Rolling with smaller, fragile guys

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trfcrugby

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Was reading the thread about the guy rolling with the bigger, stronger guy. I have the opposite experience in my gym sometimes. I am 5'10", around 200lbs. Used to do a lot of weight lifting, in fact I started BJJ at 235lbs, and have dropped all the weight for MMA (plan on going to 185lbs).

Lately, with the summer weather and all, the classes have been very small. Usually its me and few smaller guys, 150lbs or so, all white belts. It's difficult to not take advantage of the size difference, especially when the smaller guy is going balls out trying to sub me, and I can easily overpower him or counter. I am not great in BJJ, only been here 3 months, but just shedding some light from the other side of the mat. I feel stupid when I hold back, but at the same time, I'm sure it's no fun for the smaller guy to be completely smothered by me all the time.

I can't wait for summer to end and the rest of the guys to come back.
 
I guess the best way to look at training is exactly that .. as training. I'm not going in to sub someone, I'm going in to learn and if a sub comes along I'll take it. Just yesterday I was grappling with someone around my weight and he was using all his power to try to force subs or whatever the hell he was trying to do. Instead of playing that game I remained at a lower power level and just looked for position using technique. Same thing when I'm with a much larger guy. Only time I had to really use a lot of power was in scarf control. Man I hate being in someone's scarf control.

If the guy is using power and not technique then don't hold back. I think it's really important to learn that bjj is all about technique not brute strength. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying strength is a bad thing, just that technique is much more important. Only way someone is going to learn they can't overpower you is for you to show him.
 
Just wanted to add. On the other hand when I'm trying to work technique and a bigger guy just uses his power instead of technique it kind of pisses me off.
 
if a guy is much smaller than me i try pulling half guard and work from there, so if get in a better position i know i didn't just power my way there. i feel cheap if i tap a smaller guy after playing top game, as my weight no doubt gives me a big advantage.

that said i find smaller guys harder to deal with as they are faster and harder to control, they can find space to shrimp and wriggle where bigger guys can't and just explode instead.

technique > size/strength 8/10
 
There's always someone bigger/stronger. When you meet up with them you will be glad that you had more in your game than simple strength.
 
I totally agree with the technique over strenght in BJJ. I was just commenting on the fact that it's not all roses for the bigger guys rolling with the smaller guys. You get used to rolling with little guys, and when someone bigger comes around, a lot of what worked before suddenly is nullified.
 
Stoic1 said:
There's always someone bigger/stronger. When you meet up with them you will be glad that you had more in your game than simple strength.
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Agreed.



When you're working with smaller guys and even bigger guys, still work on your technique. After all, it is training. But if you're competing, then use any advantage you can get; weight, strength, technique, etc.
 
When i work with bigger guys who are trying to muscle me and dont have the technique to go with it,i just relax and keep tight so they cant do much. Try to save my energy just put enough in to make them spend all of theirs. 3 minutes into the match they are dead tired and i pick them apart......

Im not saying i dominate every 1 by any means. Im talking about newer guys. If a guy has same technical skill as you but he is also just bigger and stronger.... Well then you my friend have fallen victim to natural selection.. nothing u can do about it but train harder.

If your a small guy with good technique that is your advantage. That is what the Bjj game is, agaisnt people who dont do it... You know how to survive in the fight so do so and then expose his tired weakness with technique.........

Watch royces early UFC fights, it is exactly what he does with the bigger guys. Try to stay safe, wait for the mistake and exploit it.

I personaly like fighting stronger bigger guys..They are easy to maneuver around once they are tired.. and they dont keep tight and get out of small openings like the little guys. No wagain some can become frustrating... but normaly that is when im trying to match them strength vs strength..
 
i'm only 5'10" 170 so it's rare when i roll with a smaller guy. one time that sticks out actually it was a girl came to a few classes, and not only was she totally new with no technique but she was probably only 110-115 lbs. a lot of idiots were treating her like someone of their own size and skill, just totally giving her no chance at all to learn and really beating her around. what's the point?

when i actually rolled with her you could really feel it though, she was weak as a kitten. i didn't really know what to do other than give her tips and let her practice sweeps and submissions on me.. it was pointless to do anything else. technique is 100% necessary for a smaller person and she didn't have any at all. it's probably best to let smaller guys (or girls) practice up on you if they're not near your level.
 
I roll with some smaller guys, guys who I have 30+ lbs on. (i'm @ 185lbs). With those guys I try not to go to easy as to not patronize them, but it does give me a chance to try to focus on technique and less on power/weight.
 
jahred said:
i'm only 5'10" 170 so it's rare when i roll with a smaller guy. one time that sticks out actually it was a girl came to a few classes, and not only was she totally new with no technique but she was probably only 110-115 lbs. a lot of idiots were treating her like someone of their own size and skill, just totally giving her no chance at all to learn and really beating her around. what's the point?

when i actually rolled with her you could really feel it though, she was weak as a kitten. i didn't really know what to do other than give her tips and let her practice sweeps and submissions on me.. it was pointless to do anything else. technique is 100% necessary for a smaller person and she didn't have any at all. it's probably best to let smaller guys (or girls) practice up on you if they're not near your level.
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Wonderful post. Good sign of humbleness. One should treat newcomers like children and help them in the process of learning instead of trying to score more wins.
 
I'm the biggest guy in my school. I let people decide if they want to roll with me. If they do I give them a choice on passing my guard or taking their best or favorite position. Not much else to do with little guys. Sometimes they just want to try to see if they can pass or submit a bigger person.
 
jahred said:
i'm only 5'10" 170 so it's rare when i roll with a smaller guy. one time that sticks out actually it was a girl came to a few classes, and not only was she totally new with no technique but she was probably only 110-115 lbs. a lot of idiots were treating her like someone of their own size and skill, just totally giving her no chance at all to learn and really beating her around. what's the point?

when i actually rolled with her you could really feel it though, she was weak as a kitten. i didn't really know what to do other than give her tips and let her practice sweeps and submissions on me.. it was pointless to do anything else. technique is 100% necessary for a smaller person and she didn't have any at all. it's probably best to let smaller guys (or girls) practice up on you if they're not near your level.
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Yeah man, a few girls have came to my gym every once in a while. Some people have such a big ego that they won't take it easy on someone when they're sparring. I like to help out newbies by not going as hard as I normally do and give them tips when they're trying to do a move. If your partner won't learn then you won't learn.

jjmuaythaiguy said:
I'm the biggest guy in my school. I let people decide if they want to roll with me. If they do I give them a choice on passing my guard or taking their best or favorite position. Not much else to do with little guys. Sometimes they just want to try to see if they can pass or submit a bigger person.
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I agree, you want to spar them but don't want to really hurt them, especially when you're just training. Alot of experienced guys do the same thing as you.
 
Corey123 said:
Yeah man, a few girls have came to my gym every once in a while. Some people have such a big ego that they won't take it easy on someone when they're sparring. I like to help out newbies by not going as hard as I normally do and give them tips when they're trying to do a move. If your partner won't learn then you won't learn.
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hehe yeah, if you can really beat someone easily then what's the point in beating them? that's what a lot of the newer guys were doing, just throwing her around like crazy.. desperate to say they owned someone on the mat, i suppose. :p
 
i'm 6'3" - 205. there are a few smaller less experienced guys that roll with me whenever they can because i do not use my weight a lot. when i am rolling with a smaler guy i take it as an chance to polish technique and work escapes.
IMO a big guy that just smashes little guys is hurting hisself. the little guy is learning while getting crushed, but the big guy is just doing hte same old shit which doesn't tkae you far.
 
my bro's 100lbs lighter then me but holds his own he uses power and just a physical specimen he benches 275 for 5-7 reps at 150lbs.. Can do 500pushups in like 3-5mins and crap like that..He almost broke a guys arm in arm wrestling it was the funniest thing I saw a guy weight 80 lbs more getting told is that all you got? then slaming arm down and guy fell out of his chair....So I think it might be the guys you roll with too.
 
train softly move around change positions don't stay in one place and smother your opponents, roll around, work crosside then move to north south then crosside try knee on belly try the mount go back again try making him roll to take his back. Move more don't stay in one place, you are stronger and much heavyer use tachinque more make your transitions better.
 
I broke some skinny dude's rib by accident when I was doing a knee - belly to him. lol, I felt bad about it. And fat.
 
LCDforMe said:
I broke some skinny dude's rib by accident when I was doing a knee - belly to him. lol, I felt bad about it. And fat.
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Well my advice wasn't to stomp his opponents with Knee ON BELLY:p Or KNEE on RIB:p just move around... just saying that to avoid misunderstandngs :D
 
I'm pretty much the smallest guy at my club (even though I'm not really small: 5'8", 175 lbs), and I roll with 6 foot tall 230+ pounders nearly every class. Now this is my personal take on this, but I always tell them to go all out (safely though). I want these guys to give it their all so that I get that much better. I'd feel cheated if they didn't. In fact, I've caught myself saying, in the middle of rolling with a big dude, "You're taking it easy on me man, don't do that."
True, I spend a lot of time flat on my back with some big dudes hairy sweaty belly pressed into my face, but hey, it's a good chance to work on escaping brutal pins.
I agree 100% on taking it easy on the "fragile" type new guy (or girl) though. But not for too long. I think it's good to step a bit each month. At some point they've got to realize that it ain't tai chi, if you know what I mean.
trfcrugby, I think you should use everything in your arsenal, including weight and size advantage. Those guys you're rolling with may get pissed and aggrevated at first, but in the long run you're making them better grapplers.
 
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