Grappling with Claustrophobia in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

[disgruntled]

i found an excellent article from:

Grappling with Claustrophobia in BJJ

about grappling with Claustrophobia this is a portion of the article:

Claustrophobia and anxiety/panic attacks during intense grappling are much more prevalent than one would think. At least, more prevalent than many of those in the grappling world would think. But if you were a chess champion, a tennis player, a downhill skier, or even a basketball star, the notion of becoming claustrophobic while being crushed, controlled, and smothered against your will for extended periods of time would probably make perfect sense! Not so in the grappling and mixed martial arts world; it's something that is hardly ever talked about, and therefore considered rare. But think about it; after several months or years of training, no one wants to say, "I tapped out because I was irrationally and uncontrollably afraid, and if you didn't stop holding me down right then and there, I think I might have died." Instead, random dirt gets in the eye; people with good cardio suddenly "gas" and have to stop; healthy people suddenly develop a phantom injury which disappears soon after the session ends; seasoned veterans suddenly make rookie mistakes and get caught in flash submission holds. In a sport where toughness and "heart" are often the measuring stick by which fighters are judged, no one wants to admit they have a chink in their mental armor.

I personally think more people quit grappling from claustrophobia and anxiety-related issues than anything other factor, bar none. They may say that it was too big of a time commitment, or that it was too expensive, or their bad knee just wouldn't let them train the way they wanted to. But those things are just on the surface, things that made it easy to give up grappling and go back to mountain biking, golf, anything that doesn't involve being physically smothered and controlled against your will. This happens to beginners, but I think it happens even more to those who have a moderate level of experience under their belts. When you first begin grappling, it's considered OK to tap to just about anything. You get a little winded, bang your knee, have a hangnail? Tap out, no one expects more of you. But as you begin to progress, you are expected to withstand more and more physical and mental discomfort before you throw in the proverbial towel. You may not have the physical skills to get yourself out of uncomfortable situations, but tapping to anything other than a well-applied submission hold becomes less and less of an option.

Some intermediate grapplers have the inherent mental and emotional makeup to breeze right through this stage. Others weren't born with it, were never told it was possible to train it and begin to live in misery. Every grappling session becomes a nightmare in their minds before it even begins. They wake up sweating at night, thinking about how the upper belts will dominate them tomorrow, how the big, strong guys who don't know any submission holds will plow through their guards and simply hold them down for the entire length of the session. They might find the courage to go train the next day, but the session will not be one of pleasure and learning for them. It will be an exercise in avoiding that pain, that panic, at all costs, whether it means playing a totally defensive game so they are not pinned, or avoiding a person they know will be a particularly tough roll. For some, they will find a way to drag themselves through this stage until one day, the anxiety is gone, or at least reduced. For most, however, it is only a matter of time before their emotional and mental discomfort takes the last bit of fun out of grappling, and they quit.

Some hardcore folks may say "good riddance, this sport isn't for everyone." I disagree; I am of the old school, Helio Gracie mindset that grappling, jiu-jitsu in particular, CAN be for everyone. Jiu-jitsu is well known for giving a physically weaker person a chance to defeat a stronger one. But what about someone who is not physically, but mentally vulnerable? We talk about sharpening our technique, strengthening our muscles, boosting our endurance. More than talk, we do countless exercises and drills to increase these attributes. But how many times does a grappling class include mental drills? Emotional drills? Almost never! We just train the physical, and assume that the mental and emotional aspects will just work themselves out along the way. That, or the person who cannot adapt quickly enough will be weeded out by a sort of natural selection. While this may be acceptable to some, if jiu-jitsu is truly the art that it claims to be, we as a grappling community can't allow this to go unaddressed.

You probably won't be surprised at this point to learn that I went through this myself, and it very nearly ended my career as a grappler. For me, being proactive was the way to beat this fear. I sought out the help of a sports psychologist, I read books on mental toughness, and I talked to other people who experienced the same thing. Believe me, there were more out there than you would believe. I didn't find any 'Claustrophobic Grapplers Anonymous' groups, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn they exist.

For me, the most important step in defeating my anxiety was a series of situational drills that I did with my instructor and some trusted friends. Before I get into the details of that, however, let me repost something that Gordon Hester, a Rickson Gracie black belt, posted on the Underground Forum a while ago. It gave me the confidence that if someone who has achieved a black belt under Rickson had these same fears and conquered them, so can any of us:

"I basically told Rickson I seemed to gas out on the mats when I felt stuck or in trouble (especially on the bottom). It was almost like a form of panic. This is when he told me to learn to train like a rat instead of always being the lion. He said the rat's only motive is to survive. When I learned to play in trouble and survive the attacks of the lion, the mental stress went away and my cardio was better. I learned to actually put myself in trouble with my students so I could learn to mentally deal with any situation. I knew that if I could alleviate mental confusion and chaos, I could eliminate the problem of gassing out for this reason. It really did make a big difference in my training."

This advice was gold for me. In addition to adopting this type of mental attitude, what I recommend is working your positional escapes to DEATH. Become a master of escapes, and also a master of relaxing. You can tell yourself "oh I will just relax and breathe whenever I get pinned", but when its happening under live conditions, all that self-talk can go right out the window if you have not put yourself in those scenarios beforehand. Having a coach or training partner who is dedicated to helping you with this is very important. You may have to set up private lessons or time outside class to work on this, but believe me, it will be worth it in the end. I broke this up into three different sections. You could work on all three in one session, or work on them for awhile individually.

I. Survival/Relaxation
In this stage, all you are going to do is develop your ability to be calm on the bottom. You'll need to have a timer of some sort, you can get a nice loud electronic kitchen timer from Wal-Mart or the like. The timer helps. The timer is your friend. The timer lets you know that you can anything for just one more minute.

Do calisthenics of some kind to get your heart rate up hard and fast. Sit-outs, squat jumps, wind sprints, something like that. Or you can drill takedowns on your partner over and over. Whatever you like. Do them for about a minute so you are nice and winded.
Immediate have your partner take top control on you - sidebody, north/south, head and arm, mount; whichever is your least favorite. Have them hold you there for at least 30 seconds with a moderate amount of pressure and tightness.
Do not try to escape! Simply focus on relaxing, breathing, getting your arms into posture, and surviving. Notice where your partner's weight is placed, where his legs and arms are positioned. This will help in your escape choices later, but for now you are just observing while you relax.
Gradually increase both the time and the amount of pressure that your partner puts on you. Do this at your own pace, at whatever increments you need to push yourself, but still feel comfortable. At any point, if you start getting panicked, you can tap out and your partner will release you. This applies to all of the stages you'll go through! Take a few deep breaths to calm yourself, then have him get right back down on top of you.
II. Escape/Survival
Now you are going to start integrating escape attempts with periods of survival.

Same thing as before, get yourself good and winded so you can simulate the feeling you may have while you are rolling as quickly as possible. You are creating a new comfort zone for yourself.
Now when your partner pins you, you are going to begin your escape attempts. Have your partner coach you. When he says "Go!" you are going to try hard to escape his pins for 10-20 seconds, using lots of hip movement and combinations. He is going to try his HARDEST not to let you escape. If you do escape, immediately have him re-pin you. In any case, as soon as those 20 seconds are up (your coach/partner will tell you when), go into survival mode and relax for another 10-20 seconds. You are NOT ALLOWED to make any escape attempts during that time, you simply have to protect yourself, breathe, and relax. When your 20 seconds are over, begin trying hard to escape again. Repeat this process for a 1 minute round, then 2, then 3, etc., until you've worked up to at least 5 minutes. If you begin feeling panicked at any point, say something to your partner and have them start verbally coaching you. Or they can be doing this the whole time. They can tell you to relax, breathe, think about your posture, tell you you're alright, etc. This can be a very important factor. Right now, you lack the internal voice that keeps you calm, so your coach's voice will be there for you, helping you to relax and make your next move. Eventually, you won't need that external voice because the one inside your head will know what to do and say.
III. Escape
Finally, you are going to go into escape mode full on, going into 'survival mode' only when you need to rest or feel yourself starting to panic.

same type of progression as before. Get yourself nice and winded...
...then have your partner pin you and not let you up. Begin your escape attempts, pausing only when you need to. If you escape, immediately go back down again. Start with a 1 minute round, and see how long of a round you can work your way up to. When you have worked yourself up to a 10 minute round of being pinned on the bottom and you are no longer feeling panicked, you have really made progress!
The most important thing is to let go of your ego, let go of your embarrassment, and look at this issue as something to tackle head on. It takes more courage and heart to do this kind of training when you have anxiety than it does to win tournaments. Here is something else that's important, something that my sports psychologist told me: if you start to make progress, but then have a relapse (panic attack), don't look at it like you are starting from square 1 again. Just think you slipped a little back down the slope, but are going to climb right back up where you were and beyond very soon.

Here's another little mental trick. If you are rolling with someone and you start to feel panicked, give yourself permission to tap. Get rid of your pride and ego and let it be alright for you to tap out and take a little break for a second. Tap if you need to. Then next time, if you want to, you can push yourself a little. If you feel the urge to tap coming on, think to yourself "I'm going to wait 10 seconds, and if I still want to tap at the end of that time, I will, and it will be alright." Wait those 10 seconds, try to relax and go to your 'Happy Place' a la the movie Happy Gilmore. Your place may be filled with beer, scantily clad blondes, and midgets on tricycles, or it may not - but either way, try to go there and relax for just a few moments. Most of the time, when those 10 seconds are up, your opponent will have moved, you will have chilled out, and you won't feel panicked any more. Keep on rolling and give yourself a pat on the back! It's very cool to be a 'tough guy' and just go through life never worrying about a thing; but I think it takes much more bravery and heart to discover your fears, face them head on, and defeat them.

Jeff Rockwell

[disgruntled]

i found this article very interesting because i have felt paniced while rolling and i did not realize that this might be the reason why. know i have some valuable advice as to how to deal with it

[sirdarksol]

An excellent article. I'm claustrophobic in general, so I probably would have this problem. In fact, it may have been part of the problem I had with wrestling when I was a kid.