playing my A game.

I train seven days a week, never refuse a roll with anyone, never sit a round out and usually take the first roll with new students. This way you meet all kinds of people. Some aggressive, some calm, some heavy and some light.

This is the safest way to train jiu jitsu and be ready for anyone facing you. Probably the only way you can train a lifetime with minimal injuries.

Along the way you might even convince some douches to take the same approach and ultimately make rolling safer for everyone. Creating an environment where you can safely take risks. Taking risks, allowing bad positions, getting out of your comfort zone are the only way to learn.

It sets an example for beginners. If we roll hard, they will copy that. If we roll slow and technical, they will copy that.

Before a hard roll, you have to build trust and respect first.

Competition is for testing yourself against people you haven’t build trust with yet.

The Mirroring Principle training philopophy
Wim Deputter