Lately I have come to an understanding. Now first let me remind you all, that I’m not a big guy. I’m about 155 and 5’8 at the most. With that said, I have come to a realization lately when rolling with bigger people. It’s a battle of inches in Jiu Jitsu, but even more so when your opponent has some extra pounds over you. Let me explain a bit more. A perfect example of this was a while back when I was a white belt there was a bigger person that would always give me troubles when we would roll. He would get a hold of one of my sleeves and I would find myself trying to play my guard with only one arm for the entire match. I realize now with a bigger person sometimes I don’t get the chance to regain that inch that was taken from me, or in that case a limb. Now when I roll with bigger opponents I really try to focus on not allowing them to get that inch to begin with, and I roll with the mind set that I won’t have a chance to regain anything that has been taken from me. Now don’t get this confused, I don’t mean in any way that I roll harder or more aggressive. That couldn’t be farther from what I am trying to say. If anything it forces me to think about what my opponent is doing and not just what I am trying to do. Why are they going for that grip? What are they going to do if they get it. How am I going to keep them from getting it? I guess this is something to think about next time you roll if this concept is new to anyone out there. This really helps me deal with a bigger more aggressive opponent in Jiu Jitsu.

Jiu jitsu is the gentle art right? I mean you snap peoples arms in half and choke them unconscious until they wet themselves. That has to be gentle! Lets face it Jiu Jitsu can be  brutal when it needs to be, but lately I have been focusing on the gentle aspect in certain positions. This way of thinking has transferred over from mount to knee on belly for me. I’m a light guy so my mount has never been crushing. At first I would always get bucked off and people would escape. I couldn’t figure out how to be heavy enough to pin someone down. I started seeing other small guys have success with the mount because they knew when to stay tight and when to loosen up. After studying this for some time I started to apply as much weight and contact as I could to someone until they started their escape, then I would loosen up and sort of float until they settled back down. I think this works because it plays off the same principal of most things in Jiu Jitsu you need to connect your hips to their hips. By staying loose and floating, I’m disconnecting my hips from theirs at the moment they need that connection. Once they complete their escape attempt I connect again. This has transferred over well to my knee on belly.  With knee on belly I normally grip their collar under their head and my other hand grips their pant leg. This way I can pull up and apply pressure to them when I need to, but also at the same time when they start an escape I can use these hands to post on the mat. When I post on the mat I can float because my weight isn’t 100% on my knee which is connected to their hips. It’s a new concept of small person Jiu Jitsu that I’m starting to play with and I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on it.