Share your strategies: Enormous opponents.

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 11:23am

Originally Posted by Reese

half-guard while he's standing or are you waiting till he lies down and goes to sleep??

Perhaps we should work on getting him off his feet first... ;)

You've never pulled half guard before?

Am I actually going to have to explain how to properly pull half guard?

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 11:24am

Originally Posted by I Choke You

Butterfly guard. Keeps the weight off your body, lets you move.

Have you ever tried to play butterfly guard on a 350 lber who has good base and is trying to drive forward and flatten you out?

It is not, generally, a good place to be.

**relytjj** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 11:28am

Originally Posted by Garbanzo Bean

...Side control is where it's at with that guy.

I competed in the 200+ division in my last tournament. I prefer to play the top the whole time until I make it to the back. I weighed in at 213 and had to fight some guys much bigger than me. I had a much, much easier time controlling them from sidemount.

One mistake I made was when I was in mount, I went to put my knee and shin over one of his arms to pin it. I stopped there to prepare to swing my leg around for a triangle from mount. Having my leg on the guys bicep gave him enough leverage to easily lift me off, despite having two points of base on the other side.

At an earlier point in the match with this same guy he was in my guard. I like to play a very active guard and force my opponent to react. However, this guys size advantage and strength advantage kept me in place. I couldn't do anything but wait for him to make a move.

Big guys with little technique can be tough, big guys with comparable (to you) technique are impossibly tough. Thats been my experience.

**Moleculo** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 11:55am

Originally Posted by fatherdog

You've never pulled half guard before?

Am I actually going to have to explain how to properly pull half guard?

On an enormous person who happens to be STANDING UP?

well no.

**Moleculo** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 12:03pm

Anyway, as far as half guard goes, i usually grapevine the leg as soon as I can and try to houdini my way out using underhooks ala bravo's methods.

The lockdown seems to work better on guys with big calves for some reason.

I've had several guys tap just from that.

**Camus** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 12:03pm

Originally Posted by fatherdog

Have you ever tried to play butterfly guard on a 350 lber who has good base and is trying to drive forward and flatten you out?

It is not, generally, a good place to be.

Maybe this is just because I have pretty strong legs, but just about the only time I even attempt butterfly is with big dudes. Guys my size and smaller can scramble around it because it isn't great, but it does me a lot more good than my closed guard (usual favorite), which is almost helpless with 300+ pounds pinning my hips.

Then again most of the huge guys I roll with (haven't in awhile though) are big on muscles, low on technique, so I dunno.

**Meager** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 12:08pm

Originally Posted by fatherdog

Have you ever tried to play butterfly guard on a 350 lber who has good base and is trying to drive forward and flatten you out?

It is not, generally, a good place to be.

Not 350, but 320. My biggest problem was gripping my hands after getting unders.

**Moleculo** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 12:19pm

I'm interested in hearing strategies for dealing with a standing EO (enormous Opponent)

Standard takedown attempts are fraught with inherent risk of being landed upon (hard)

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 2:00pm

Originally Posted by Reese

On an enormous person who happens to be STANDING UP?

well no.

Step 1) Get some kind of grips on him. Underhook is ideal, since that's what you want to play halfguard with, but any kind of grip will do.

Step 2) Jump slightly and, using your grips, swing your hips into your opponent. This should feel like you are swinging on a rope, or a swingset - your grips stay in place, your body swings forward into him. Since you are pulling half guard, one of your legs goes between his legs, the other to the outside, and you are swinging yourself diagonally so that your body is off center and you are not directly beneath him. The idea here is to "hit" his waist with your hips, forcing him to bend forward, at which point your weight pulls him downward (aided by your legs pulling on his).

The key is "striking" his hips with yours - this is true of pulling closed guard on a standing opponent too. You need to bend him forward so that your weight actually pulls him down, instead of letting him stay standing and take you off like a pair of pants.

"Oh noes! What if he just falls on top of me!" Well, that's one of the reasons you're pulling half guard - so that your body is off to the side, and when he goes down his full weight doesn't come down on top of you and squash your puny body.

Of course, the best solution remains "Take him down and get on top. Learn to wrestle, *****." but if he's a better wrestler than you are, it's better to pull half guard rather than tremulously wait for him to take you down.

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 2/24/2006 2:05pm

Originally Posted by Reese

I'm interested in hearing strategies for dealing with a standing EO (enormous Opponent)

Standard takedown attempts are fraught with inherent risk of being landed upon (hard)

I generally pummel for underhooks and go for outside and inside trips. high singles off of an underhook can be good, too, because your posture and positioning is such that it's easier to not get caught underneath if he sprawls. If his posture is forward/bad, work snapdowns; it's probably the lowest risk takedown against a big guy you're gonna find.