bjj and wrestling

[Sugamayne]

Welcome. Tell us about your highly successful wrestling career.

I'd rather not brag about titles I only mentioned I was sucessful because I wanted constructive advice. I am proud of my achievements in wrestling but more proud of what I can do on the mat. I have been wrestling for 20 years freestyle, greco, and folk and gotten a lot out of it as far as self motivation, good health, strength, and speed and that is how I would really judge success. I love competition on the mat and so far I love rolling in bjj classes and all the students and instructors are friendly and helpful.

I was actually hit by a drunk drive though about 9 months ago and I hurt my knee so I just got back on my feet and I'm coaching wrestling now and some of my students take bjj to compliment their wrestling and vice versa. I was interested and I find it a great way to recover from my injury and stay active.

I appreciate the feedback about my actual question though. I just had my 3rd practice. I don't care about winning I care about getting better so I did realize that I could probably just score takedowns and let my opponent up rinse and repeat and win some local tournaments but if I do that I'm really just wrestling against people who have limited takedown experience. Tactically it makes sense but eventually someone will take me down and I'll have to learn some ground work.

Some problems I run into are that we start from our knees so most of my takedowns are useless in practice and everyone has their weight back so they can pull guard.

The Gi is taking some time to get used to I ordered a cheap Ki Gi online waiting for it to come in till then I borrow from the school.

Also I'm sore and out of shape from my accident and using new muscle groups but that will go away in a couple weeks I think.

I wish I got more time to work from guard because I think I would learn more there because I have no experience from my back and I instinctively avoid guard and I kind of laugh when my wrestling students who train bjj start to roll to their back and stop and pause then roll to their front

I also end up fighting off tons of arm bars by grabbing my own arm and It wears me out fast and I waste a lot of energy on moves that don't really help me.

I appreciate the info though guys thanks.

[jubaji]

I'd rather not brag about titles I only mentioned I was sucessful because I wanted constructive advice. I am proud of my achievements in wrestling but more proud of what I can do on the mat.

Don't be shy, I'd like to hear it.

[jubaji]

I see this from guys who aren't wrestlers.

You got it wrong on this one. BJJexpertise has a wrestling background.

[Sugamayne]

Don't be shy, I'd like to hear it.

I really don't want to sit here and list awards I've earned but for perspective I'm a KS 6A state champ. I just want constructive advice for a wrestler who has a developed takedown game and wants to get the most out of bjj. I give up my back from time to time because of my wrestling background I will think I can slip out the back door.

As for tapping in practice should I be trying to escape or just tap as soon as I think I feel some discomfort from a submission technique? I've been tapping early because I want to learn to prevent the submission all together rather than work on escapes and because I am so elementary with submissions that I am worried I wont recognize them fast enough and I might get injured in practice.

I enjoy the Gi though I do realize I'm at a disadvantage because everyone else has been training with a gi for years. Seems to take a strong grip to compete with a Gi my hands are pretty sore and I have bruises up and down my arms but I really love it. I really think wrestlers could get a lot out of bjj I wish I had started it when I started wrestling.

[jubaji]

I really don't want to sit here and list awards I've earned but for perspective I'm a KS 6A state champ.

I'm not familiar with "6A." Are we talking about high school wrestling here?

[Tant01]

Different is NOT "BAD" GET used to it...

I really don't want to sit here and list awards I've earned but for perspective I'm a KS 6A state champ. I just want constructive advice for a wrestler who has a developed takedown game and wants to get the most out of bjj. I give up my back from time to time because of my wrestling background I will think I can slip out the back door.

As for tapping in practice should I be trying to escape or just tap as soon as I think I feel some discomfort from a submission technique? I've been tapping early because I want to learn to prevent the submission all together rather than work on escapes and because I am so elementary with submissions that I am worried I wont recognize them fast enough and I might get injured in practice.

I enjoy the Gi though I do realize I'm at a disadvantage because everyone else has been training with a gi for years. Seems to take a strong grip to compete with a Gi my hands are pretty sore and I have bruises up and down my arms but I really love it. I really think wrestlers could get a lot out of bjj I wish I had started it when I started wrestling.

Dude! Welcome aboard! Thanks for joining us! I hope to read more from you and appreciate your contribution!

With THAT out of the way forgive me if this seems forward, eh? Having trained WITH the gi for more than half my life(?) I'm getting OLD> good god.... (nevermind)

What I want to say is I feel NAKED just grappling in shorts! Is that TMI?

LOL

I've never had to ACTUALLY FIGHT anyone in a swim suit but THAT'S what wrestling brings to my mind. I'm not saying I'm "homophobic" or anything but you must admit that you NORMALLY wear clothes? Maybe a jacket in the winter? There you go buddy? That's ALL I'm saying! Choke on it...

Judo (BJJ) is good stuff! Stick with it!

[Bjjexpertise@be]

I see this from guys who aren't wrestlers. They get lucky with the takedown and just hold the guy until time runs out. The sad thing is that their coaches tell them to do this over and over again. While this strategy will win you some matches, it will not develop your game. I'd rather see people lose in a match where they were trying to advance position, then just ly there.

The tendency from what I've seen at competitions is that for the novice divisions, a lot of you see a lot of newbies try for a bum rush and happen to get it then hang on for dear life because their adrenaline is pumping so hard that all moves they know has flown out the window. However, in slightly higher up divisions, whether it's beginner or intermediate, you'll see wrestlers who're forced up into those categories because of their wrestling experience and you'll see that a lot of them decide to stick to the game they know best, take down and pin control. It's not necessarily that they're intentionally not trying submissions, could be that their submission game is nowhere near as good as the rest of the game so what ends up happening is that they take them down and fumble around on the ground while keeping the guy there for 5 minutes, winning by their takedown points.

A lot of wrestlers I know enter no-gi and use their takedown skills to win matches. Once they get comfortable with no-gi they start to do gi. Actually, I've known people who've never switched to gi training. The gi has so many intangibles that some people don't want to bother with it.

I guess you can say I was one of the wrestlers that started no-gi then transitioned to gi. I was always more of a submission grappler than a wrestler. Grappling the gi on for the first time was definitely an eye opener. I was going against newbie judo white belts and was still getting yanked around by the stronger people. The extra handles make all the difference in the world.

[Bjjexpertise@be]

There's a misconception between wrestling and BJJ; but in fact, they are both very similar. Realize that someone who continually trains grappling will develop sensitivity, pressure control, action-reaction and all the principles that apply to wrestling, BJJ and other grappling arts - provided they are training under a system that fosters these attributes. But regardless, IT WILL HAPPEN OVER TIME.

There are aggressive and non-aggressive "styles" of BJJ just as they exist in wrestling. In fact, a wrestler with limited BJJ training will look very similar to any BJJer. Just watch ADCC; if you didn't know who Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes or other wrestlers were, you'd think they were just BJJ guys who had great takedowns and top control. At the higher levels, there's very little to distinguish between BJJ and a wrestler who has trained some BJJ.

Now, if the wrestler has never trained BJJ, then "yes" there will be obvious differences. The wrestler doesn't play the guard, although he knows it to some degree, and he doesn't have submissions. However, he can still roll you up given the opportunity.

ON A SIDE NOTE: Please call me Paul and not pstevens.

Paul

I'll have to disagree with a certain excerpt of this one to an extent. Grappling styles from people with a wrestling background and people with a straight BJJ background is pretty easy to spot if you've been grappling for a while. Even if the wrestler has been doing BJJ (or some other submission grappling sport) for a long time their movements and choice of actions are very unique from other styles.

[Sugamayne]

I'm not familiar with "6A." Are we talking about high school wrestling here?

6A refers to the size of the school 1A being the fewest students 6A being the most. The 32 schools with the most students are grouped into the 6A catagory the next 32 are 5A the next 64 are 4A and I dono how they decide 3A,2A,1A but they combine all 3 into one tournament for state because there are not as many students. Most states only have 1A-4A.

Thanks for the welcome I appreciate it.

As for the Gi I think wrestling having the atire they use has to do with some traditions and of course to prevent fingers from getting caught in t shirts. I really wish they would allow shorts and underarmor shirt or something just to dispel those comments but I am not the guy calling the shots.

I enjoy training with the Gi its a new component and it adds some complexity to the grappling im adapting to it well I think I love collar chokes and my snap downs from standing have a lot more power when I grab the gi. Id rather be diverse and be able to compete with and without gi.

[pstevens]

I'll have to disagree with a certain excerpt of this one to an extent. Grappling styles from people with a wrestling background and people with a straight BJJ background is pretty easy to spot if you've been grappling for a while. Even if the wrestler has been doing BJJ (or some other submission grappling sport) for a long time their movements and choice of actions are very unique from other styles.

A few years ago, I would agree... but not today. People just have different games these days. I see great BJJ guys (world champions) that rely heavily on their wrestling training. Wrestling has become so fundamental in BJJ now; especially in the advanced levels, making the jiu-jitsu today is more dynamic.

Furthermore, there's a strategic difference from school to school that compensate for differences in "style." But in the end, everyone develops their game according to their strengths; be it a top game or bottom game.