Does Strength help?

No, strength has nothing to do with fighting....nope, naddah....You could be a three year old and whoop a 350 pound undefeated pro cage fighter if you use the RIGHT leverage and and GOOD technique....yep strength has nothing to do with it.
 
Sinister101 said:
No, strength has nothing to do with fighting....nope, naddah....You could be a three year old and whoop a 350 pound undefeated pro cage fighter if you use the RIGHT leverage and and GOOD technique....yep strength has nothing to do with it.




Do I see a hint of sarcasim?
 
it does matter. I can easily escape from a mount by using ab strength. It's no fucking technique....just requires a lot of ab sttrength. I just sit and the guy fall to the guard position. And I do it with fighters of my weight division. (I'm about 215lbs)
Also I cannot be armbarred if I can grab my other hand...they can try to use their foot or both hands to take it but it won't work. I can even roll and stand up to free my arm.
I haven't used my strength as an offensive advantage it only helps me in a defensive way.

Yes, I'm a former bodybuilder.
 
First off 275 is a great bench in my opinion. I am not strong in this lift, I bench 155 and I weigh 170.
Secondly, strength does matter- alot. When you first begin BJJ you know nothing, couple this with a weak body and you get tapped like stink. Now take a strong and fit person, they still get tapped but it takes alot more work for me to tap a bigger stronger fitter newb than it does for me to tap a newb of equal or lesser size and strength.

My new coach at Gracie Barra says that conditioning is the most important factor in winning a no-gi event. Technique can help you beat a more athletic guy, but getting strong cannot be over-stressed.
 
I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the OP . He wasnt asking if strength is the most important aspect of MMA or grappling. he was asking if it helps. and the answer is undeniably: YES.


its a nice edge and you want to have as much over the competition as possible. Whether it be skill or physical conditioning.

Strength can be the difference between a submission or an escape... both when applying and defending.
 
im a dallorand change and ill tap you pick me up if you want alwas wanted to be on the flying arm bar reall
 
what if u get slammed....... thats what ive allways been afraid of when watching some submissions
 
Anyone that wonders about this should refer to Sakuraba vs Rampage.

Strength is very importent but Technique is moreso, I've dominated some guys much bigger than me more than once when rolling one in particular i'm told is known as a juicer, but at the same time some guys bigger than me that have good technique have been able to beat and in a few cases dominate me rolling.

It really does vary - but it has made me decide to work on building strength as of next year (althogh i'm not going to trun into a power lifter or anything) as at the moment I feel it lets me down a little.
 
Couple things: He's doing San Shou, which is like Chinese Judo, so he's probably not worried about BJJ as much.

Second, you're not getting into a bench press competition when you're grappling, regardless of the style. The type of strength you need is grappling strength, and you get that from grappling. You can be crazy strong and fit in the gym with certain exercises, but you'll plateau before you're even peaking in the novice levels.

The most important things are core strength and a good grip, which explosiveness in your legs for shots and throws. Your squats and dead lifts will help, but the only way to become a stronger grappler is to grapple.
 
Strength absolutely helps. I'm brand spanking new to BJJ (or any fight training for that matter). When I roll I mostly just remain on the defensive and prevent others from doing what they want to me. I've gathered from all of my reading that BJJ is very technical so I don't mean what I'm about to say to be sarcastic... but what does it matter what kind of technique I use if I can overpower you, mount you, and get points for it? I'm bigger than most of the guys I roll with and they usually quickly get on their backs and try to get me into their guard. I toss their legs aside and side-mount them. Strength is all I have right now, but you can be sure that as my technique improves I won't abandon my strength advantage. Does this make sense or am I just talking out of my ass?

BC.
 
BC. said:
Strength absolutely helps. I'm brand spanking new to BJJ (or any fight training for that matter). When I roll I mostly just remain on the defensive and prevent others from doing what they want to me. I've gathered from all of my reading that BJJ is very technical so I don't mean what I'm about to say to be sarcastic... but what does it matter what kind of technique I use if I can overpower you, mount you, and get points for it? I'm bigger than most of the guys I roll with and they usually quickly get on their backs and try to get me into their guard. I toss their legs aside and side-mount them. Strength is all I have right now, but you can be sure that as my technique improves I won't abandon my strength advantage. Does this make sense or am I just talking out of my ass?

BC.

Basically, you should focus on technique when learning to apply the moves. When doing free grappling, or in a competition, use everything you can to your advantage, including strength over technique.
 
BC. said:
Strength absolutely helps. I'm brand spanking new to BJJ (or any fight training for that matter). When I roll I mostly just remain on the defensive and prevent others from doing what they want to me. I've gathered from all of my reading that BJJ is very technical so I don't mean what I'm about to say to be sarcastic... but what does it matter what kind of technique I use if I can overpower you, mount you, and get points for it? I'm bigger than most of the guys I roll with and they usually quickly get on their backs and try to get me into their guard. I toss their legs aside and side-mount them. Strength is all I have right now, but you can be sure that as my technique improves I won't abandon my strength advantage. Does this make sense or am I just talking out of my ass?

BC.

You're making sense, but the technique is important because:

a) If you roll with a good blue, purple, or higher, you'll suddenly find yoruself not being able to just throw their legs aside, or possibly having ot do it again and again without getting anywhere as they shrimp and put them back.

b) What happens when you run into a guy with even a little more technique that is as strong as you are?


I've got experience rolling with a guy that has relied on his strength and wrestling his whole BJJ career, and he tends to outmuscle me on the ground... But I found that when I stopped tryign to match strength with him, I started choking him out all the time, because he was just meatheading stuff. Strength will get you to a certian point, but you'll have longer to go to keep advancing, because you'll have foregone the basics because your power was filling the void.

Use your strength to give you time to work technique, whether that's by dominating position or shrugging off sub attempts.
 
stephensharp said:
Use your strength to give you time to work technique, whether that's by dominating position or shrugging off sub attempts.

Excellent. Thank you. That's what I was thinking. BJJ is definitely more deliberate and methodical than my previous sport and I'm really enjoying the thoughtfulness of it.

BC.
 
BC. said:
Excellent. Thank you. That's what I was thinking. BJJ is definitely more deliberate and methodical than my previous sport and I'm really enjoying the thoughtfulness of it.

BC.

What'd you do before? I started at a Judo/BJJ school, then did strictly Judo for a year after moving (didn't have the cash for the nearest BJJ schools), and now am at a BJJ/Vale Tudo place, and when I'm rolling, I get to see jsut how much the Judo helped (Guys are always saying "that's that Judo grip..."). I'll put a guy in an uncomfortable hold down, and just scan his limbs real quick... He's not going anywhere til I move, so it's kind of like chess, in which I can think about it for a second and say "Well, he's probably going to move this way the second my weight is off him, and I have to let go of his belt to go for this... So let me fake that,a nd take the arm when he moves" or that type of thing.

I'll also stack up the guard and hook a hand of "gift wrap" a guy, then pass while they're stuck in a shit position that they probably would have defended against better if I had passed first, but aren't use to having that kind of pressure on them from a blue belt.

If you're disproportionately strong for your weight class (ie- not to knock Judo, but most of the guys in the 220 class had extra weight on them, so I was quite a bit stronger), you can do some otherwise bizarre things, like stuff you'd do to your girlfriend, or your little brother while you were growing up.

One of the things I really got a guy laughing at was rolling with a purple belt at our club... He's just ridiculously good, and can really neutralize my size advantage, so this one time, while he was wearing sambo shorts and the gi top, he had me in his guard, and I grabbed the ends of both sleeves and both short legs, and just closed my grip. He started working some ninja shit, and all of a sudden he went "Huh? Are you holding my sleeves AND my shorts? Holy crap, ha ha ha ha!!"

You do something weird like that once or twice, just to throw off someone's game, and you can start working some magic of your own.
 
I compete in strongman and grip competitions so functional strength is decent and grip is no problem. Not to knock strongman because there is definitely technique involved, but it's clearly not as technical as BJJ so I have to get used to not plowing through and overpowering inanimate tires and stones and learn to use leverage and momentum with a moving person. That's one of the reasons I get gassed after rolling for only 5 minutes and need to take a break. I used to giving an all-out effort for 60 seconds or less and then sitting down for 45 minutes until the next event. I need to pace myself better in this sport.

BC.
 
FutureBxer said:
275 bench at 175 IS impressive. Scot mendelson is not benching 713 at a body weight of 175 -- so dont compare . and he stated that his deads and squats are strong as well so what is ur point?


to the thread starter - strength really helps with speed/agility/explosiveness in MMA/bjj/MT whatever. and it gives you a very nice edge over those who do not. But i will say that technique > strength. BUT as I said - it's still a very nice edge to have.

when fighting somebody of equal technique - usually the one with better physical conditioning will win.

You and I obviously judge athletes on a different scale. He is benching 1.5x his bodyweight. That is good...not great, not excellent, not elite. I understand that Scot is over 300 pounds (I chose his lift because it's raw). However, Marcus Schick benched 650 at 165 in the WPO.

However, I didn't know he was 19; at that age, it is elite.

As for his squat and deadlift, he did not list figures. Why not? You gotta understand, I hear it this way all the time: guys know their bench to the penny, but for squat and dead, it's "really up there." Nearly every "amateur" bodybuilder I know has chicken legs.

Everything else you said I agree with.
 
yankspanker said:
it does matter. I can easily escape from a mount by using ab strength. It's no fucking technique....just requires a lot of ab sttrength. I just sit and the guy fall to the guard position. And I do it with fighters of my weight division. (I'm about 215lbs)
Also I cannot be armbarred if I can grab my other hand...they can try to use their foot or both hands to take it but it won't work. I can even roll and stand up to free my arm.
I haven't used my strength as an offensive advantage it only helps me in a defensive way.

Yes, I'm a former bodybuilder.

If nobody has broken your armbar then you're rolling with a bunch of pussies.

I guarantee you that my legs/hips > your biceps/chest.
 
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