Thoughts on being thin/slender vs. muscular in jiu jitsu

[Scott Philips]

Of 2 people with equal skill, the bigger stronger one will likely win most of the time. Each body type has it's own sets of pros and cons. This is irrelevant in finding the weight best suited for YOU to compete in though. Just remember all that time trying to push weights to the ceiling is probably not going to get you out of bottom side, but will put you up a weight class. I just train jiu jitsu, boxing/muai thai, and mma, no weights. I let my body develop as much as it wants for the specific training it receives. I train too much to be lifting weights when not actually at the gym, lifting weights has honestly become wasted carbs in my opinion. Others may disagree, probably will but it has worked for me thus far. I am your prototypical runners type though, ran cross country and track all through high school. I smash big muscle dudes all the time, but it's because im significantly better. If they were my skill, I probably wouldn't wanna roll.

[Louis Hermann]

For you guys worried about putting on weight while getting stronger take a look at this. That some concern is also a big one in gymnastics, but strength is not built through high weight, it's built through high resistance and anyone can do that with their body.

http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/b...g/default.aspx

[Corky]

Honestly im gonna say this. I think georges can beat any champ out their. Only perwon he cant beat is brock. Gso can beat anderson with wrestling. He can beat jones with wrestling. Hes got the jiu jitsu, hes got the striking. And he can probably outwrestle cain. No joke!

[Xsimon]

Will tech go out the window if you're 3 times stronger then someone.. yeah you'll probably lose some.. and whenever I go against someone thats much bigger and stronger I've had to try and think about a way to use it against them.. so tech does become the priority. But you don't compete against people that are much smaller/bigger. Just maximize your strength for your weight class..

Like zoriaz said the only negative is the time invested... my interpretation of that is the downtime when you're trying to peak for the next weight class up..

[Kevin Gibbs]

much agreed. how often are the winners of absolutes smaller.

caio terra

[David Stager]

I don't think either body type is going to make you significantly better or worse in terms of technique or flexibility, but I do think that strength pays off against wrestlers. If they're gameplan is to win on takedown points, they'll try to explode back to their feet whenever you wind up on top, which can be frustrating unless you're able to (a) submit them from the bottom or (b) bully them from the top.

[Aab]

Im skinny as hell. 160 something pounds. Iv always been a damn wimp my whole life. so i have to make up for this weakness by having A. Good cardio from running B. having tricks and unusual transitions and positions, C. having a good guard D. being flexible. but strong guys are hard to mess with true indeed.

[Mark Hax]

I think it's good to have strength, but not at the sacrifice of flexibility. I do circuits with higher reps and lower weights and stretch a lot. Better technique will beat strength, but if you only rely on technique, what happens when the stronger guy learns the techniques?

[Brian Hoback]

this happens:

[AndyK5]

Im skinny as hell. 160 something pounds. Iv always been a damn wimp my whole life. so i have to make up for this weakness by having A. Good cardio from running B. having tricks and unusual transitions and positions, C. having a good guard D. being flexible. but strong guys are hard to mess with true indeed.

This is the reason why you see more technical, flexible smaller guys than larger guys. You automatically put more emphasis on what you need to make up for your deficiencys. I am larger than most people at my gym and I have been told that It is a good idea for me to develop a sick top game since I end up there more often than my back. When I endup on the bottom I get held on side mount by a technical 160 pounder all day long though since I have very little practice on that area. Which reminds me, I should really pay attention my bottom game, it sucks worse than my top game.