Is Mendes Bros (AOJ) style geared more towards the smaller/lighter/flexible guys?

[cakemuncher]

I'm not talking just berimbolos and stuff, but I've also seen techniques where Gui grabs someone by the collar and singlehandedly pulls them, sweeps them or smashes them into the floor.

Clearly, Mendes bros are very strong, but I doubt these techniques would work on heavier people.

 

[yetanother]

I'm not talking just berimbolos and stuff, but I've also seen techniques where Gui grabs someone by the collar and singlehandedly pulls them, sweeps them or smashes them into the floor.

So you think if Brock Lesnar just grabed someone by the collar it wouldn't work?

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

So you think if Brock Lesnar just grabed someone by the collar it wouldn't work?

What if gui grabbed brock Lesnar by the collar?

 

[yetanother]

What if gui grabbed brock Lesnar by the collar?

The AOJ is super good for fighting bigger opponents.

 

[tekkenfan]

if you cant throw your legs over your head then dont even attempt it bro

 

[Calibur]

I'm not talking just berimbolos and stuff, but I've also seen techniques where Gui grabs someone by the collar and singlehandedly pulls them, sweeps them or smashes them into the floor.

Clearly, Mendes bros are very strong, but I doubt these techniques would work on heavier people.

I guarantee you when he does that Gui is using his legs and hips too.

 

[rmongler]

The fact that smaller people have higher strength to weight rations hand hence can often pull-off the sort of athleticxplosive movements that many people seem to think of when they think of the word 'technical' is certainly an under-realized point...

But, to go on your specific example, collar drags are money, and can work pretty much anywhere (for instance Xande Ribeiro's whole sweeping and takedown game in the Gi pretty much all flows from the collar drag).

 

[mataleaos]

I'm not talking just berimbolos and stuff, but I've also seen techniques where Gui grabs someone by the collar and singlehandedly pulls them, sweeps them or smashes them into the floor.

Clearly, Mendes bros are very strong, but I doubt these techniques would work on heavier people.

Hmm.

I mean I would say a lot of the people at AOJ are smaller to medium sized guys but the Mendes Bros are adamant about using techniques that they feel work on larger opponents. And they do. I have 2 brown belt friends there and one is over 200 lbs and 6'1 or 6'2.

Collar drags are powerful as fuck. My girlfriend can collar drag men with 40 lbs on her and damn near face plant them into the floor. When I teach collar drags I always tell people to be really careful because you'll throw someone across the room if they aren't ready for it. A good collar drag is one of the most powerful movements in jiu-jitsu.

I think they have something for everyone. I can see an argument that Rafa's passing game with the lateral side switching toreandos and leg weaves and stuff might work better for someone smaller and more nimble. But Gui's passing is mostly classic soul crushing knee slides and leg drags.

There aren't many techniques they don't use outside of traditional half guard.

Also there are other people teaching there besides them now and there's exposure to more different games and styles.

The one thing that's sort of a constant if you train there is needing to learn Delariva and reverse Delariva.

 

[cakemuncher]

Tried a collar drag on a 270lbs dude in class and pulled him right on top of me. Needless to say, molestation ensued.

By the way, I still like AOJ, lots of useful stuff! Gustavo Fonseca is my favorite, with best technique breakdowns.

 

[mataleaos]

Tried a collar drag on a 270lbs dude in class and pulled him right on top of me. Needless to say, molestation ensued.

By the way, I still like AOJ, lots of useful stuff! Gustavo Fonseca is my favorite, with best technique breakdowns.

One tip I got recently that's helped my collar drags a lot is that it's arguably an easy technique to see coming right? So you pull and they'll often resist the initial pull. So as soon as you feel them plant you change direction and drive forward (your fist will usually end up pushing into their clavicle area) and if you follow through onto the feet you can usually knock them over. Or they'll resist the push and you can hit the drag again and it should work better the 2nd time.

 

[rmongler]

Tried a collar drag on a 270lbs dude in class and pulled him right on top of me. Needless to say, molestation ensued.

By the way, I still like AOJ, lots of useful stuff! Gustavo Fonseca is my favorite, with best technique breakdowns.

It can help to think of it as a lot like arm drags in substantial terms; pulling yourself around them almost as much as you are pulling them past you.

Hit the angle right and even if it doesn't work you're still not in trouble, and can just go to it again (and again).

 

[trustdoesntrust]

semi-related question, but who are the highest-level competitors that AOJ has produced? Its always hard to tell who's who when theyre all repping Atos

 

[Foppa21]

We asked the same question to Rafa at a seminar. He's obviously got something to sell so take it with a grain of salt.

He says they teach all jiu jitsu for people of all shapes and sizes. So all positions are covered and it's not just all DLR, RDLR, berimbolos etc etc. That opinion of them is built on Gui and himself being smaller and most highlights on them (particularly during their earlier years) were of them inverting in some way shape or form. Great for publicity but it's just part of what they teach.