Small guy vs Big Fat guy

[Alex88]

As a big 6'6" 300lbs blue belt, I can say the position that gives me the most problems is knee on belly or side controls (as the rest of them have said). I've been told I move like a small guy regardless of my size and anyone with a good side control/KoB gives me a fair bit of problems when they pass. Mounts doesn't really work well when your knee don't touch the ground.

Jeez , what were your parents feeding you ? Your top game must be nasty.

 

[DeadAim713]

Jeez , what were your parents feeding you ? Your top game must be nasty.

lol, mom and grandma are 5'11" and both my uncles are 6'5", runs in the family. I've been told my pressure is absolutely ridiculous, but since I don't compete I focus on a guard/half guard/deep half game. I'm known as "The big guy with a small mans game" or as one guy refers to me as "The Archetype".

 

[Jackson 2012]

Also, for me, when I'm against bigger guys I try not to use any weight/pressure. I want to make sure I'm light enough that I can GTFO of there quickly if I need to.
One of the guys I use to roll with was 260lbs and he could roll around like a mofo, and I was concerned he could simply take me with him if I over committed.

So against the really heavy guys, I prefer to stay light and loose.

 

[Vitamin C]

Also, for me, when I'm against bigger guys I try not to use any weight/pressure. I want to make sure I'm light enough that I can GTFO of there quickly if I need to.
One of the guys I use to roll with was 260lbs and he could roll around like a mofo, and I was concerned he could simply take me with him if I over committed.

So against the really heavy guys, I prefer to stay light and loose.

You can stay mobile while remaining heavy. This is why I prefer knee on belly. It's not hard to apply pressure, yet rapidly transition should the need arise.

I'm not about to concede any kind of ease of movement for a much bigger guy than me. He will still have to work for it.

It depends on what the situation is too. KoB is an ideal after having passed the guard. I actually very much like smash passes against bigger guys. If I can get both their knees on the mat to one side I will lay my hips on that top knee as heavy as possible. With gi grips to enforce that pressure, even a big guy can be in trouble there, it's just a matter of pure positional superiority. I often go down into a leg drag/knee smash type pass like that from a more fluid open passing style like torreando.

Actually come to think of it I feel as though I have more success with smashing big guys than I do smaller guys. The little guys are far to fast with reguarding the moment I let up any pressure. The (lesser) speed of the big guys allows my awful blue belt timing to work better overall.

tl;dr just because their big doesn't mean you can't pin them with heavy pressure.

 

[cms9690]

I want to make sure I'm mobile enough that I can GTFO of there quickly if I need to.

This is why I prefer knee on belly. It's not hard to apply pressure, yet rapidly transition should the need arise.

tl;dr just because their big doesn't mean you can't pin them with heavy pressure.

This is great advice!! :icon_chee

But like most things that have a ridiculous learning curve:

Give it time.

3 months isn't anything in the grand scheme of grappling.

Try to create a game plan for each position based on reaction and use being smaller to your advantage. Don't be afraid to be active and move around a bit.

I find a lot of success switching between various mounts and side control techniques.

 

[orangeclay]

I tend to be smaller than most of my partners and what works best for me is to transition more rather than try to control for long periods. Also I will often set up a submission on a big guy from knowing how they will try to escape. I may have trouble holding mount, but often I can figure out how they will escape and set something up to catch them. I also prefer side control to mount when size is a big difference and love getting to their back.

The more you roll, the more you will develop a sense of what works against different body types.

 

[Vitamin C]

I tend to be smaller than most of my partners and what works best for me is to transition more rather than try to control for long periods.

See, this is fundamentally what I disagree with, though I am a proponent on the movement mentality.

Where my opinion diverges of course is I am not actively looking to transition more. If I can control the position successfully, I will do so for as long as I can maintain it and set up submissions from there utilizing the control I have established.

Transitioning for the sake of transitioning because the person is stronger is less than ideal for me. First, it is a losing mentality that implies in my own mind that I cannot control this person. This is false, control is absolutely possible. Simply watching my own black belt instructor control top on a big strong guy is evidence enough of that.
I'd much rather figure out how I can control the larger stronger person, with the concession that this person is larger and stronger, hence necessitate my use of movement as well. However, I want to transition to another position of complete control, where I am again seeking to maintain that control, and to only seek that movement when the control I had previously has failed, or is going to fail.

It's like when they say if you feel your closed guard being broken open, to open it on your own terms to try to stay ahead of the game. If I am working on closed guard, and my closed guard is not being broken, I just continue to play closed guard.
If I am working knee on belly, and they cannot or are not escaping, I will continue to work my knee on belly.

Any time I transition without purpose I am opening an opportunity for my partner to escape or reverse, and the last thing I want is to get caught in a reversal and stuck under side control or in half guard against a big guy.

Back to the bold point, transitioning is not something to pursue in and of itself. It is a component of trying to control someone. For me, control is a combination of applied pressure and purposeful transitioning.

Movement for the sake of movement itself, trying to use speed and confusion to get an upper hand is what I would consider scrambling, and although useful when necessary, not something I would actively pursue as a strategy. At some point that scramble needs to settle down into control, and quickly.


tl;dr Control is a priority. Transitions are a component of control which enable maintenance when control is threatened.

 

[Sidecontrol87]

I am small. I go with side control / knee on belly and will move to ns if need be

 

[Einarr]

Side control is really hard to deal with for a big guy because the best workable solution is muscle-jitsu. Most of the shrimping and weaving is easy to counter because the smaller man can give up less space when you try it.

Yeah. I'm fairly big but not huge at 6'1" and 98kg, and I find that when a guy is significantly smaller (say 80kg and below) the easiest solution is to bridge into him with my forearm along his centerline, and then just launch him over with his own momentum when he pushes back into me. If the guy is significantly smaller then shrimping just doesn't work well as he's faster than me and there's very little space for me to move into.

Against guys my own size and bigger shrimping out to guard, escaping to the knees with the underhook, catching a leg in halfguard, and even just turtling works a lot better.