Bro, it doesn't matter that he outweighs you by 70 pounds, you do BJJ...

I understand where the romantic notion comes from. The one where people think anyone who does a martial art can beat people twice their size in mortal combat. I grew up watching Kung Fu movies where a tiny master took out six guys with one hand and then made a witty comment (your Master should have taught you respect).

 I was in awe when Royce Gracie beat Dan Severn when I watched the fourth UFC in 3rd grade.

Royce beating dudes...

When I heard BJ Penn fought at heavyweight, it only further reinforced the idea that all martial artists can beat up anyone (regardless of size).

Penn vs Machida

 Let it also be known that I am not a big guy. I am about 5'8" and weigh around 160 pounds. It has been my experience in all of the sports I have played and the few fights I have gotten into, that size matters.

Picture of Jeff Curran, Marcelo Garcia and me, to help you gauge my size...and remind you I hangout with Jeff and Marcelo

I am stubborn though and held onto the belief that someday I would learn a martial art and pummel men much larger than myself. As a senior in college I took Hapkido, then Judo and Sambo when I moved to Kansas City. Finally, I ended up in Waterloo, IA and landed at a great BJJ gym. I now have around 6-7 years of BJJ experience and about 10-11 years of martial arts/grappling. What follows below are my heartfelt words on the role weight/size plays in BJJ, grappling and fisticuffs.

To start, size matters. If size didn't matter, there would be no weight classes in the UFC, BJJ tournies, etc. However, skills can certainly overcome size disadvantages. Case in point, every once in awhile we have a new, strong, young lad come into our gym. Typically, they have a lot of wrestling experience and feel like they are going to run through everyone we train with. It has become our time-honored tradition to find a smallish, white belt (the dorkier looking the better) and deem them our "gatekeeper." His or her job is dispense humble pie to all jerks who darken our door step. When it comes to an unskilled combatant against a skilled BJJ practitioner in a controlled BJJ gym, size doesn't matter that much. On a side note, I once held the gatekeeper title because there is nothing more deflating than a soft, middle aged, college professor dealing out punishment.

Check out Riley Breedlove tooling high school wrestlers in a park. 

When it comes to the effectiveness of BJJ on the streets, it is also pretty useful for people of all sizes. Luckily (and to my low-key disappointment) I have never had to use my "jitz" in a real fight. But, all you need to do is look up videos online or check the BJJ message boards. Given the option between wildly throwing haymakers and/or trying to tackle someone when I have little to no experience, I would rather have the BJJ on my side. With that being said, you never know who is getting into a fight with you. They might have trained forever, maybe they are a golden gloves boxer, maybe they are an X-Men (probably the least likely scenario).

If I was an X-Men I like to think I would be Nightcrawler 

 If you are looking to get into BJJ just to kickass at the bar, maybe you should instead just go to AA.

Watch this video, it is worth it. 

When Jiu-Jitsu meets Jiu-Jitsu is typically when size advantage plays the largest role. Yes, there are some great instances of smaller BJJ players beating bigger opponents (Marcelo vs Ricco Rodriguez or Makenzie Dern vs Gabi), but most of the time a bigger competitor wins the absolutes at a large international tourney.

Marcelo vs Ricco

Mackenzie Dern vs Gabi 

2013 road to ADCC absolute for Cyborg

In my personal experience, skill greatly compensates for a size advantage. We have several newer blue belts who are much bigger than me and I can hold my own. However, we have a brown belt who is close to my size and he absolutely railroads me. There is a purple belt at another school who I am 25ish pounds heavier than and I can typically control him because of my extra fluff (that is what I call my "Dad-bod" parts).

In an extremely simplified sense, skill can make up for weight/strength deficits and weight/strength can make up for skill deficits. I try to use this to my advantage by always saying I weight less than I do, and asking for the weight of a person who tapped me. If there is more than a 10 pound difference, I blame it on their girth and get to keep my ego.

In short, if you are looking to do BJJ because you think you will become a Super Sayian who can beat people 5 times your size, you will be disappointed. But, if you want to take BJJ to improve your confidence, feel more safe if in a dangerous situation or hopefully get a chance to tool "d-bags" that get off on pushing around little guys/girls, you are in the right sport. Just remember, the ability/right to beat people bigger than you is earned from years (and I mean years) of getting beat on that mat, it is not a training montage type of thing.

Late notes from the Submission Hunt in Minneapolis.

On December 13th, two of my teammates and I competed in the "Submission Hunt" tournament in Minneapolis. All in all it was great tournament. My buddy Andrew got a gold and silver in two division and got wins in the absolute divisions. I was able to win both my gi, blue belt division and no-gi division. Our buddy Will got his first tournament wins! As a team we placed 12th (Cedar Valley Jiu Jitsu). It was a successful trip. Below are a few random notes/thoughts about the weekend:

This is me, you could say the "thumbs up" is my finishing move....

Will made so many friends. 

This is Dostal, he is mildly impressed with his win.  

1. Thank God there was no snow from Waterloo to Minneapolis
2. It sucks to cut weight only to have your weight classes combined into 3 groups with your original weight class being the lowest class (e.g, you weigh 160, your group ends up being 160-190). I could have just been my normal tubby-self the 3 weeks before.
3. Chipotle is great after cutting weight
4.      Chipotle 2 times in 5 hours....might not be your best bet.
5. If you can stay at Dostal's sister's awesome condo the night before, do it! This is probably more specific to my situation. 
6. Moldy bagels the morning of the tourney will not hinder you as bad as you think. 
7. Dostal tapped a black belt with a knee-bar, dude is a bad bad man. 
8. Everyone thinks BJJ tournaments are fast paced. No, they are a lot of sitting and waiting. Then they call a bracket and you start to warm up and it is not your bracket...it is never your bracket. 
9. There are few things as personally rewarding as tapping out a college wrestler who is bigger than you. Then hearing him refer to you as a "fat, f*cking old man" in the locker room. 
10. Most competitors at a BJJ tourney are awesome, cool and friendly. I grew up wrestling, it is a far friendly environment at BJJ tourneys. 
11. You are always disappointed not signing up for the open division when the names start getting called. I would not have won the blue belt open, but I would have loved to give it a go.  
12. Dante Leon won both absolute divisions. Do yourself a favor and look him up, dude is an animal. 

Submission Hunt is a really well run tourney for a great price. Also, St. Paul and Minneapolis are great towns to visit. If you are in the area, give it a shot. I was glad I went and got to hang out with Will and Dostal. Both are great guys, competitors and friends. If you are thinking about competing, go for it! There is a Combat Corner tourney in Milwaukee April 9th, some of my team will be there. If you are a midwesterner and thinking about competing, this is a good time to try. 

Are you injured or are you hurt??? Should I train when I am hurt?

Hello everyone! I am back from my Holliday break in blogging. I have two guest blogs coming up. My two guest bloggers are being slow and lazy, so I thought I would throw together something on my Saturday night.

It goes without saying that you will have boo-boos, ouchies, nicks and bruises when training BJJ. At it's essence, BJJ is all about trying to make your opponent quit through threat of injury, or actual injury. However, there is a big difference between being hurt and being injured. Hopefully, this blog might help you better decide if you should "suck-it up buttercup" or take a little time off.

My broken pinky toe, because I want you to feel sorry for me. 

Before I get into the meat of this blog I should make a disclaimer: I am a doctor, with that being said, I am not the type of doctor that actually helps people (I have a PhD in Child Development). So, any advice I give is purely earned from experience and not a medical diagnosis.

I have been very fortunate in my grappling career. I can think of two instances that have forced me to miss time on the mat. Our coach separated my shoulder on a throw and I got my knee popped on a cheap heel-hook, other than that, I have been able to train without major injury. But, it seems like I always have a sore part or two. We have a great club that tends to be incredibly safe and friendly. If you are at a gym where guys are getting seriously injured on a regular basis, you are at the wrong gym. Find somewhere else that values your health. Nothing trumps mat time. It is far better to roll at a lesser known gym a lot, than a premier gym where you are missing time because higher belts are ripping your arms off for trophies.

Good example of why to tap. 

So, what type of injury should you not roll with? Any broken bone, anything you cannot put weight on, anything that if it is more seriously injury you will not be able to do your job. We have several construction workers who come to our class, if they broke their leg, blew out their knee, etc. they would be off the mat for awhile and losing money they use to feed their family. DON'T MAKE YOUR FAMILY GO HUNGRY. You can always come back to the mats when you are healed, but if your bone is broken or a joint is seriously injured, it will eventually force you off the mat. You might as well heal it now and get on the mat sooner, than tough it out and roll like poo for 2 weeks and still have to rehab the injury. Here is a great article about common BJJ injuries.

The more tricky situation is when you are hurt and not sure if you should roll. I would suggest you start to build a stable of partners you can roll "light" with, to test the injury. Typically, an upper belt is going to be good for this job. They have better control over their body and will not maul an already injured appendage. Also, they get subs all the time, tapping out a white belt is not going to be a notch in their belt. If you can roll light with little or no pain, then you should increase the intensity when you feel comfortable.
 

In the event a you are not able to finish a light roll without getting getting hurt, you should take it easy. I would suggest coming to class and still doing technique. When you are unable to do technique without pain, try to roll light again.  After you can roll light with minimal pain, start to increase the intensity.


Respectable instructors and fellow BJJers will not frown on you for getting yourself healthy after an injury. The only time classmates and instructors will start to question your injury status is when you are taking to long to tap (typically this problem takes care of itself) or you are using a former injury as an excuse to get out of rolling. I am not sure why anyone would want to get out of rolling, that is the best part.