I had a conversation with a white Belt recently which brought this issue up: he was rolling with a partner who (I’m presuming/hoping) accidentally kicked the white belt.

Said white belt was understandably pissed. Admittedly I also get a little annoyed when I’m kicked, punched or when I am somehow on the receiving end of a knee to the face. Jiu Jitsu is about no striking: if I wanted to get punched I would do Muay Thai kickboxing or capoeira, or something of that nature.

The white belt in question was asking if that kick was “legal” in tournament. I had to explain to our heated white belt that I’m sure it was an accident, and that it was probably an aggressive sweep that got kind of weird. I also had to explain the common, unspoken rule of “don’t be rude”.

Jiu Jitsu practitioners have to walk a fine line between technique and really digging deep sometimes to pull off a submission. You want to be technical, you want to quickly and efficiently put your opponent in a position that they will feel the need to tap- whether that be a choke, joint lock…. the list goes on and on. But, the difficulty comes when you add the element that the other person wants the exact same thing, and of course people aren’t perfect- we all try to grind out a technique that may not be the easiest or prettiest one to use at that time.

Still, we try- there’s the idea that we want to submit our opponent without unnecessary pain or roughness. Again, back to the idea of “don’t be rude”. It can be a weird gray area at times, and one that is definitely subject to interpretation, but it’s something we should all keep in mind and- I dunno, personally I give people the benefit of the doubt more often than not because I assume they know about this rule.

Just some thoughts- have a great day everyone!