Does being fat help with grappling?

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Grapplingwizard**

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Would being fat help you in grappling? I know if you are 400 lbs and end up on bottom there isn't much hope, but would it help your takedown and top game? That one pic of fatlardo gracie seems like fat could help you. I know royce gracie sub'd akebono taro but that dude had no bjj training probably, and if he did he wasn't a black belt. But if you were the same belt as a person smaller than you and you were very fat, would it help you as long as you end up on top? (Which you most likely will because they wouldn't be able to take you down)

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&h...&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:94&tx=184&ty=50

Link above shows a very fat BJJ competitor (purple belt) smothering a smaller man. its fatlardo gracie
 
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I think being a lard-arse makes it harder for you to develop heavy hips. You're already heavy as fudge, so there's no need for it to develop which usually means it won't or at least not for a very long time, I could also see the technicality of your top control not developing in other ways than just staying heavy ("necessity is the mother of invention", seems a somewhat fitting quote). Same with your escapes from mount and guard-breaking if your gut is stopping people from maintaining a tight mount/closing guard. So if you lose the blubber you might find that you have some major holes to fill in your game.
 
With learning the art of grappling? No, probably not.
 
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Looked helpful here...
 
It certainly won't help your hip movement, your cardio, or your explosivity. It will help your knee on belly, though.
 
The only fat guys I know who are any good at grappling are the ones who wrestled in school.
 
When you are on top, it makes it easier to control people based solely the weight. It makes it harder to move you.

Other than that, having been fat, I can tell you no other advantages. The detriments that come with it far outweigh the singular benefit of being heavier.
 
depends on how fat you are. if your fat can absorb any hip movement, sure it would help.

i am thinking of akira.
 
Fatlardo Gracie is a legend, I hope we make folk songs about him in a couple of decades.
 
It certainly helps in +100/+78kg judo. That is until you meet some genetic freak like Riner who weighs the same 300lb as you except it's all toned, firm... [edited for excessive homoeroticism] ...muscle.
 
seatea said:
It certainly helps in +100/+78kg judo. That is until you meet some genetic freak like Riner who weighs the same 300lb as you except it's all toned, firm... [edited for excessive homoeroticism] ...muscle.
Click to expand...

LOL. That's the funniest thing I read all day.
 
In my personal experience a guy that can combine good technique with being very heavy can be very good guard passers and hard to escape their side control and sweep them.

Its particularly annoying when their bellies fill up that space that could exist between your forearm and their hip.

I find fat peopl harder to deal with than people who are heavy but have trim bodies.
 
It's a double-edged sword. As much as it can help, it also hurts just as much or more. I have a teammate that is pretty heavyset (5'6", 265-280ish), and he does have some advantages. It's hard to maintain mount, it's difficult to secure a RNC if he even slightly tries to tuck his chin, his side control pressure (once he learned to apply it properly) is just ungodly, it's very difficult to bridge on him, he can bulldoze you flat practically at will, the way his weight is distributed makes it very difficult to roll him even if his hips are high, the way his body just conforms to you makes it hard to slip a hand between your chests (even if you bounce), his body also has a way of clearing your frame when he settles in side or north south. His sprawl is the stuff of nightmares. If a guy knows what he's doing, it's definitely something that can be used as an advantage.

However, it also has some serious drawbacks. It makes it hard to create enough space. It limits his effectiveness in open guard. His back mount is easy to escape (he has relatively short legs). He's very flexible and agile for a guy his size, but he could be even moreso if he lost some weight. Speed is an issue (he's got to go pretty hard in scrambles). Cardio is an issue (though he can roll an awful long time). I feel like his closed guard options are very limited (again, his short legs), as I don't think he does a lot of triangle/armbar/omoplata from guard compared to Americana/kimura/chokes from side/half/mount. His guard pass game is limited to more of the high pressure passes. His takedowns are limited. I also know he has difficulty getting partners, and he has to be pretty careful not to hurt people.

The guy in question is a dedicated teammate, and spends all of his free time learning about technique. He's like a walking encyclopedia. The dude is and engineer with like a Good Will Hunting type mind, so the mental part of his game is a much bigger part of his success than his weight.
 
helped against me... i slipped, and the guy got on top of me, he was prob 100 lbs heavier than me, and i couldnt breath so i tapped lol.
 
A fat guy doesn't need to sweep you, they can just turtle and use their amazing girth as the greatest back defense ever as they stand back up. Then once back on the feet, they merely need to get grips and fall forward for the takedown.
 
Being heavier than your opponent is an advantage. Being fat, not so much. If you weigh the same, it is a definite disadvantage to have more of that weight come from excess body fat.
 
Being fat sucks no matter what you do. Especially in sports man.
 
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