ATTN: Eddie and Moon Instructors. Share your wisdom.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

A new guy just signed up at our gym. He was recently a state champion wrestler and he is a heavyweight. Has an 8-1 ammy MMA record, but has never trained outside of his wrestling background. He wants to pursue MMA seriously now. He's very eager and willing to learn and has a good attitude. If I do my job right, he can make some noise.

Where do you start with a guy like this? He will likely hold his own (at least) with most of our guys from day 1, so how do I teach him the principles of jiu jitsu (leverage and energy efficiency) without taking away from his strongest qualities as a grappler and fighter?

A little help from my mentors and brothers is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Corky]

Put him with the fattest guy

[Eddie Bravo]

Passing, mount and back techs and from the bottom start him with lockdown half and deep half, but focus most on passing

[Bill Keeling]

^ + sweeps! Good wrestlers usually hold their own, but they have two big issues normally. They don't like to play on their back, and they're way to open (too much space) in their game. Work on those issues and you can watch him improve by leaps and bounds

[Scott Yockel]

when i started Herzog had me work a lot on my top game. drilling passing, move from position to position and stayin tight. I would also have him drill takedowns with guard passes too.

[Joe Friday]

Make sure that you don't make him roll with me, please sir.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Make sure that you don't make him roll with me, please sir.

don't worry, old friend; you'd have to be in a class to roll with him, so i think you're safe

[Chris Herzog]

1) Ignore Corky, and any advice he offers on anything, I lifted his ban, and within one day I all ready regret it.

2)Technical advices has all ready been given: Top Game, Passes, 1/2 guard, transitional flow. The only thing I would add is submission escapes/counters.

2) Also work with him on his economy of motion and conservation of energy. Most wrestlers have a nose to the grind stone pace, which is fine if they have the cardio to back it up. He'll need your guidance in knowing when to relax, and when to pressure and push the pace and explode. IMHO this is the hardest to teach, be patient yet persistent when working with him on this. It will take his output to new levels as he learns to relax while beating the hell outta someone.

[Taylor Culbertson]

How big?

[John Alighieri]

Got the same here with Toby. We worked a lot on guard passes/ bottom game since once he's got top control he's a real pain in the ass to shake off lol. Like the Zog said make sure he develops a good understanding of subs/ counters. He will get tapped a lot by silly things at the start but once he switch his brain over to subs that's when you've got a killing machine on the ground. Then make sure to keep him on his toes with new techniques, chances are he will crush most of your guys so last thing you want is for him to get stuck in a routine and gets bored