Giant/Mat Bully

[bopinator]

There's this guy in my BJJ class he must be 6 foot if not taller and he must way between 90 and 100kgs if not more. His favourite moves include stacking onto me aswell as grabbing my neck whenever and cranking it when he gets the chance we're both white belts oh and he loves slamming me.

So anyway long story short this guys was going on with his usual antics. When all of a sudden he reaches behind himslef to pull my legs appart I mean what the hell? So I go for a triangle n naturally he stacks with his hand on the matt so I change to an omo plata, which unfortunately I haven't learned how to finish, I only know how to get into the position. SO anyway Im sitting there with his arm in my legs and hes like what he hell was that...I loved it. This guy has like 1-2 years experience n I have 3 months (I'm average for the time I've spent doing it.


DOes anyone know any other good moves to use on the big boys if so please tell me as i'm sick of him being a damn mat bully.

[Kintanon]

Omoplata <=> Gogoplata <=> Triangle is what I use. I'm a little guy and I find I can transition between those as they try to escape from each one it tends to open one or the other. If they rip straight up I follow them up for a situp sweep and kimura attempt.

[pauli]

sounds like you guys would benefit from some supervision.

[Kintanon]

pauli brings up a good point. Who the fuck is letting whitebelts slam each other in class?

[JohnnyCache]

What's with all the threads where a guy is like, "HALP I HAVE TO GRAPPLE WITH A NORMAL SIZED ADULT"

6' 220 is a pretty normal athletic build, I don't want to hear any more bitching about "mat bullies" unless they are over 250

[SuperGuido]

Last Friday I was left in charge of class (my instructor was sick), and I had one of those "Mat Bully Noobs" in attendance.

This is how I classify a "Mat Bully Noob":

1. Very New
-New, as in less than a month in attendance with little to no formal grappling training. A large, strong grappler with a solid foundation in formal grappling is not a "Mat Bully"...he's a grappler who uses his attributes in a sound fashion.

2. Overly Aggressive
-Anyone with over a month's worth of training understands that you don't always have to "Win" during free rolling. "Mat Bullies" don't get that, and treat each rolling session as a test of their manhood.

3. Spaztard
-There is nothing wrong with a healthy scramble every now and then. There is also nothing wrong with a strong, athletic grappler using their attributes to their advantage. There IS something wrong with a large, inexperienced noob who spazzes the fuck out when they don't know what to do. This is the guy who hurts other grapplers, gets injured because he won't tap out, and otherwise acts like a spaztic moron.

---

Back to my "Mat Bully".

During free rolling, his "go to" technique to escape someone's persistent guard was to stand (with awful posture) and slam his partner on the ground. I told him politely several times to "tone it down" and "work on technique", and I even showed him some kneeling guard passes.

Still, the spazzy noob continued to use his "go to" method of guard slamming...even against the 130 lbs girl in attendance. After I saw that, I asked him politely to sit out until I could roll with him.

During our session of free-rolling, these are the concepts I used to counter his spazzy strength:

1. Stalling
-I'm a small guy, so the easiest way to show him the importance of solid technique was to simply hold basic positions and ride out his spaztard waves. This is REALLY effective when you stall in annoying positions. For instance, I countered his spaztard head-squeezing-guillotine with the standard transition to North/South. Once in North/South, though, I squeezed or squatted on his face until he stopped spazzing. Nothing takes the fight out of you like "Position Teabag".

2. Attack his Base
-A 150 lbs grappler with a solid base will feel like a 300 lbs grappler. A 200 lbs grappler without a solid base will feel like a 150 lbs grappler. What all spaztard noobs lack is a good base. Hence, focus primarily on breaking posture, causing over extension, and attacking his feet/legs when he stands.

3. Position over Submission
-Anyone can slap on a lucky submission...and a spaztard noob will rarely learn if you immediately and repeatedly tap him out. Instead, demonstrate the ability to positionally dominate him over and over to really hammer the point home. Nothing says, "Calm Down Spaztard" like a guy half his weight continually sweeping and reversing positions.

---

Specifically, I did the following basic techniques over and over:

-When in guard, I continually broke posture and attained neck control or double underhooks. This allowed me to control his arms during his "Guard Slams". When he would stand and pick me up, I would wait for him to generate momentum upwards before disengaging my guard. Once disengaged, I would immediately drop my weight and DLT him HARD. Because his posture sucked and he lifted me without a solid base, he felt REALLY light on the DLT...which allowed me to drop my 150 lbs into his gut through my shoulder. He hit the ground really hard twice before he stopped trying to guard slam me.

-During his standard "I CRUSH YOU" guard stacks, I would play X-Guard or Half-Guard and split his legs. I've never met a REALLY big, strong noob who was also flexible...and this guy was no exception.

-I never, EVER let him maintain side-control or mount for longer than a few seconds. Instead, I used my smaller size to create openings that allowed me to regain half or full guard...where I would then repeat the above techniques.

---

That, more or less, defined my strategy in rolling with him. Severely punish him for his spaztic mistakes, teach him to slow down and solidify his position by attacking his base, and demonstrate technique over strength by using position over submission.

[Kintanon]

JC: Unfortunately at my size I have a hard time telling the difference between 220 and 270. Once you're 70lbs heavier than I am you're "Gigantic". distinctions above that are meaningless to us tiny midget folk. I consider 6'2" 200lbs to be "normal" sized guys. Beyond that you start becoming "Gigantic".

[JohnnyCache]

If it's any comfort, I'm out there making 200 pound guys feel the same way : ))

[Kintanon]

One of the small joys in my life is seeing the "big" guys who were crushing me with their mighty weight for 15 minutes solid roll with one of the "Gigantor" guys and get similarly mauled. I giggle inside like a little schoolgirl.

[GoldenJonas]

sounds like you guys would benefit from some supervision.

seconded.

[indy007]

I'm 145. Three guys I roll with are my size. The other 20 or so...are between 190 & 300. I found rubber guard to be pretty useful. It only gets me so far though. Nobody ever leaves their hand on the mat anymore :(

[SuperGuido]

I'm 145. Three guys I roll with are my size. The other 20 or so...are between 190 & 300. I found rubber guard to be pretty useful. It only gets me so far though. Nobody ever leaves their hand on the mat anymore :(

Do you own any of Eddie Bravo's books?

He covers this issue a number of different ways. Typically, you just pummel under the appropriate arm, then lock your elbow down and hold onto your own knee from within Mission Control.

[Kintanon]

I end up fighting to get the overhook first most of the time, then getting the leg up. I have a hard time keeping my squeeze tight enough to stop people from pulling out and hitting the underpass on me without the overhook right now.

[EternalRage]

Do you own any of Eddie Bravo's books?

He covers this issue a number of different ways. Typically, you just pummel under the appropriate arm, then lock your elbow down and hold onto your own knee from within Mission Control.

You mean New York.

The zombie is predictable though, if you aren't goign up against a large noob. I generally still have to work off other attacks and just keep an eye out for an arm on the mat, or a loose arm that I can zombie real fast.

Your account of the spaztard was great. Fun read.

[E-Van]

Man im 6'2 230. You guys make me feel like im a giant!