BJJ and how much a person weighs

[WickedAle]

I'm interested in learning BJJ, but i'm kind of on the skinny side. Would it be more wise if i lift some weights to put on a few pounds first before i start my training? In a class, do they put you against people in your same weight class or...?

-wickedale

[Ice Phoenix]

I'm skinny as but I still kick ass at BJJ, so no you don't have to be built, but still, if you've got free access to training equipment go for it! Muscle does help in BJJ, as with any physical sport, but its not a pre-requisite!

Besides, after a while of regular grappling against stronger opponents, you do tend to get stronger, but I've found the fatigue factor is the hardest thing to get control over!

It depends on your club, but no you won't always get placed with people of your same approx. weight, but that's what makes it more interesting!

When I first started I got tapped out so often and so easily it was as if my opponent was fighting with a friggin' plastic dummy, but to counter-effect that I just got fanatical about BJJ and bought all these books and studied and visualised myself tapping out all the others at my club who had beat me! (What a loser, heh!)

But guess what, I've now tapped them all out at least once so that was my secret, reading heaps of books and studying technique.

[WickedAle]

question

how much do you weigh?
i only weigh 145...

[Ice Phoenix]

I honestly can't say how much I weigh because it has been like a few years since I weighed myself, but I'm slender, trust me!

[WickedAle]

question

hehe thanks.
oh by the way, what are some good books and videos i should look into. In addition, i'll be having my own place next year in college, how do you guys watch the ufc, or other fights? with dvds? videos? cable? satelite?

[Ice Phoenix]

The books I bought were John B. Will's books, "Machado BJJ - Fundamentals," "Advanced Machado BJJ - The BJJ Guard" and "Advanced Machado BJJ - Attacks & Escapes."

I was quite happy with them and learnt alot very quickly thanks to them!

"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - The Master Text," available at Jiu-Jitsu.net is also meant to be pure gold to a BJJ practitioner, but I haven't got mine yet so I don't know!

BTW, I watch UFC's through my video shop, as they've got them all, cause in Aust you'd need a satellite I think!

[MrPoopy]

Weight does not really matter in BJJ. when you first start out, you will obviously have trouble with people a lot heavier than you. but if you are in decent shape you will be ok. I'm 240 and there are some small guys in my class that can whoop me because they've developed great technique.
it's not a matter of size, it's all about what you know and how able you are to do it.

[Fighter]

Look to Bruce Lee for inspiration, he was 135 pounds and could send a 200 lb fully braced quarter back hurling 3 meters into a pool. How Zat!

But it may be different in BJJ.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Weight does matter in bjj, otherwise they wouldn't have weight classes every 10 lbs. But being skinny or weak shouldn't stop you from training. I think you should start asap and train three times a week to get your body used to the rigors of training. Most instructors have you do lots of plyometric excercises but if you school doesn't, then you should do them on your own. I don't think as a beginner you need any training videos right now, better to just work with an instructor and partners.

[Fighter]

To bulk up use some of the following:

Protien Shakes
Exercises lifting 80% maximaum capacity.
Plenty of Rare meats
Plenty of Eggs (preferabley raw)
Lots of exercise

Hope this helped

[JaredExtreme]

Weight isn't as much as a factor as technique in BJJ. I roll with blue belts much smaller and lighter than me and they are able able to control and reverse me whenever they feel like it.

However, once I get a blue belt AND I have the weight advantage, there's gonna be some HECK TO PAY !!!!!!

[mjmnam]

yea, it's all about technique. it doesn't matter if the guy is bigger and stronger than you if you have good technique

[Mr. Miyagi]

Yeah, applying technique in actual sparring is the most important thing. But you'll never get to use those wonderful techniques unless you have good cardio. You have to do body weight excercises every day to have the right kind of cardio for bjj or wrestling, running is good but it's not enough. Lots of jump squats, pushups, ab excercises, jump ropes, stretching, at very intense intervals. I know guys who are great in the weight room or can run long distance but don't have the right cardio for bjj. Some people are born with it and some people have to work extremely hard for it, but bjj is definitely for everyone.

[mjmnam]

yea, when i started i was already pretty strong, but as i was fighting i noticed i'd still get really tired because i had very little endurance

[terry]

Up here in the San Francisco Bay Area there are a number of super-heavyweight power-lifters that train Gracie Jujutsu under Ralph Gracie, about 8 of us I think. As an example, Rene is a 260 no-fat white belt that bench presses in the mid 500s and deadlifts in the mid 700s. He has been training six days a week for three plus years and can tap all the blue belts easily.

All the power-lifter-types agree that you can't rely on your strength when you're developing skill. Better to concentrate on proper technique, body positioning with a minimum of strength. But with 130 lbs of muscle on an opponent it can be somewhat easier to maintain your top game. IF you have a good top game. The general consensus is also that once you have learned efficient movement, conservation of energy and good technique that the combination of strength and skill is a good one.

Note: Power-lifting and BJJ training regimens don't complement themselves very well. A power-lifter has muscles that are like a dragster. They can put out a huge amount of explosive energy for a short period. But after that they'll run out of gas. And the intense aerobic and anaerobics you have to do to get the endurance for BJJ is really a separate attribute. When you try put them both together at a high level you can run at the edge of over-training.

Circuit training (aerobic weights) and BJJ complement themselves much better. We have a 147 lb guy that uses that strategy. He won at worlds in Brazil in blue belt a couple of years ago, and we'll see how he does this year (he's down there right now.) But he has been tapping all the brown belts and has even tapped some of the black belts a couple of times. Which takes some doing.

Respectfully,

Terry