BJJ against seriously larger opponents

[Tigerstorm]

I've been doing BJJ for about 18 months (white belt three stripes), and weigh 156 pounds. Against the rare guy roughly my weight I do pretty well, but most of our class is made up of big units. They're anywhere from 220 to 255 pounds. I find I just can't do anything against them, they're too big, heavy and strong. Technique only gets me so far, but when the other guy weighs 160% of my body weight I seem completely ineffective. A new guy weighing 200 pounds started last week, and after three lessons he submitted me! Reason being he's so big and strong he just bludgeons me into submission - no skill required, its just brute force.

The instructors are all big units, so they refuse to believe size and weight have any bearing on sparring. So, the question is this: How the hell do I remain competitive when I'm rolling people so much heavier than me? Any and all help appreciated, thanks guys.

[Tigerstorm]

Hmmm... 69 people have viewed this Post, and not one person has offered any advice. Am I basically screwed...?

[Adept]

I've been doing BJJ for about 18 months (white belt three stripes)

Every single day of the week for 18 months, or once a week for 18 months? This other guy that's only been in 3 sessions, has he any prior history of wrestling/grappling?

Bigger guys learning the same jit jitsu as you are going to have the favor in their corner, unless you're Marcelo Garcia or have Rolls Gracie blood in you. Two people are grappling and have nearly the same skill level, give or take. What decides the victor is now in the physical aspect of it, be it strength, endurance or speed. Personally, when I face bigger opponents in grappling I usually rely more on my endurance and then speed. Facing bigger opponents...is it hard? Yes. Is it impossible? No. Take your losses as a learning experience for improvement. Next time when you roll against a bigger opponent, win or lose, write down your pros and cons of those matches. When you write it down, you can cognitively process things better so you actually improve faster and more efficient.

The more you tap, the more you learn.

[cheng1314]

sorry,i don't know!

[shaolin-warrior]

Tigerstorm, If weight is your disadvantage, you need to increase every other attribute exponentially. Work your cardio, work your speed. Big guys gas fast! Practice being in control on your back, get comfortable…. Learn to control your opponent’s gloves, his posture. You’re going to have to work harder and smarter than the bigger more natural athletes. You’re awareness and mental alertness has to be there, this requires you staying calm and focused when you find yourself in that uncomfortable position of being under a bigger opponent. Practice posting and shrimping out from side control, learn to scissor sweep from guard. Your greatest advantage to fighting a bigger opponent is that they will underestimate your ability. You may still get tapped out, but you’ll earn their respect and pound for pound be a better fighter.

[Uke]

I've been doing BJJ for about 18 months (white belt three stripes), and weigh 156 pounds. Against the rare guy roughly my weight I do pretty well, but most of our class is made up of big units. They're anywhere from 220 to 255 pounds. I find I just can't do anything against them, they're too big, heavy and strong. Technique only gets me so far, but when the other guy weighs 160% of my body weight I seem completely ineffective. A new guy weighing 200 pounds started last week, and after three lessons he submitted me! Reason being he's so big and strong he just bludgeons me into submission - no skill required, its just brute force.

The instructors are all big units, so they refuse to believe size and weight have any bearing on sparring. So, the question is this: How the hell do I remain competitive when I'm rolling people so much heavier than me? Any and all help appreciated, thanks guys.

Well what do you expect?

Notice how no one really had a solution to your problem here? That's no surprise on this site.

The truth is Tigerstorm, competitive ground grappling(or as I call it "wrasslin") wasn't designed to fight larger opponents.
All you have to do is look at the excuse that the Father of modern BJJ gave as to why he lost to the bigger and stronger Kimura. He claimed that he gave up quite a bit of weight to the bigger Kimura.

Grappling with men significantly larger and stronger than yourself is tantamount to selecting Mugsy Bogues to guard Shaquille O'neal in a playoffs game.

In every instance of ground grappling you see weight classes:

The Olympics
MMA
Abu Dhabi
Sambo
Collegiate wrestling

In ALL of those instances, you will consistently see WEIGHT CLASSES for good reason: People want to see an entertaining and competitive match and not a slaughter. Why is it that the smallest guys don't compete against the biggest guys regularly at those levels? Even if the smaller guy is a 7th or 8th degree black belt in BJJ and the bigger guy is only a brown belt in BJJ, as long as there is a 40lb+ weight difference you don't see the smaller guys compete regularly with the big guys.

Its a pitiful lie that's kept alive by fan service and wrasslin' fanatics who tell themselves and others that they could beat much bigger guys but almost never do. You're saying you are 156lbs and you're rolling with guys who are 200-250lbs. You are doing now at your current rank what high ranking black belts aren't willing to do. And no one will tell you not to do it because you haven't made a name for yourself and therefore you have nothing to lose by way of reputation or students/clients.

There is a reason in couples figure skating why the men catch and lift the women and not the other way around, and it has nothing to do with chivalry. There is a reason why boxers/kickboxers fight in weight divisions. You'll NEVER see Manny Pacquiao fight Vitali Klitschko. For some reason boxing doesn't hide this fact. Boxing let's fans know from the onset that smaller boxers can fight at or around a certain weight but there ARE limits. There is no crap about featherweights fighting middleweights. Hell, in boxing 7lbs is all that separates a division. But everyone acknowledges that going up to another division is a BIG DEAL IN BOXING. In nearly every ground grappling event they are still flirting with the fantasy that size doesn't matter, which is why practitioners like you can't figure out why you can't beat bigger guys that are less skilled than yourself.

If you look at the events as evidence of the effectiveness of what you hope to achieve, then you need to consider that while the sales pitch tells you size doesn't matter, the format of the proving grounds scream otherwise.

[kingoftheforest]

Hey Uke................................

[Uke]

What's up, my dude?

Long time no hear from/see.