working on NO-GI grip strength!

[Tori Applegate]

More no gi Jiu Jitsu! I agree. And the bag squeezing sounds great, but if your time is limited like mine, you could just squeeze/clench your classmates in live rolling while in a clenching position, ei, RG, Prison guard, etc.

[Aaron Gustaveson]

Ahhh. Brilliant. A learning opportunity. What is involved with hand fighting? What attributes (physical rather than technical) would add value to hand fighting?
I have a "black belt" in strength and conditioning but JJ is what I'm here to learn.
Thanks,
Bob

First off, at the lower levels (like me) I agree with people saying that more time doing jiu jitsu will be of the most benefit. On the other hand all pro athletes perform exercises to work attributes which are important in their sport.

Physically strong wrist are important in grip/hand fighting but since I can break grips of guys way bigger and stronger than me, I have to say the technical side is more important.

Im pretty new but for me; looking up the anatomy of the wrist and arm bones and then getting really high and daydreaming about anatomy as it applies to grips, helped my grip game. When you are slippery, having a knowledge about those bones is a great help.

[Brent Smith]

I have the opposite problem. I have grip strength for days but no JJ. Grip training is an entire sub-group and they even have their own competitions. There are several types of grip strength and for complete grip strength you should train them all. You have pinch grip (pinch some weight plates together and lift), crushing grip (heavy grippers), grip wrist (leverage, torque and control) and open hand support (thick grip). I would recommend crushing to everyone. It is kind of the base of grip strength. Sporting good grippers are useless. Go online for the heavy kind. For no-gi I would use many of the things already mentioned but would add chins and pulls with baseballs and softballs, heavy hammer leverage, farmer’s walks with different weights and bar diameters for strength and endurance, eagle claw strap pull-ups thick bar timed holds and even some pinch gripping. Building up the thumb is critical to keeping a hold from breaking. I also recommend strongman stone lifting. Your hand is open but your hand and wrist have to work together to maintain enough friction to complete the lift. Vertical bar dead lifts (approx 2”) and thick rolling handle dead lifts are also very good.

Great first post!

[bobby rivers]

More No gi jiu jitsu could help

Yup. To increase my grip strength I roll and grip the shit outta people. Gripping intelligently and using the bodies natural handles at proper angles dramatically increases your power(not strength) as well. "There is no better preparation for the act, than the act itself."

[Bob Jodoin]

I have a good story about strength vs technique. About 8-9 years ago I was training two Jiu Jitsu players for the Pan-Ams up at BTT in Boston. In order to better program their strength and conditioning I decided to get a gi and roll with them. I ended up training with some blue belts and a purple or two. I had zero idea what to do but none of them could submit me. I just held on and wouldn't let go. Most of this was due to grip strength. One of my athletes was a female purple belt who had just gotten promoted. My weight advantage on her exceeded her entire bodyweight by about 25lbs. I was surprised but she wanted to have a go after watching her friends fail to submit me. Brazilian gameness or female gameness...either way... We started off on the ground, took the hand slap and began. I grabbed for her gi thinking I could just immobilize her and she launched herself around to my back. She was like a monkey. I couldn't reach her. She went for the rear naked but, as I didn't have a neck, per se, she quickly abandoned that option rather than engage a battle of futility. This is where brains over strength prevailed. She put her forearm bone into the nerve just under my teeth and hung her entire 105 lbs from that. I tapped like my hand was on fire. She celebrated by jumping around the mat and we all had a good laugh.
Later I rolled with a black belt and he repeatedly submitted me in a variety of ways without any effort at all. He talked calmly the whole time.
What I took from all of that was that technique trumps strength once that technique passes a certain level. (And don't mess with skilled females)
Because strength is my thing, and my crutch, I always say it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, but, at the end of the day I do agree with the idea of rolling more no-gi. Technique would likely improve and adapt faster vs someone like me. As a beginner I would "tend" to abandon technique and fall back on my strength thus slowing my path to mastery. Less so now that I'm getting old, but still...
Ultimately, technique wins...If, however, a weakness is glaring, by all means, seek and destroy...
My philosophy with training is to destroy weaknesses (technical, mental and/or physical) while continuously building upon your strengths.
My first mission is flexibility. I work it 2-3 times per day.

Ps. She went on to earn her black belt...I think she was BTT-Boston's first female under Joao Amaral