Garcia, Glover, Braulio, Dannis, Feitosa, Cooper, Kron, Gui Mendes, so on.
However, nobody has made me feel like I don't know shit about BJJ after 10+ years as Rafa Mendes does in no gi. It's a weird experience.
Jake Mackenzie, I pulled deep half on him.... I have also rolled with "Teta" Rios. Very laid back guy with some serious skills.
I've hear that Tim was a Beastly Grappler. those Spec Ops guys are known in the military for having insane cardio and endurance. that said Tim Kennedy in an interview mentioned how a beginner Grappler in Chris Weidman gave him all he could handle as far as grappling. so what does that say about Weidman
Lol. The first time I rolled with Gui Mendes he had taught RDLR and I pulled it on him. Didn't last very long. Pretty sure Teta Rios is @Shemhazai's instructor. Haven't seen much of him besides a cool little BJJ Hacks video but he seems like he's cool and fun to roll with.
What weight did you compete at? if its near 180 did you ever wrestle Cael Sanderson?
He was being nice
But all of them are so damn smooth, it was like nothing I've ever experienced. I've been smashed many times by black belts but it always FELT like I was being smashed. These guys smashed me in a way that I can only describe as rolling with a ghost...it's almost like they were moving around me ethereally and then BAM - there's my arm or BAM - there's a choke.
It's truly a feeling of helplessness on a whole other level.
Damn dude. That's a nice list. And that Rafa comment is legit. I was talking with someone the other day about how I think what he does nogi is damn near impossible to replicate. I know he's a great teacher and I know he teaches other stuff besides everything that he does himself, but being able to move and do stuff like what he does is crazy hard. Even if you watch the other dudes rolling in his academy on their nogi sparring videos you don't really see any of them rolling like he does.
he also confuses me. because he'll say things like "Passing standing without the gi is more risky because it's easier for people to get under your legs, so it helps to pass kneeling or down low" but then watching him he spends a heavy majority of his passing time on the feet going side to side, fast as shit..
Not to get on too much of a tangent.
Lol. The first time I rolled with Gui Mendes he had taught RDLR and I pulled it on him. Didn't last very long. Pretty sure Teta Rios is @Shemhazai's instructor. Haven't seen much of him besides a cool little BJJ Hacks video but he seems like he's cool and fun to roll with.
or wrestled, or Judo'ed? were you completely destroyed or did you do okay?
The Best overall grappler I've ever rolled with was Mark Munoz and I completely tooled his ass. seriously I got twerked/ destroyed.:wink:
they rolled right before weidman went into ufc weidman had already competed in the 2009 adcc by then so he was no stranger to grappling plus the guys getting daily privates with matt serra and gracies basically
I was out by then. My era was Kenny Monday's era.
Rafa body movements are very strange. When he standing passes without a gi, he uses a lot of parrying and footwork (like a boxer). He also uses the inside blades of his feet (rarely flat footed) and points his knees inward. It's really hard to explain till you see him do it to high level black belts like nothing.
Like you said, I'm not exactly sure you can learn to move your body the way he does. But I'll keep trying.
It's hard to not say the smaller guys like the Mendes brothers, Durinho, Cobrinha, and Jeff Glover.
Gui had the most soul crushing feeling of just sinking and sinking until you were drowned. Rafa was a little more playful but when he executed it was hard fast and precise.
Durinho was kind of hard to explain. Didn't get to roll that much with him. Cobrinha was very smooth but the pressure was arguably the most I've ever felt. It's oversimplified but he almost felt like a cross between Rafa's speedy quickness & Gui's smashing pressure.
Jeff Glover was very flowy and fast but also the most unexpectedly ruthless roll I've ever had. All these small dudes that scramble well you expect to be able to also move with them but the pressure is always more than you expect. I got thrown and taken down more than I thought I would with Glover, & besides what you'd expect him to get taps with I also got tapped with a Bas Rutten neck crank and some pro wrestling moves like the camel clutch, crippler crossface, and a half boston crab.
I've watched everything I could on Kenny's old matches dude was a monsta.
He was being nice
But all of them are so damn smooth, it was like nothing I've ever experienced. I've been smashed many times by black belts but it always FELT like I was being smashed. These guys smashed me in a way that I can only describe as rolling with a ghost...it's almost like they were moving around me ethereally and then BAM - there's my arm or BAM - there's a choke.
It's truly a feeling of helplessness on a whole other level.