10th Planet JJ and Being Hella Fat

[RaiderFunk]

Hey Folks...narrowing down my BJJ choices in Riverside and 10th Planet Riverside is in the final 3. So I'm talking to a couple homies from No. Cal who are purple and browns respectively and they said..."well Eddie is great...but..we love you man..but you...hella big and you gotta be pretty flexible". So...the question is can a 5'9 295 lb dude truly work the system?

A lot of this is probably just nerves. Bad idea to look at a bunch of blues and purples they make you think you need to pull that mess off first class...

Thanks for your help you pot heads!!

[Jim Allen]

I would recommend trying a couple of classes and give it a test drive. 10th Planet for me is a system that is plain and simply, fun to train. I think you'll enjoy it. In regards to flexibility, no matter where you train, working on this aspect will be important and there's no shame in learning. Every purple, brown, black, etc. was a white belt at one time. To paraphrase Royce Gracie, being a white belt is a very exciting time because there is so much to learn!

[Brent Smith]

I can't really say from experience cause I'm only 160 lbs but I can comment on the fact that the flexibility will come with time. I've come a long way personally with my flexibility and all it takes is time and work.
I've seen some bigger guys in the 10th Planet schools though and they've been pretty good. 10th Planet isn't all about flexibility and using the rubberguard cause obviously that's not gonna work for some peoples body types. But you could end up with a killer top game or butterfly guard game. Or Prison Guard, that takes 0 flexibility.
Like Jim said, go try out some classes before you make your final decision and see if its a good fit for you. Sean is a really good jiu jitsu practitioner and from what I've heard a great teacher.

[Aab]

Only thing you need to be flexible for is Rubber Guard. Give it a shot. You might lose some weight.

[KevinGill]

As others have said, give it a go and see what you think..

I'd say if you work on it you could have a killer top game.. Don't really need flexibility for that..

[Jeff V]

I am 5'10'' and was 280 when I started March 31st of 2009 @ 10th Planet Springfield I was so inflexible that I didn't know if I'd ever be able to set up a triangle let alone work RG. I did know that on day one though that I wanted to be a grappler and that the 10th Planet system was right for me. So on day I left the gym with an attitude that if I wanted to be good I would have to lose weight and become more flexible. I dropped 55 pounds within three months training jits as much as possible and went from no flexibility to working basic rubber guard within a couple of months. So coming from a similar spot you are in if you are willing to put in the work the 10th Planet system can work for anyone. If you would like to talk to me about it personally you can PM me and I'll shoot you my number. Good luck.


Also: After hanging out and rolling with Sean B and Jeremy, those guys are top notch. I believe they can effectively teach anyone jiu jitsu. Great guys and great great coaches.

[Daniel Valdez]

I would highly consider your weight a number 1 priority and focus on losing it. No matter what school you choose your health is not going to be good with those numbers. Good luck and happy training.

[Eddie Bravo]

You'll have a strong top game, like mentioned before, you dont need flexibilty for ALOT of top game techs. On the bottom, focus on all that is half guard, butterfly guard and prison guard. As you lose weight the rg will start to ooze out

[Jason Hyatt]

As you lose weight the rg will start to ooze out

Ewwwww...

[Chris Leavelle]

Ha Ha when I started rolling I was hella fat also (6ft 267) now im just kinda fat (6ft 220). I really concentrated on Full and Half guard from the bottom and been saving Rubber Guard as a nice shiny present sitting under the christmas tree that I could un wrap when I was ready too. Check out Scott Epsteins videos hes got some good tips on hitting things with a little less flexability when your ready.