Greco- Roman or Freestyle Wrestling for Taller Guys?

For self defense I think both styles are very good, try them out, check out the club, the coach, and which style you adapt to better. Everyone is different.
I totally agree with you. I think that many times similar to age, weight, height and body composition people can be different. I think that also it is very important the personality of the practitioner. Some styles are more offence oriented, while others are more suitable for more passive style of fighting.
 
I totally agree with you. I think that many times similar to age, weight, height and body composition people can be different. I think that also it is very important the personality of the practitioner. Some styles are more offence oriented, while others are more suitable for more passive style of fighting.

I agree a lot of times you can tell a persons personality by the way they wrestle. With that said, you don't have to wrestle a certain way to do Freestyle or Greco. Let your body type, personality, age help you develop a style that you can be successful in.
 
I agree a lot of times you can tell a persons personality by the way they wrestle. With that said, you don't have to wrestle a certain way to do Freestyle or Greco. Let your body type, personality, age help you develop a style that you can be successful in.
Yeah, many people show their personality in the striking combat sports, too. I personally fight more defensive and I rely a lot of my height and reach advantage, but when we grapple I prefer ti close the distance as fast as possible and clasp my hands behind my opponents body. :) My primary question was just about that the body type pros for both of the wrestling styles. I don't know, maybe it is because I am a striker or it is just easier, but I think that choosing between striking combat sports is easier. For instance if you have strong upper body, long reach, more mass and etc. you better for boxing, while if you have massive legs and or they are long, good flexibility and etc. your sport should be some of the kickboxing styles.
 
Yeah, many people show their personality in the striking combat sports, too. I personally fight more defensive and I rely a lot of my height and reach advantage, but when we grapple I prefer ti close the distance as fast as possible and clasp my hands behind my opponents body. :) My primary question was just about that the body type pros for both of the wrestling styles. I don't know, maybe it is because I am a striker or it is just easier, but I think that choosing between striking combat sports is easier. For instance if you have strong upper body, long reach, more mass and etc. you better for boxing, while if you have massive legs and or they are long, good flexibility and etc. your sport should be some of the kickboxing styles.

I know what your are asking, but I can not definitively answer it, because there are always exceptions to the rule. Theoretically wrestlers are supposed to be short, stocky, and have a low center of gravity, but then you have guys like Jon Jones, Ben Askren, and Bouvaiser Satiav who are long and lanky. I guess, although I can not say it with 100% certainty, that a person with longer legs should be easier to attack with a leg attack (but that is not always the case). I am trying to answer your question but I really can't. I will say that long and lanky people are more suited for Jiu Jitsu because of the guard.
 
I know what your are asking, but I can not definitively answer it, because there are always exceptions to the rule. Theoretically wrestlers are supposed to be short, stocky, and have a low center of gravity, but then you have guys like Jon Jones, Ben Askren, and Bouvaiser Satiav who are long and lanky. I guess, although I can not say it with 100% certainty, that a person with longer legs should be easier to attack with a leg attack (but that is not always the case). I am trying to answer your question but I really can't. I will say that long and lanky people are more suited for Jiu Jitsu because of the guard.
Yeah, Daniel Fox, you are right again. There are always exceptions in all sports. Definitely some body types are more suitable, but sometimes someone is able to surprise everybody. I also see the BJJ as a good sport for the longer people, but we shouldn't forget Judo, too. In Judo you can use sweeps, but your legs are safe to leg attacks and I find this for big advantage for the taller persons.
In Greco you should be more relaxed for your legs, but on same weight you might not be able to control your opponent in terms of rude power. In freestyle you have more options, even when you are weaker, but the danger for shots is real.
 
Yeah, Daniel Fox, you are right again. There are always exceptions in all sports. Definitely some body types are more suitable, but sometimes someone is able to surprise everybody. I also see the BJJ as a good sport for the longer people, but we shouldn't forget Judo, too. In Judo you can use sweeps, but your legs are safe to leg attacks and I find this for big advantage for the taller persons.
In Greco you should be more relaxed for your legs, but on same weight you might not be able to control your opponent in terms of rude power. In freestyle you have more options, even when you are weaker, but the danger for shots is real.
There have been massive amounts of longer limbed/lanky wrestlers who have been successful in freestyle and folk style, I don’t know enough about Greco competitors to say for sure. But one of the little things that lets me know if someone actually understands wrestling.. is if they understand reach and length and the leverage that comes with it can be as much if not more of an advantage in wrestling as it is in striking
 
There have been massive amounts of longer limbed/lanky wrestlers who have been successful in freestyle and folk style, I don’t know enough about Greco competitors to say for sure. But one of the little things that lets me know if someone actually understands wrestling.. is if they understand reach and length and the leverage that comes with it can be as much if not more of an advantage in wrestling as it is in striking

I fucking hated wrestling guys who were taller than me because it negated something I used to my advantage.
 
Don't forget, everything you could get from Greco (throws, really strong clinch, brutal on top with gut wrenches/gator rolls, etc.) you will also get from freestyle. People have this misconception that only Greco guys can throw you or kill you in the clinch. Not true. Its just that bc Greco is limited to those elements plus a few more, it is more associated with clinch fighting. Freestyle will teach you all the same as Greco and then some. Including leg attacks and leg attack defense. Plus, if you are looking to use it for MMA or street fighting you're going to at least want to know how to defend and deal with someone shooting at your legs. Try freestyle first, when it come s time to learn the throws, tell your coach you really want to get into it.
Also, don't take anybody's word for it, find out who coaches at what gym and look up their credentials.

This, right here. There are some freestyle guys out there that are beastly in the clinch (think Eastern block, look up some Satiev videos).
 
This, right here. There are some freestyle guys out there that are beastly in the clinch (think Eastern block, look up some Satiev videos).
Absolutely. Even USA freestyle guys like DC, Kyle Dake, Frank Molinaro, etc have/had great upper body/Greco-ish elements to their style. Granted, most of them have at least dabbled in Greco too, but they implement a lot of it in their freestyle matches. But, to the TS original inquiry, learning FS will give you a bunch of moves typically associated with Greco. You just have to focus on them when learning.
 
There have been massive amounts of longer limbed/lanky wrestlers who have been successful in freestyle and folk style, I don’t know enough about Greco competitors to say for sure. But one of the little things that lets me know if someone actually understands wrestling.. is if they understand reach and length and the leverage that comes with it can be as much if not more of an advantage in wrestling as it is in striking

I fucking hated wrestling guys who were taller than me because it negated something I used to my advantage.

This sounds inspiring. Probably in striking it is a little bit easier to learn how to use your height, but when you learn to do this in grappling, too, you are probably going to be good grappler. And still- do you think that freestyle with its sweeps, cradles and leg ridings is better for guys who have height advantage or the safer rules for the lower body of the Greco are better choice for such guys?
 
Mate, I don't mean to be harsh but just pick one and go with it. It doesn't matter which one. Train hard and you'll be good in no time. The things you have learnt 'in the street' are just a drop in the ocean and are probably missing details a real wrestling coach is going to teach you. What you are doing with the constant questions is essentially procrastinating. Just go train!
 
Mate, I don't mean to be harsh but just pick one and go with it. It doesn't matter which one. Train hard and you'll be good in no time. The things you have learnt 'in the street' are just a drop in the ocean and are probably missing details a real wrestling coach is going to teach you. What you are doing with the constant questions is essentially procrastinating. Just go train!
Mr. Rick, no doubt about that. I've never thought that I can wrestle seriously. I've just told that I feel some freestyle moves work well for me, but I do not consider myself as a wrestler.
 
Fair enough. The most important thing is just to train consistently whichever style you choose. But if you take 6months to decide, that's 6 months training you just missed out on. Even if after those 6 months you think 'I should of done Greco instead' you will still have plenty of knowledge gained in those 6 months, not to mention conditioning, new training partners etc.
 
Fair enough. The most important thing is just to train consistently whichever style you choose. But if you take 6months to decide, that's 6 months training you just missed out on. Even if after those 6 months you think 'I should of done Greco instead' you will still have plenty of knowledge gained in those 6 months, not to mention conditioning, new training partners etc.
Yep, absolutely! The thinking time is wasted time. As a matter of fact, I've decided to add some grappling to my arsenal and that grappling to be some of the wrestling styles, so maybe it is time to act. The sad fact is that, if I don't go "deeper", I would never know which style is more suitable for some particular body type and especially for me. I know this from my own experience- I train a little in different gyms, different striking combat sports and honestly I don't know in which I am best. I know some facts, like for instance- I like to kick, but not to be kicked, I use knees pretty well, I prefer counter attacks and etc., but if someone asks me in which sport I am best, I wouldn't be able to give him an answer.
 
This sounds inspiring. Probably in striking it is a little bit easier to learn how to use your height, but when you learn to do this in grappling, too, you are probably going to be good grappler. And still- do you think that freestyle with its sweeps, cradles and leg ridings is better for guys who have height advantage or the safer rules for the lower body of the Greco are better choice for such guys?
No, being tall and long is an advantage period
 
No, being tall and long is an advantage period
Even in the smaller divisions? For instance at 185 lbs. (84 kg.) I don't feel any disadvantage against shorter opponents at the same weight, but I was thinking that this is just in these cases (this is coincidence, I am not competing so we don't have weight divisions).
 
Even in the smaller divisions? For instance at 185 lbs. (84 kg.) I don't feel any disadvantage against shorter opponents at the same weight, but I was thinking that this is just in these cases (this is coincidence, I am not competing so we don't have weight divisions).
Dude I’m sorry but I’m sick of all of these type of discussions turning into mostly talking about the “attributes” wrestling can give more than the technique.. and/or arguing with the the actual wrestlers telling the person the answers to their questions. Try both, pick the one with the better coach or do freestyle if you want leg attacks. Reach and length can and do give as much of if not more of an advantage in wrestling as in striking and Bjj.

Just wrestle, if you’re only really doing it because how “tough” or strong or how good at scrambling it’ll make you. It really doesn’t matter which you pick
 
Just find an MMA gym..

Did I miss this suggestion? Why learn wrestling separate from integrated strikes?
 
Just find an MMA gym..

Did I miss this suggestion? Why learn wrestling separate from integrated strikes?
So there’s no value in training a martial by itself to get more proficient at it?
 
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