I'll try to make this short and sweet. I'm a very conservative grappler. I like to be slow and methodical, but to a fault. Because I'm not yet good enough to do it all without leaving any opening (and won't be for a long long time) people like to escape and move around me. The trouble is when they do I am very slow to physically react even though I recognise early what they are trying to do. So in sparring this frequently results in me being tapped out in a few minutes but with me barely breathing hard even though the other guy may be trying to puff out a lung (and I'm far from the fittest in the school). So I really could be trying a lot harder. I am VERY conscious of becoming like that uncontrollable newbie (you know the one that moves violently for the sake of moving and everyone hates) don't want to do anything stupid just because I convince myself to put in a full effort more often.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. But tapping all the time sucks, when you train with someone who is smooth and good, try to match tyere pace, youll still loose eventually, but youll get better timing from it, better cardio from it, and you wont pick up bad habits.
i'm having the same issue righty. methodical works too. but i'm struggling with when to seriously expend energy versus just sitting tight.
Worry less about this. It's a fight, not the gentle cuddle/Tai Chi exercise some insecure blue belts seem to want. Specifically, if you want to be methodical then you have to be putting weight on your opponent whenever you can. The answer to "when do I expend energy" is that if you keep defensively responsible i.e. continuously work on breaking grips, getting your grips, maintaining your posture, then it'll be much easier to commit when you create an opening. Early on a lot of guys will sleep-walk a semi-terrible position, broken down in the guard with a deep cross-collar grip, for example, then burn all their energy clinging on when a quick burst could allow them to recover.
