Tips for Smaller BJJ Practitioners Part 2 - Tactics for Grappling Larger Opponents

Continued from Part 1, located here.

Brazilian jiu jitsu is often portrayed as a martial art that allows smaller people to defeat larger, stronger opponents. While this is certainly possible when the smaller grappler is far more technical, or when they can exploit a gap in the knowledge of their larger opponent, strategy will often be critical for success against bigger, stronger opponents in BJJ. Use the following technique tips to improve your performance against larger training partners.

Get to the back. When you get to the back of a larger opponent, you won’t be bearing as much of their weight, and they won’t be in a position where bridging or pressing escapes, often considered “big man” escapes, are possible. In addition, because your opponent’s arms, the limbs they use most to defend strangles from the back, are largely designed to perform tasks in front of the body, they will be less effective, weaker, and easier to defeat than when fighting in chest-to-chest pins. Also, back control affords the attacker the opportunity to apply the rear naked choke, a choke that solely attacks the relatively weak and vulnerable structure of the neck. When compared to arm-in strangle variations such as the katagatame, anaconda choke, D’Arce, and triangle where an arm must be properly situated inside the strangle, the rear naked choke is typically easier to finish.

Attack your partner’s legs. When you break your partner down to a hip in a leg entanglement, most of their weight will be on the floor rather than on you. In addition, twisting leglock techniques such as inside heel hooks, Aoki locks, and reverse toe holds pit the entirety of an attacker’s body against relatively weaker physical structures in an opponent’s single leg. However, always keep in mind that attacking the legs puts you at some risk of counter leg attacks.

Go for conservative takedowns that don’t require you to shoot on or throw your partner. Try to avoid getting into positions where your partner can sprawl on you or throw you. Takedowns such as snap downs, slide-bys, trips, and arm drags are lower risk for BJJ generally and don’t require you to shoot on your partner and risk getting stuck under them.

If you’re playing guard, focus on structurally strong guards that offer distance management without severely taxing the guard player. Guards such as butterfly guard and closed guard allow practitioners to place several strong framing structures between themselves and their partners while at the same time usually requiring less physical output than other guards. Shins, forearms, and entire legs can be placed in front of an opponent without having to wholly activate large muscle groups when grappling in these positions. In addition, these guards tend to be safer and more resistant to a sudden falling body than guards such as De La Riva where limbs are often extended or joints are placed in less structurally sound positions.

Avoid positions and submissions that give your partner an opportunity to stack you. Submissions like arm bars and triangles are generally much more difficult to finish on larger opponents, and present your opponent with opportunities to stack you with all of their weight which can put you in relatively weak and unathletic positions and tax or exhaust your major muscle groups very quickly.

Look for submissions that don’t require you to break your partner’s grip. Separating a larger, stronger opponent's hands to finish arm bars and kimuras is exhausting and difficult, if you’re able to succeed at all. You may have more success with leg locks and strangles such as rear naked chokes and guillotines. You can also use those figure-four grips to take the back instead of looking for arm and shoulder submissions that will be more difficult to finish.

-OGA Staff

Oregon Grappling Arts offers adult and kids’ jiu jitsu classes six days a week in Portland, OR. All classes are led by black belt head instructors Hannah Sharp and Eddie Jamrog. If you or your child is interested in checking out Brazilian jiu jitsu, feel free to reach out to us. All prospective students receive a three-day free trial.

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