Not using strength!

[All In The Game]

If they say you're too strong...tell them they're too bad

 

[roosterweight]

I'm under 120 pounds and usually the lightest (and weakest) guy anywhere I train. It IS definitely possible for 180 or 200 pound folks to muscle out of a lot of techniques with someone my size (setting up a kimura, for example). As a really small, almost forty year old purple belt, a lot of the bigger (200+ pound) blue and white belts view this as their "opportunity" to tap a purple belt.

If a bigger guy beats the hell out of me with technique, I'm okay with that. I don't usually complain when a big guy muscles a submission - I figure he's not learning anything that will be useful against someone his size, but I get the opportunity to work my escapes.

Having said that, I have started counseling big guys using too much muscle when I have the advantage or after I tap them. For example, last night, I was rolling with a guy who's probably 175 or 180 pounds, and after five or six minutes I still haven't tapped him but he's breathing deep and heavy like Darth Vader while in my guard. I'm not out of breath at all so I say, "Dude, you're probably using too much muscle if you're breathing that hard".

Another time, I rolled with a blue belt who's about 170 or 175 and usually exhibits good technique. For some reason, he was using a ton of muscle and spazzing out for several minutes before he finally tapped to my triangle. After he tapped I said something like "You normally have really good technique, but tonight you seem to be relying on muscle. I'm not sure what's going on, but technique will serve you better."

Now if a guy taps me out using muscle (as long as he doesn't endanger me with an illegal slam, neck crank, etc), I'll keep my mouth shut and tell them good job.

 

[mov3m3nt]

it can always be looked at as advantagous when your going up against a bigger guy durring training recently i was training for an Absolute divison torny and would only roll with 200+.
when i got to the torny the people in the divison were much smaller then my training partners this gave me tramendous confidence.
though i was still prolly one of the smaller guys in the division i did well an i attirubte that training with really big powerfull guys.

so dont be discourged if your getting tapped from big guys in the end it only benifits you.

 

[akgroundnpound**]

Anyone ever get annoyed when after rolling with people they tell you "you are just to strong" and kind of use that as an excuse to why you beat them in sparring? none of the other bluebelts at our school say it but I hear it from whitebelts all the time. After a while it gets annoying to me.

no i love it when im rolling no gi with kids who dont strength train and they give me the whole "its just youre wrestling strength, youre too strong"
hell yeah i manhandled your ass haha

 

[akgroundnpound**]

Since I'm a lightweight people tend not to use that one on me. Instead I get the usual lightweight excuses instead:

I am too fast
I am too "slippery"
I am too flexible
I have too much cardio

hey man just cause youre a lightweight doesnt mean you cant be a beast

 

[redaxe]

It should never have been phrased as "don't use strength," it should have been "don't waste strength" or "conserve your strength for when you have the leverage to use it." It's all about pacing yourself, and inexperienced grapplers don't know how to do that.

I use quite a bit of strength when I grapple, but I only use it in those brief moments when I actually need it, and when I have put myself in a position where there is leverage behind my exertion. Inexperienced guys use strength without any leverage, and they just gas out.

That's why the really strong guys with no experience don't actually feel that strong to grapple with, and small/weak guys feel much, much stronger if they have good technique

 

[mtruitt76]

I take it as a compliment when people comment on how strong I am. It is good to know that all my work at strength and conditioning is paying off. I would hate to think all the effort I have put into getting stronger is not translating into my BJJ.

 

[nefti]

unless it's an instructor telling you this.. don't pay attention. but if your instructor says this then you should rethink your approach to your jiu jitsu

 

[Simco]

anyone ever get annoyed when after rolling with people they tell you "you are just to strong"

n/a

 

[facundo]

i cant read ur thread because there is a fking pizza hut ad that i cant close

 

[Falufalump]

It should never have been phrased as "don't use strength," it should have been "don't waste strength" or "conserve your strength for when you have the leverage to use it." It's all about pacing yourself, and inexperienced grapplers don't know how to do that.

I use quite a bit of strength when I grapple, but I only use it in those brief moments when I actually need it, and when I have put myself in a position where there is leverage behind my exertion. Inexperienced guys use strength without any leverage, and they just gas out.

That's why the really strong guys with no experience don't actually feel that strong to grapple with, and small/weak guys feel much, much stronger if they have good technique

:-]. I concur.

 

[Thrawn33]

It should never have been phrased as "don't use strength," it should have been "don't waste strength" or "conserve your strength for when you have the leverage to use it." It's all about pacing yourself, and inexperienced grapplers don't know how to do that.

Bingo! This right here is the key. While I'm a Judoka, I can see where this is applicable in both arts. Judo and BJJ are both about the maximum efficiencey(sp?), nothing wrong with using power, just make sure you're getting as close to an even or better return on the amount of power you put in verses what you get out.

If it were all about technique, then why did technical badasses like Kimura condition themselves in a way that they looked like they were carved out of rock? Because while technique is great; technique+strength and condition=unstoppable.

If I have a harder time with the a heavier or stonger WB in practice I view it as a way to get better and focus my technique against him. Never do I blame a beginner (or anyone for that matter) for using their attributes to give me a hard time. If I'm getting worked in practice I need to a) get better or b) hit the gym for some more strength training.

Its cool to think that one day I'd be able to throw guys with as little effort as Mifune in his later years did, but until I get 40+ years of training in, I'm going to focus energy in the most efficient and effective way possible and if that calls for a little muscle, cool.

 

[Rod1]

Judo and therefore jiujitsu were never against strength, they were against the misuse of strength.

"Maximum efficiency in the use of mind and body" That's jiujitsu and judo in one phrase, in the end everything is evolving, but that concept will always remain true.

 

[Karmeliet]

"You're just too strong" said the white belt to the purple.

Yeah, that's what it is.

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

strength is not really that important.

everyone is STRONG ENOUGH...they just need to know how to use their own body effectively.


edit: its also important to not that conditioning = strength.
when i am so tired all my strength has disapeared.