Rolling with heavier opponents

Hey everyone, I need some advice that I was hoping you guys could help me out with. Just for a little bit of back ground, I have been taking BJJ for about a month and a half and did my first sparring class last week. I was totally humbled by the experience and have never been through that type of work out in my life. I'm a skinny guy, really skinny, like with a soaking wet gi on I might hit 120 so I don't have a lot of choice to roll with much larger opponents, sometimes as much as 50 pounds heavier.

What areas should I be focusing on when rolling with the heavier opponents? Over time will improved technique and posture help when rolling with them?

Thanks for any insight you guys could give.

 

120 pounds thats very light i mean your only hope would be getting ur guard very good since they will be able to roll you very easy. I say get some protien powder and start lifting weights to bulk up.

 

Your new breakfast-


Followed by some time with some of these -



Seriously. Eat and lift more, you won't regret it.

 

at the end of the day, weight is an advantage full stop. You may want someone to tell you different, but it just isn't the case.

It's easy for them to pass, it's easy for the to sweep, it's easy for them to escape.

But yeah, develop your guard. Try to make it real difficult for them to pass/posture.

 

Oh and look forward to many months of fat unskilled dudes crushing you from side control and doing nothing else while you gas out trying to escape.

 

The secret of small guys getting good:

Don't give up. Keep going to class even though you know you'll get smashed. Patience. Eventually you too will get better. Being weaker physically means you have to be stronger mentally. There are no secrets, just hard work.

Good luck.

 

I'm one of the smaller guys at my gym being 6'1 and 165-170 and i'd say the next closest minus the instructor is probably right around 215 so I can kind of feel where you coming from. I'd recommend just toughing it out because yes, it honestly will suck at times but it makes for a great time when you actually get to roll against someone that is your size. I've found the trick, even moreso than usual, is never to be flat ever.

 

Guard game... Do NOT let them into sidecontrol. Also... Get bigger... If you're 120 you can't do shit to a guy who's 200. Maybe if you're really really good and strong.

Well yeah, i'm also 6'1 and 160 while most guys are round 200. But there's still a big difference being 160 than 120. I suggest bulking up... That's what i'm doing...

 

Bridging and shrimping. And then when you're getting pretty good at that, more bridging and shrimping.

I'm still working on it myself.

 

It is going to be hard but one advantage you are going are obviously going to have is speed. Learn how to make space with bridging and shrimp quickly. This will get you out of a lot of bad spots. Learn to take people's back using arm drags (Marcelo Garcia is great at this). Emulate the smaller fighters out there who still compete in absolute. You are going to have a lot of difficulty with BJJ at first, as you would with any combat sport, when you are going against much heavier opponents. If you are 120 though I would consider trying to bulk up a bit with muscle as it could not hurt but I disagree with the other posters in thinking this is primarily what you need to work on.

 

Can we leave the "bulk up" stuff out of small guy threads in the future?

 

I have the same problem...i'm 5 ft 8in and 135lbs. Just watch guys like wilson reis, ryan hall and jeff glover, all these guys are pretty small but defeat bigger guys all the time..personally i like to go for chokes, because even if you catch a big guy in a joint lock a lot of times they'll muscle out of it, and in regards to top game or guard, just do whatever is comfortable to you because if i remember right bjj is designed for smaller guys to defeat larger opponents.

 

imagine what the big guys can do when they master bjj

 

well yeah, but the trick is that the larger opponent doesn't know BJJ... If it were so, Roger Gracie wouldn't be winning absolute...

 

Keep training and train regularly. Try to not invest to much ego in it and find a way to enjoy rolling even when you are getting a beating. You'll improve, but size will always be a factor.

 

Thanks a lot for the input everyone. I am trying to put on some weight but it is a long process to do it right, but it's all good. At least I have some areas that I can work on, make space, controlled speed and not get discouraged. I knew getting into BJJ that I would have an uphill battle due to my size but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

 

wilson reis cuts like 15 pounds though.

size can't do anything but help everything but your cardio.

your goal weight in general should be 160-180

that is generally considered to be the best weight to fight at for almost all body types. it allows you to be heavy but still light on the feet.

not to mention...wilson is 5 foot 3...you're 5 inches taller but probably like 20 pounds lighter

 

Do not ever let yourself get Mounted or Side Mounted....that's done by lots and lots of shrimping..and the ocassional turtling

Giving your back isn't too bad of an idea against a much stronger slower guy...as long as its for just a quick second (enough for you to get out of there)

Rear mount is your friend, learn how to take it, control it and finish from there (whether it's RNCs/Armbars/Arm Triangles/Triangles, there's something for everyone)

Most importantly, just train and have fun, you'll figure out the rest over time

 

you guys are all outside your minds. telling him not to let himself get mounted, out work his opponents, and give up his back.?? I'm sorry but 120 pounds, just no.

 

Learn guards where you don't have to take your partner's full weight on you. Personally, (I'm not 120 lbs by any means) I find X-guard and butterfly guard are my go-to's if I don't want to deal with weight. I personally find closed guard hard to work with a significant weight advantage, but that's just me.