Rolling with handicaps can mean anything from rolling with the eyes closed to rolling with one arm and one leg tied. Rolling like this is a very effective method for improving your level.
Humans have a multitude of senses. Sight (ophthalmoception), hearing (audioception), taste (gustaoception), smell (olfacoception or olfacception), and touch (tactioception) are the five traditionally recognized senses. The ability to detect other stimuli beyond those governed by these most broadly recognized senses also exists, and these sensory modalities include temperature (thermoception), kinesthetic sense (proprioception), pain (nociception), balance (equilibrioception), vibration (mechanoreception), and various internal stimuli (e.g. the different chemoreceptors for detecting salt and carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood).
The human body and mind are made specifically to adapt to hardships. This means that whenever you remove one sense, let’s say sight for example, the rest of your senses take over.
Rolling with your eyes closed. It makes you feel your opponent better. By having to rely only on your senses, you will actually have to feel out your opponent’s body and how he is positioned in order to know where and how to move.
Rolling with your eyes closed makes you gain sensitivity, balance and timing. The important thing is ALWAYS be in in contact with your opponent, either a foot, a grip so as to feel the opponent’s movements.
Belgian BJJ black belt Wim Deputter, head instructor at Brasa Team Belgium. https://www.instagram.com/wimdeputterbjj/, uses this principle when rolling at the academy and even when competing. He talks about this here:
“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 gets more tired and your reaction time diminishes.
4). Last but not least… it prevents accidental eyepokes
Invisible Jiu Jitsu, taken very literally 
”
Learn These Old School Hidden Concepts That Can Make Any Fighter Have Ultra Heavyweight Top Pressure.
- Pin, pressure, and pass through the guard with old school concepts, as black belt Wim Deputter teaches his unique system for using fundamental positioning to get as much squeeze as possible out of your top game.
- With solid positioning and step-by-step instruction, Wim shows every detail in dealing with the common problems and counters you’ll see, and how to impose your top game on tricky guard players trying to keep you away.
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