Different BJJ styles for different body types...

Randy Chung

Randy Chung

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Hi there,

I'm a one stripe blue. They say between white and purple is when you find your style. I'm searching right now.

I'm standing at 5'6 weighing around 155-160 lbs. not skinny but not really fat either so I say I'm a medium build.

Some suggested I should emulate a successful BJJ player with my own body type.

Any suggestions on who I should try to emulate or what type of style I should focus on (eg. passer, guard player, etc.)

Might as well help others with different body types and match them with specific styles/players...

becker3.gif


Ectomorph players -

Mesomorph players -

Endomorph players -

Thanks for the help!!!
 
I think there's more than just those three types.
A lot of players start to develop games like their instructors, so if you are built like your instructor, you're pretty much set.
I don't think you really choose what kind of player you are, you are most likely going to be naturally better at certain aspects. Keep improving your weaknesses, but refine your strengths to develop YOUR game.
 
well i for one am 6'4 at 175, so needless to say i am a ectomorph, so i have developed my game around the gaurd. now thats only the start of bjj, cause u should be great everywhere for ur blackbelt. if i were you i would focus on my guard passing a defensive skills.
i felt like i was to long and tall to work from the top at first so i started working form the bottom. but now i have started to use my gaurd game to sweep and end up on top and work for some subs. but at your hieght and weight i would really focus on the top, esp gaurd passing!
 
I'm a mesomorph, I have 3 brothers, 2 older 1 younger all ectomorphs. I'm 5'8 155 lbs, 2 of my brothers are 6'1 and 6'3 and ones like 7 years younger then me and an inch taller. Anyways, heres some things you'll probably hear.

-Short guys shouldn't play closed guard, instead your best bet is probably a strong half guard and butterfly guard.
-You'll be best on top and good at passing, so more then likely you'll be a top game player.
-Submissions you should look for are probably guillotines and rnc.

Right now I'm still a white belt but I feel like no matter my height I must have a strong understanding of closed guard. I think a shorter guy can have a effective closed guard if he really has good hip movement and nice setups. My top game is solid, my butterfly and halfguard are decent and the submissions I hit more often then not are darces, rnc and the like. Sometimes triangles but not so much.
 
You can't boil it down to 3 body types and develop a set style for each. Height, weight, flexibility, all are factors.

You also can't decide upon a style for yourself just like that. What submissions do you have the most success with? What is your strongest position? Think about these things.

I'm a small guy too, 5'7 and 145, and I guess I would be a "passer" but I don't just have one "game." I have some go-to stuff from bottom, some go-to guard breaks and passes, and some go-to submissions.

The jiu-jitsu will adapt to you. I like to think of it like everyone has a game "hidden" inside themselves, and through hard training you bring it out. Slowly you realize certain things work better for you, either because of your build, or your natural talents, or it just "feels" right. And that becomes your game.
 
jasonbass said:
well i for one am 6'4 at 175, so needless to say i am a ectomorph, so i have developed my game around the gaurd. now thats only the start of bjj, cause u should be great everywhere for ur blackbelt. if i were you i would focus on my guard passing a defensive skills.
i felt like i was to long and tall to work from the top at first so i started working form the bottom. but now i have started to use my gaurd game to sweep and end up on top and work for some subs. but at your hieght and weight i would really focus on the top, esp gaurd passing!
Click to expand...

omg, I just figured out your av. rofl
 
Randy Chung said:
Hi there,

I'm a one stripe blue. They say between white and purple is when you find your style. I'm searching right now.

I'm standing at 5'6 weighing around 155-160 lbs. not skinny but not really fat either so I say I'm a medium build.

Some suggested I should imulate a successful BJJ player with my own body type.

Any suggestions on who I should try to imulate or what type of style I should focus on (eg. passer, guard player, etc.)

Might as well help others with different body types and match them with specific styles/players...

becker3.gif


Ectomorph players -

Mesomorph players -

Endomorph players -

Thanks for the help!!!
Click to expand...

not quite that simple. in all honesty I'd have to actually see you roll before suggesting a player with your body type and attributes to emulate.

From the sound of it by height and weight you could look at Matt Serra, but then of course you'd have to be fast and agile like Matt Serra.

Other factors have to be taken into account besides body type alone, and even body types can't just be lumped into 3 categories.


Basically start watching some of the black belt featherweight matches from the mundials, and see if there's anyone in there that reminds you of yourself, then start taking notes.
 
I think natural affinity for positions and moves will dictate your style, sure your body will influence it, but avoiding triangles cuz you're stocky doesn't make sense. Avoid them cuz you genuinely don't like them, or they don't integrate well into your game, as it evolves naturally.

I'm a strong, relatively compact/stocky guy does that make me better suited to my bruiser grappling style, or, does my mental development from powerlifting cause my bruiser style? I'm not naturally slick and I'm not naturally agile (one can argue neither are strictly body type driven), so I rather than try to be something I'm not, I just crank up the dial on what comes natural. I also got INTO grappling to learn and master leglocks, thats not because I'm a bruiser, it's because I was inspired by videogames lol.

If anything, I think personality drives style more than physical attributes, you can always get faster, stronger, more flexible should you chose too.
 
dza76wutang said:
I think natural affinity for positions and moves will dictate your style, sure your body will influence it, but avoiding triangles cuz you're stocky doesn't make sense. Avoid them cuz you genuinely don't like them, or they don't integrate well into your game, as it evolves naturally.

I'm a strong, relatively compact/stocky guy does that make me better suited to my bruiser grappling style, or, does my mental development from powerlifting cause my bruiser style? I'm not naturally slick and I'm not naturally agile (one can argue neither are strictly body type driven), so I rather than try to be something I'm not, I just crank up the dial on what comes natural. I also got INTO grappling to learn and master leglocks, thats not because I'm a bruiser, it's because I was inspired by videogames lol.

If anything, I think personality drives style more than physical attributes, you can always get faster, stronger, more flexible should you chose too.
Click to expand...

You see but before I got into BJJ I wrestled folkstyle for a couple years. One of the first things I thought I should do is push the top game to the side and focus on bottom. Iron out weaknesses to be on par with my strengths. Of course alot of things from wrestling can pass over like how to take the back and get hooks in and how to set up takedowns but one of the first things I had to learn was being comfortable on my back.
 
I always thought that this saying made more sense when talking about opponents. You will face big guys, small guys, and everything in between. You must adapt your style based on your opponent.

Anyway, it seems to me that there is a very big range of body types that fall in to the 'average' category regarding BJJ. Unless you have some kind of extreme physical characteristics, body type probably plays less of a role in your game than technique, experience, and personal preference.
 
FLoWitheGo said:
You see but before I got into BJJ I wrestled folkstyle for a couple years. One of the first things I thought I should do is push the top game to the side and focus on bottom. Iron out weaknesses to be on par with my strengths. Of course alot of things from wrestling can pass over like how to take the back and get hooks in and how to set up takedowns but one of the first things I had to learn was being comfortable on my back.
Click to expand...

This leads to game-theory type of debates. Do you want to hone your specialization to the point where it borders on god-mode, at the expense of a few glaring weaknesses? Or do you balance everything so you have no major weaknesses but also no specialization?

I've leaned more towards the former, focusing on perfecting my game, and working towards forcing all of his decision nodes to lead to it as well. I don't know if it's optimal, but for me grappling is a hobby first and not a vocation so I'd rather do the whole thing to optimize fun and hope it carries into competition.
 
im the same height as you, 5'6"

i prefer the bottom game and working from the guard i have pretty quick armbars from there and about 70 percent of the time i can catch them with it or just transfer to a triangle.. but if im working from the top my favorite position is the scarf hold. those are just the easiest positions for me to work from. i think ive got a pretty tight side control but scarfhold just works out better for me idk why
 
I'm your weight and just an inch taller. People say my guard is one of my strongest areas but I almost never submit anyone with it, just sweep or force opponent to turtle (using butterfly and half).

With the Gi, I could live with JUST the Bow & Arrow Choke.

Without it, my most successful subs are the Guillotine and the RNC. I think my Armbar (S-Mount/Back Mount only) is definitely up there too but they're reserved for people whose back I can take but actually manage to stay conscious :-)
 
I'm 5'10'', 165 lbs. I'm of a solid build.

I dont know how I feel about a particular style of jiu-jitsu for a body type. What makes sense to me is finding your niche. You need to be able to pass guard, work in guard, work on top, switch position, and all that. You need to be well rounded. But what you find is your niche. You figure out what thing you're body type helps you do and what moves/positions/ submissions really work for you.
I'm 5'10 and 165 lbs. I've got strong legs and I'm fast. I move well in guard, but I also do well on defense. I can't power people into submissions though... so I have to work for perfect position. I also have great defense. I wiggle out of submissions and spaces and get position.

So my advice (and I'm no pro) is to work on everything and find your niche. Whats are you especially good at?
So yeah... thats my 2 cents
 
Good topic. I think about this a lot as I am 6' 155lbs. My instructor is tall and lean like me, so I watch his style and try to emulate it, but he's just so good, so its tough lol. Anyways, I notice the way he uses his legs, De La Riva and Spider Guard seem to work good for him but I have yet to adapt my style enough to become great at either of those.
 
I've been trying to develop a style for myself.

I'm 5'10 175, I have really good flexibility in my hips. I tend to use a lot of open guard to set up subs and sweeps. Lately though I have been working with a lot of wrestlers and getting a much better top control.
 
still trying to find what my "specialty" is, however, I do agree that every practitioner, should be exposed to everything and experiment everything. But yeah, at the moment im way more comfortable on top, since I have prior wrestling experience, as a matter of fact I hate being on my back lol. If im on the bottom I immediately think about setting up sweeps to get mount or side control, most of my subs come from the top...Im 5-6 155-160 lbs
 
5'11 185 pounds but I should probably weigh 170 pounds, I just don't eat as healthy as I should. I'm currently really good at passing, and basically side control and top mount. I'm pretty fast, I'm very flexible, have extremely good balance and can usually figure out most sweeps being used against me, I'm very good at reversing, and I like rolling/cartwheeling/flipping for escapes, I'm told my transitions between positions are very well. I'm trying to get better at submissions but for the most part I'm more of a positional grappler, and most of my arsenal of moves are chokes since they don't up position as much.

I don't know who I should model my game after, but ever since I was younger Sakuraba has been my favorite grappler.
 
I'm trying to develop a game myself. Basically get to guard, sweep, pass, mount and choke or take an arm.
 
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