The Flow Roll

The “Flow Roll” in Jiu-Jitsu has often been misconstrued to mean all different kinds of things to different people, hence the many memes about “let’s just roll light.”  The official meaning of the word flow is to move in a steady or continuous way. Much like how the ocean flows with the tides, it is a steady but constant movement - a fluid movement.

So how do we translate this steady, constant, fluid movement into BJJ? Well, it’s simple. You roll in a relaxed manner, build upon movements (i.e. action/reaction movements with your partner), you experiment with techniques that you are hesitant to try in a “live” situation, and most importantly, you are moving much slower and with much less intensity as you would in a live roll. In a flow roll, you often practice “catch and release,” a term used to catch submissions but release them before the finish.

Seems pretty simple right? Unfortunately the execution for many is not so simple. This is not to say that the reason why people can’t flow roll properly is because of their ego – sometimes that’s part of it – but a lot of it has to do with self and body awareness that (depending on the ego/belt level) we have not quite gotten the concept of yet. Having to maintain that control throughout the entire duration of a round may also be difficult, especially if your partner starts to increase the intensity of the roll.

There is a time and a place for more intense training and there is also a time for more exploratory movement that we can all benefit from. After all, a flow roll could be seen as a way to execute the techniques you’ve drilled into a live, but controlled situation. It also gives you and your partner a chance to problem solve, but at a much slower and less frantic pace than in a live roll. If you think about it, BJJ is problem-based learning. You are given potential solutions to the problem (i.e. getting out of a submission, etc.) but based on your body type, flexibility level, etc., you have the ability to figure out which solution effectively works for you. But the way that you get to those answers lies in drilling and in the flow roll.

So before you ask someone to “flow roll” or “roll light,” or before you answer someone who is asking you the same question, be sure that both you and your partner keep each other accountable during the flow because once one person picks up the intensity, so will the other… which will lead to an all out sparring session with the chance of someone getting hurt, especially if you’re flow rolling because you’re nursing an injury. Injuries tend to be able to withstand going harder when your ego forces it to so don’t let that be a reason to sit out on the sidelines for longer than you have to.

Flow with the go, jiu-jiteiros…