cant break down larger opponent

[scottiediggs]

hi guys. im having a lot of trouble lately breaking down much bigger opponents who are intent on simply sitting in guard like a rock.

hip bump usually ends with me being thrown back down.

can anyone give me some options for "game" against these beasts?

thanks.

[Joshua Jarboe]

It might be impertinent of me to answer, but I'll try to answer and hope that someone better has something better to say. If it's simplistic blue belt thinking, just ignore me and wait for someone with real skill to come along.

One of my coaches is a brown belt who just kills you if you let him get a forearm across your throat. If you let him post an arm back and get an arm across your throat, you're probably going to get hip bumped at best. He's really good at it. You can't simply push him down once he has posted. And if you really commit to it, you're probably going to wind up giving up an underhook and getting your arm torn off by a reverse kimura or straight armlock.

I'm trying to emulate that and I'm finding that there are some awesome combinations there, particularly in relationship with the arm drag.

You sit up rapidly and try to post, let's say, your left arm back and your right arm across their throat. Or maybe you're sitting up just to grab something and break posture.

If they stop you up early and commit an arm and power to pushing you down, depending on the angle, kimuras can open up, arm drags can open up etc.

If you get the arm drag halfway and their posture starts to break but they're fighting you with their back and their arm, armbars can open up.

If they resist the arm drag by pulling back, you can take advantage of their own power by switching up for a hip bump. Their momentum is already going back.

If they posture down hard to resist the hip bump and are hiding their arm to avoid that arm drag you just showed them, you can sometimes threaten the swim move. I assume you could go to rubber guard if they are overdefending to that degree (but I'm not a big RG player yet).

They also may give up an underhook in the exchange that you can use to break posture or take a horrible inverse kimura.

I guess, in general, my observation is that the deeper you go into these combinations, the sloppier and overdefended the counters get. Does that make sense?

Can I do that to a blue belt that is bigger than me? Not so much. Not reliably. But I'm practicing those skills against little fish so that I can use them against big fish.

[Fabian Parker]

I have a few ideas, but which one works will be contextual:
1) Are you using your legs to break his posture? By this I mean from closed guard are you pulling your legs towards yourself to mal him post in order to regain posture.
2) You could also play with different guards if your opponent is intent on sitting in an upright posture. For me I might go to butterfly hooks as I scoot out then in (to get momentum for a butterfly sweep or the elevation for a Ashi entry). I also sometimes will go back to half guard since I prefer it to a closed guard.
3) Sometimes a swift shove to the chest is a good answer to a opponent sitting on his heels in your guard. Follow up by coming on top. The whole idea being why resist what he is giving you when he has such upright posture. Do this a few times and your opponent will be less inclined to be so uptight, giving you a starting point to start breaking down posture.
4) Combination attacks as suggested by Joshua are also a great idea

[scottiediggs]

wow! really good stuff there guys. i appreciate all of the thoughts. ive had some success with arm drags and getting under to ashi although recently one guy in particular bases out hard in which case i try to arm drag.

yes i always have tension pulling with my legs.

some times i can go lock down to old school but heavy guys tend to base out real low and its tough to whip up.

i think you guys are right with the combo attacks. maybe catching them off guard can disrupt the balance. it sucks being 50 pounds lighter and 20 years older when these guys just wanna freeze up.

[Joshua Jarboe]

...
3) Sometimes a swift shove to the chest is a good answer to a opponent sitting on his heels in your guard. Follow up by coming on top. The whole idea being why resist what he is giving you when he has such upright posture. Do this a few times and your opponent will be less inclined to be so uptight, giving you a starting point to start breaking down posture.

I'm going to have to try that. Thanks.

[David Rosado]

First word of advice: Use lots of movement. Watch Marcelo roll against heavier guys. You'll see a style that will work well for you. I'm a big guy myself. I used to intentionally start rolls with my posture broken and eventually my posture game was pretty damn solid. Marcelo's game is a nightmare for me. Why? Because he doesn't match strength. Smaller guys tend to have the speed advantage. He uses his mobility as an advantage.

Second word of advice: arm drags, arm drags, arm drags. And that includes the russian two on one style grip to arm drag. Getting the back almost negates the size advantage.

Third: use guards that get you under them. X guard. Single leg X. Deep half. Popovitch deep half. A good butterfly game too.Big guys are top heavy. That means our balance is compromised easier once you get under us.

Fourth: Patience. When you sit up and do your RNC grip behind their neck, just be patient and cook 'em. Even the lightest guy will tire out my back muscles after a while. It may not be fun and exciting, but it's effective. Just be a koala bear. Hip in and pull back and hold on. Latch on and don't let go until the guy gets tired and goes down himself. (and if they try to cross face their way out, it's a decent window of opportunity to get to prison guard)

These are the strategies that smaller guys use that definitely disrupt my game. Nothing's fool proof, but these are good strategies.

[Jerry Walker]

Controlling the CROWN of their head is key. You force an isolation of the neck muscles, which are much weaker than than the larger muscle systems, and easy to overpower with even 1 hand. Same principle as controlling toes as opposed to ankle, for example. Of course, they can still use lateral movements, so don't stall.

[Craig Murray]

I have this problem all the time. My coaches often tell me to just wait until my opponent starts to move to pass my guard. His posture is much stronger when all he's doing is focusing on resisting posture changes. Once he tries to stand up, or break your guard apart, his base is weakened and he's more distracted.

That's what my coaches tell me anyway... my plan thus far just been to get my guard passed mostly.

[William Schrimsher]

my plan thus far just been to get my guard passed mostly.

How's that been working out for you?

[Craig Murray]

How's that been working out for you?

Things have been going according to plan, that's for sure. Lots of reps practicing choke defense and sharpening my tapping skills.