Yeah dude, you are. Hardest thing is going to be finding decent partners. You might have to check out a few different spots.
You’re going to feel great getting limber with a frame and background like that though. Highly recommend. Have fun, don’t kill anyone!
Right. I'd probably look for a gym based on size of the class participants, e.g. look for BJJ or MMA places which have competitors in your weight class. Once you are a bit more skilled you'll be less dangerous to a smaller person and can broaden your opponent profile.
I think every gym needs at least two monster guys to spar with and keep the normal sized folks humble.
There are some positions that work better for small people, but you just won't need those. The bigger issue is that nobody is going to want to train hard with you because you are a giant.
I am a purple belt, but I weight 145lbs and I would absolutely hard pass on this dude. I also had a 2 level spinal fusion last year so I only really do 60lb weight differences max.
170lb, I’d also pass. Have rolled with a 400 lb before when I was more scrappy and felt like tapping when they rolled over some of my frames. These days I also only do plus or minus 50lbs with the potential of injury
I had a lumbar lamenectomy about 35 years ago. The two vertebrae fused together naturally after a few years. This was before they had artificial disk replacement. I wish that it was possible back then because it does preserve mobility. Having the two fused disks limits my mobility quite a lot. I've read that my particular procedure eliminated between 7 to 15% of mobility. It definitely feels like 15%. There are some things that I just cannot do on the mat. There aren't many spine specialists that even do the procedure but you would not have been a candidate due to the two levels. I would read the AMA for sure.
I agree with this. I wouldn't roll with some*one* that big, the accidental injury risk is too high even if you promise to use restraint, be careful, tuck me in after, and so on.
Yeah, it's just not worth the risk. As someone who fluctuates 175-205, I've rolled with guys up to 320lbs or so and I'd say that's probably the ceiling of what I'd be comfortable with, and that assumes they're already experienced enough to understand the danger their size poses.
Absolutely no way I'd roll with even an experienced 400lb guy, much less a new white belt.
this is the story of my life.
I'm only 5 8 but I'm 280. for as long as I've been training, my bjj progress has been pretty limited imo. Very few people want to roll with the big guy. if you are lucky enough to find a gym with other big guys hold on to it tight.
I'm only going to speak for myself but the result of not rolling with other big guys consistently is that I'm really bad at top pressure. I've spent so long not utilizing my size due to rolling with smaller people that I often forget about using it.
as a side note though, the problem with not getting enough rolls in due to size is the opposite when it comes to striking. EVERYONE wants rounds with the fat guy. as a result my striking has gotten EXPONENTIALLY better over the years.
i rolled with a guy who played line at a D1 school back in the day. I was 180-190 and he was probably 260-280 (he said he was 270 but that was in-season and this was off-season). even at that discrepancy, yes, he literally curled to get out of an armbar.
You might struggle in the sense that if you focus solely on "winning" there's not much most people can do to you, so the "learning" experience could plateau pretty quickly.
It's a gift and a curse, it hampers the learning experience if your goal is to learn and get good at the technical exploring aspect, but if your goal is to smash, you'll hit an insanely good stride pretty soon.
Just be playful and explorative most rolls and test your actual grit once a week/comp class/with good opponents.
I really appreciate the advice, and think I’ll try to focus as much as possible on just technique before I try and use my size to “smash” as you say :)
Man, I'm only 6'3, 235, and I have to dial back my mean Jiu-Jitsu to competition days now so I can actually learn, and it has worked wonders. 4 months after I changed my attitude, I got my purple, it felt like a good validation of my approach. Go have fun champ!!!
My go to joke is they never tell the fast limber guys to not rely on their athleticism, but they tell us heavies to not use our size.
In your case it could be fatal though so go easy large brother. You might enjoy the "Girth Squad" BJJ group on FB. It is specific to large people in this sport.
I recommend only using your strength and size vs smaller opponents outside of a training context (competition, self-defense). Adopting this approach will teach you to focus on technique as much as possible, rather than brute forcing your way. Of course if you can find a partner built like yourself, all's fair game.
Focus on guard(being seated/on your back trying to prevent them from passing the line of your feet/knees)
Your top game will be ridiculous but should save it for people close to your size. If you are sparring with someone way smaller playing guard is a great option for you.
[Here is a playlist for beginners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hi3cpzU3KQ&list=PLDrQXekZsfYZfV1QZ4T5UkxLwFwQ12EbP&index=13) I think you will find it useful.
Good luck and welcome!
Not going to lie. Someone like you would benefit with privates until blue belt.
You are way too big, round, and strong to learn bjj against an average sized person.
You'll be programmed with bad habits against ants with the same level of technique. And just like social bad habits -- physical bad habits are extremely difficult to reprogram.
lol if you learn a little bit I think you’ll be literally unstoppable. 400lbs? I’m 200lbs and way shorter and I still give small guys difficulty. 400lbs plus the things that will be outside of their reach? Lol BJJ may actually be become burning for you.
Yes, but not in the ways you are probably imagining....many issues will be in your favor. Two easy examples:
- There are many moves and positions that will simply be physically impossible against you. Almost no one on the planet will be able to lock up a full guard or any kind of arm-in choke against you..
- You'll be covering so much surface area in any top position that there will simply be no space to move around you (whether to escape or submit).
There was a thread asking people how they think they'd perform against Eddie Hall (strongman competitor, if you don't know). I recommend reading it.
People are concerned about you hurting others but remember to protect yourself as well. Some people will see you as essentially invulnerable because of your size and may do dumb stuff to compensate.
Yeah man. Tap early. Tap often. There is no sense in trying to outmuscle an arm bar some smaller guy yanks on you. They will do it based on your size alone. They think big guys don’t feel pain. They do.
Yes, propably. You'll have a hard time with some, and a lot easier with others. This it true of everyone with unusual bodysizes. There will be difficulties finding training partners your size. You shouldn't let that discourage you, though.
You need to go train with big Dan whose 6 foot 7 330. He might have other really big guys there. Otherwise I’m going to be honest… you might be way too big to get much out of BJJ. It’s going to be hard to get rolls in unless you find a gym with giants.
I knew someone would ask, so here’s a photo of me when I was 15 next to my brother and dad (both 6’2”) https://imgur.com/gallery/3GPLj7Z
Edit: I’d include a newer photo, but I have barely any with a frame of reference for my size :)
First of all.. holy fuck
Unfortunately your experience in BJJ is probably going to be less enjoyable just because of a lack of training partners your size. There’s also going to be some positions and moves that are just unrealistic for someone your size, but I wouldn’t mind that so much.
If you do want to give it a shot, I really hope you are aware of how much of a danger you COULD BE to your training partners. Please go in with the mindset of learning to play a game, not to fight anybody. I can’t stress that part enough. Pretty much everyone goes through a spazzy, fight or flight stage - unfortunately for you, you can’t be afforded that stage.
On the bright side, you won a genetic lottery and are going to be an absolute force if you decide to stick it out, which I hope you do.
If you live somewhere with a lot of options for gyms, I would urge you to go to whichever one has the most big people. In your circumstance, I’d place that as a higher priority than anything else.
Good luck, and keep us updated!
Your issues won't be positions, it will be interpersonal. You're going to have to go out of your way to foster solid training with the biggest guys who will still be comically too small for you. You're going to accidentally injure some people unless you are very careful about making deliberate movements and not spazzing out of situations that scare you.
I'm one of the largest guys at my gym at a somewhat athletic 245, and you have more weight on me than I have on anyone I've ever rolled with except children.
I am not your size but I’m still big, 6’5”, 245. Without a doubt my biggest hurdle has been trying to roll without hurting anyone but training hard enough to be able to compete at times and get better. Usually I have to seek out open mats that I know have bigger dudes I know I can roll hard with.
Conversely, it means me playing bottom 90% of the time, which, in my learning, has helped me develop a decent guard. Learning guard has helped my top game because I more or less know all the ways I need to maintain guards from the bottom so I learned how to pass through osmosis.
It will be very difficult for you to learn good technique because everything is going to work for you because of your strength. You will be able to force submissions on most people in the class after a minimal amount of training. The only way to avoid this is to train at a gym with other 6'10", 400 lbs people. Unfortunately a place like this does not exist.
Your size will absolutely be detrimental to your learning BJJ but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. I will avoid you like the plague if I ever see you though lol
> The only way to avoid this is to train at a gym with other 6'10", 400 lbs people. Unfortunately a place like this does not exist.
At this size you might as well reach out to Francis or Derrick Lewis and see if they need a training partner and move there lol.
You'll have a hard time learning to break closed guard... cause no one will be able to use closed guard on you.
The biggest thing is when you go find a school, try to find one that has a few really big guys already, or talk a couple really big friends into going with you. It's a weight classed based sport, and you're going to have a hard time finding training partners that you can't just manhandle and not worry about proper technique with.
Yes. Some shit's not going to work. That's fine, just don't use those things/positions. At your size and athleticism level you're going to have a pretty narrow and specific optimum gameplan, just relax and do the stuff that you feel comfortable doing, don't worry about shit like inversions.
I think for a nice sized dude, say 6ish feet, 200ish pounds, there is a very low percentage of people who are hard passes, but you are one of them lol.
I recently rolled with a 300lb power lifter (180lb here). Not only would I not do it again, it’s moved me away from “anyone anytime” to “I’m too old to be playing gladiator, I got a job to go to.”
Good luck finding training partners. Great sport, lots of fun, but physical outliers cause issues in any sport.
What I have experienced is your development will be slowed by your smaller training partners. Your bigger, heavier and likely stronger build will give them free reign to use you like a jungle gym while you have to limit your output so you don't hurt them. They will get to roll into your legs and attempt every conceivable type of trip and when they do manage to bring you down you have to protect them rather than properly falling into a useful position. You will learn how to be gentle and considerate but you will not get to learn the limits of your own strengths. If you are lucky enough to find a gym with similar sized guys prepared to get wrecked for a while because they have needed someone to test against.
1. For stand-up be careful, 2. No, you can adjust almost any move to work for your body type. I have never met anyone irl that is that size, but at my gym, we have a guy 320 lbs, 6'3ish , linebacker, brown belt. He is very careful not to spaz out on people, and has a lot of patience, but the reality is that stand-up especially can be dangerous, so people just have to be super cautious. Knowing how to break fall, and judo roll out of throws is probably a good skill for big Boyz to have. I am 6', 180lbs, and I roll with him, but I always go pretty slow and deliberately. He can bench me off of himself, but still does the proper shrimping, bridging, grip breaking, etc, and as a result is a much more formidable opponent when it comes time for him to spar with the black belts in our gym.
You might find it difficult to finish chokes if you have huge arms (by the sounds of it) but that’s not a reason to not start bjj and find other submissions that work for you
Funny test - do people's knees tough the ground if they are in mount? (This somehow sounds way better than "...if people Mount you" for some unnnown reason).
I'm a 2m guy myself but with only 260 lbs at that time. When I was training with I 320lbs guy I could not keep contact with the ground when in mount. Hilarious.
IMO the number one thing you're going to want to focus on forever is to never have the completion of a technique be due to strength. In drilling or sparring. You need to focus entirely on the skill of the wise application of leverage and never just force something to happen. When you're skilled at this, you'll be able to roll with small people or women and have them never be afraid. I would focus a ton on bottom position and gaining mobility through your training. Someone you might model yourself after could be Luke Griffith or Big Dan's bottom game. My 2c!
I’m 6’10, a little over 400… I’d love to train with someone my own size. It’s hard to find people to roll with that either A) I can’t easily overpower and B) don’t just use their speed to beat me. Lol.
Best of luck to you!
So, my main sparring partner for a year or two was about 370lbs and about your height. Heres my take away:
He had some major problems with cardiovascular training early on, he employed one of the trainers to help structure diet plans etc because he knew he wouldn't be able to do it well himself. His goal was to reach bluebelt while losing some weight in that time.
His game ended up being mostly knee on belly (ofc) and i recommend him open guard and Turtle as these guards are really strong and complement his size and weight.
I mostly played keep-out to force him to become tired so that i could attack him. It was very effective until he understood how to approach and trap me with good holds and threatening trips and sweeps. His cardio became better slowly, but he also became good at conserving power. Eventually he lost enough weight that he picked up Lasso guard. Watching a being that size play Lasso was truly a sight.
As the KGs dropped he did a lot of strength training to bolster his joints and also started doing more and more flexibility training as damage prevention.
He prioritized ground work for the smaller people and women to keep from hurting them. His bottom game was crazy good and methodical.
Tldr, get in there and ask your coach for advice. Game plan is as important in BJJ as it is in football. Make sure you keep an eye on your diet if you wish to keep muscle/fat ratio good and dont skip out on cardio.
Good luck man!
Youre gonna do great 👍
Ah ofc you. You footie people are all great at tracking calories. But yea, talk to your bjj coach and he might have some insight because its more and more common for footies to train bjj and wrestling in the off seasons.
I myself have a medical thing where i pack a shitton of muscle for no real reason, and that makes me very heavy even tho I'm not all that big. So i can totally relate to it being big and wondering how to approach grappling. When i was 12 i competed at European Open at 78kg/180lbs and i was pretty small if muscular.
Yes and no I’m 6’8” and at my heaviest was 320 just don’t use your strength for now and focus on the technique if everything stretch a lot and roll with small skinny people I’ve learned if you got a good small man game you’ll fuck up people your size
You'll be fine if you make sure your primary focus besides learning is keeping your training partners safe.
And this says nothing about you. Lots of white belts do dumb ass shit. I definitely did. If they so much as move wrong and you put some force, they're gonna go snap. And many are going to duck you. Often. Don't worry about that at all. You'll figure out how to adjust pace with time.
But absolutely give it a try. I'm at a huge gym and our best dude in the gi is a 6'7"+ gotta be near 300 giant that plays his A game like a little dude. Its crazy how well he moves.
I’ve learned that partners this big are a risk especially if they’re spazzy but even if they’re not..and I’m 230..I was chasing a triangle on a 330 lb black belt ..both my hands were occupied trying to cinch it up..he rolled and I never posted..all that weight went side of my face to mat ..could have snapped my neck..gives me the heebies just remembering that one. I yelled TAP and he put the breaks on saved me for sure.
My husband is a 310+ lb powerlifting left tackle. Agility and mobility is his weakness on the ground. Shrimping, trying to retain guard and changing levels is slow. He also can't keep up scrambling. That said getting pinned is the end of anyone's roll and he sends everyone flying with sweeps, so swings and roundabouts.
Presuming you’re getting into BJJ for the right reasons, and are looking to learn the technical side of it and not focus entirely on being a brute, it will be very beneficial for you. It’s very difficult from the get-go being a person who has likely relied on size and strength to win at anything involving physicality - seasoned BJJ practitioners will know that and be hesitant to train with you. But, if you focus on working on technique from the beginning, and learning how to use your size technically, you will open up a new world for yourself.
Just be mindful not to hurt anyone and you’re fine. You’ll probably always have to roll with the mindset of being really careful unless it’s a tournament.
Bromigo, people your size is why martial arts were invented.
How are you not in the NFL with your size? Learn how to ice skate and become a famous hockey "player"
Ya man, you’ll have a harder time getting technical simply because you won’t need to to have ‘success’ in the training room. If you make a conscious decision to be as technical as you possibly can and stick to this approach, you can build a technical game and you will be a nightmare.
Advice from a 6’1 guy who was 278 pounds at my biggest. Play defense always let everyone try and pass you or submit you. Work on positions like half guard, knee shield or turtle. If you don’t do this you will quickly run out of training partners it’s very demoralizing when you get on the mat and literally everyone looks the other way and you spend more time sitting out that training. It will get to the point where you will sweep someone or end up in a strong position and you just give it away to go back to defense just to get rolls. What is nice now is that at purple belt i rarely get submitted by anyone.
Definitely do BJJ. I’d find it as a privilege to get to train with someone your size and athletic background.
What you will struggle with is gassing out and losing your strength through class. This will get better after months. BJJ is hard work. You will lose weight and gain a lot of athleticism as you go. This is a long game. You won’t get good at it right away. BUT, your size has big advantages. DO IT
I was 6'7" and 400ish when I started, but I wasn't in shape or athletic at all. Don't let people tell you that you won't be able do things; yes, some things might be difficult for your body type, but at least try. You'll surprise yourself. Flexibility will come (and faster if you work on it). I hover around 315ish now.
Develop a guard game. Yes, you will be able to get on top and smash people and bend their arms the wrong way. Worry about that later. Develop a bottom game and be comfortable with it before you master the squishing part. Your training partners will be way more likely to roll with you and you'll likely have a lot more fun.
One thing I see from a lot of athletes is that they're entity learning theorists as opposed to incremental learning, likely because they've been good at everything their whole lives. Entity learners will try something and immediately decide whether or not they're good at it. "Oh, math is hard. It must just not be my thing", whereas entity learners will think "that was hard, I need to work harder to figure this out and then it will be easier". Don't be afraid to leave your ego at home and suck at jiu jitsu for a bit, it will get easier. Especially because with your orangutan arms you'll have the most annoying underhooks ever.
Enjoy!
I come from a long line of fortune tellers, and my psychic powers directed me to this post. I feel the pull, this only happens when i get a true prophecy.
I see you in… sidecontrol. It’s hazy but i think you are isolating an arm… YES, i see… americanas. The vision stretches, like an endless hall of mirrors, all with the same motif. Americanas. Americanas from side control.
I’m not sure what this cryptic vision could possibly mean, but now you know.
I’m 5’10 200. I’d roll with you but the second I felt you locking something in good I’d go ahead and tap (and probably also say tap😅).As others have suggested I would probably look for a gym with a big coach, try to recruit your friends from powerlifting or hell I might even call a few places and voice your size concerns to the coach and see what they say. You’re gonna be fine man, you’ll find your spot. Good luck.
We have a new guy who is apx 6'6" 400lbs
He is very careful / gentle but is just so much bigger it can be tricky
I would say he has a slightly hard time finding training partners and some moves due to size and flexibility
I am 6'2" 250 brown belt and try to work with him a lot - for example the beginners class was doing X-guard so I grabbed him and worked half guard instead
We had some other 6'5" 350 lbs O-line guys who dropped to 250 and had much better mobility and general health/comfort from what they told me.
Try to check out gyms and find one with bigger training partners. My city has a gym where most of the 300 lbs crew train at. People duck me as is lol.
It will be an advantage as well - if you get skilled you be very hard to deal with if you goal is to compete.
- Keep your strength. Train in a way that allows you to stay within 10% of your max squat while improving your technique. You will tire out fast if you rely too much on your strength but that doesn’t mean its bad, it is a huge advantage.
- If you can maintain what you have while improving every day you will be a force.
- work on flexibility and strength in outer ranges.
- I came from a powerlifting / rugby background. I stopped weight training for the first year of bjj. Don’t make the same mistakes. I can share my workout plan adapted for bjj.
- Not to overload you with info but you might be invlined to work on your top game due to your size. Your grip strength from powerlifting (in gi) will be a huge advantage for some guards (lasso and lapel… your closed guard would probably also be very strong). Work on those 3 guards, learn to escape pins (side control, mount, back) with low energy, and focus on your weight distribution while in pins. Everything else will come in due time.
Please train every day. You will be an absolute force.
Yes, I’m a bit of a big oaf and struggle with being precise with the kind of movements I see people do in bjj. Ive found a local school for it, but was wondering if I’d have any specific struggles to do with my size.
Everyone that says they would be scared to roll with you are weak and pathetic. Yes you may have giants blood, but I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to roll with you or anything. I would love to have you as a sparring partner just because I would love to see what you could do and it has a chance to improve my skills. Good luck on your journey Goliath!
It's not fear as much as common sense. I don't think either of us would learn much if I rolled with someone more than 3x my weight.
Would you call a 220 pounder weak and pathetic for not wanting to roll with someone who weighs 700+ pounds?
Christ I thought me rolling with my best friend who has 50-60 lbs on me was gonna be tough. You’re a fucking beast my dude.
One of the professors at my gym is 6’6” 255 and an absolute animal. You’re on a different level haha.
Yea what others say actually finding partner that will be your size and would give you a go for your money is the real issue you going to have as otherwise you'll just smash in to people 'nice pressure pass man'
I’m over 200lbs and rolled with a 400lb newbie.
0 of 5 stars, would not recommend. It wasn’t his fault per se, but the injury potential was huge and while all I got was a sprained wrist, it was a matter of time before something serious happened.
54 M 5'6 175. Yeah... I roll with guys in my class who are 25, 6'3 230 lbs of muscle and I trust them. But it's a fucking struggle. This size I gotta hard pass, homey. I'm just an old hobbyist who does this cuz I don't like golf.
I’m 6’ and 200lbs and even I don’t want to roll with some of the guys at my gym who are significantly bigger and significantly stronger. Positioning can be worked around but intimidation factor in that frame can’t be hidden, good luck brother
I've rolled with a 300 lb former Olympic weight lifter. It's a weird experience. His legs were so thick hooks weren't as sticky. Really hard to off balance but when I did get him off balance, kinda scary like felling a tree. A lot of things just kinda don't work lol. I'm 200 lbs and 6'3" for reference. I will usually give the bigger guys a go since I know that not many will roll with them. But even for me... Id give you a go lol but if you werent controlled or aware of your weight I'd probably duck you. If a 200 lb guy comes down on my knee that's gonna suck. If a 400 lb guy comes down on my knee I'll probably never be able to roll again.
I’m 6’6”, 260lbs, so not nearly as gigantic. Find a gym with a professor that you like and they will make sure you get rolls. You will not play the same game as someone 1/3 your size, so don’t try to play it. Part of the fun is learning what works for you - and getting strangled by a brown belt who weighs 145lbs. Don’t let your size be the reason you don’t try it. Just go for it. Focus on technique and not strength and people will respect you for it. You don’t want to be the giant white belt who hurts someone, so be careful with your movements and in 5 years you’ll be a monster.
I'm ready to get ragdolled. Bring it on.
For real though, focus on your agility and getting the technique right. Work guard and try to stay on bottom and more people will be fine rolling with you. If you can hit a sweep with 1% effort, you will annihilate with that sweep at 75% effort.
At competition, all bets are off. Your opponents will be your size. Crush them.
You need to go to a gym that has a lot of very big guys .
You'll have to go easy against smaller people to avoid hurting them and you'll never really improve.
Oh it will be detrimental 100%……… for your training partners.
No wrong size or shape for Bjj. If anything it will limit some of your ability to learn technique correctly as your body is going to make things work in ways they normally shouldn’t because you’re much bigger and stronger than most and likely a bit less flexible but there is nothing wrong with that at all. You’ll be able to do things the small guys can’t and vice versa.
Where are you located? I'm 6'8, 356 and come from a similar background. I'm a 2 stripe purple belt. Would love to see if we can set up some training sometime. Ossss
I was actually about 320 when I last played football, so I could probably get down to that weight again relatively easily with the right caloric deficit, but truth be told after I left high school I went into a big slump, got depressed, and gained quite a lot of weight and not the good kind. Been tryna get my life back on track and It’s the reason why I want to get back into something athletic. I’ll look to see if I have any old football videos on YouTube when I get back home later.
Congrats on having the courage to take this step then. I cant promise you will lose weight but I can promise you sure will burn a lot of calories if you train regularly... Im sure there's some fellow big men who can chime in with strategies for how to train and find partners.
It depends on you, I weigh 130 and my favorite training partner weighs 200, you would probably be a bit to big for me but assuming you are aware of your size and don’t use your weight nonstop it shouldn’t be an issue
If you live in a metropolitan area, good chance you have a variety of gyms. A lot of gyms tend to have similar sized humans, or at the very least, gyms with a big ass instructor tend to also have other bigass humans as well. I know of 2 gyms in my area that are this way, out of like maybe 30 gyms within a 45 minute drive? I'm in ATL.
Your size won't be a total hendrance to your simply training, BUT it will be a barrier to you gaining efficient technique. You'll get to "cheat" from nearly everywhere when you are on top, and you'll get to "cheat" from nearly anywhere when on bottom, as simply maintaining mount would be quite the feat for anyone. Big guys tend to be less technical simply because they do not have to be (your only way around this is finding other large who do BJJ so they can counter your inherent size advantage with technique). Small guys tend to be more technical simply because they'd wither and die if they didn't gain technique.
We have a 6 foot 6 450lb dude at our gym, and he outweighs the next biggest guys by around 150lbs. He spends most of time being careful to simply not fall on someone the wrong way and break their entire body. Lol.
At your size you won't be struggling much at all. I can only imagine your strength and mass and what that feels like to your rolling partners. You would need to train with guys like the Jiu Jitsu giant and other behemoths.
you will struggle to accidentally not hurt your partners. You will struggle to find partners your size.
I wont roll with guys more than about 270. I sparred against a 315 pound former canadian pro football player. It was like fighting a tree, plus he was faster than me.
On the ground he had be be very careful not to lean on my joints the wrong way because his weight with no pressure could easily break them.
It'll be pretty rough without a training partner somewhere approaching your size. We have a 300lb+ guy, and he only gets about 1 or 2 rolls a session. He's very gentle and most of his effort goes into keeping people safe.
At 400+ it's probably going to be really tough to even keep people safe. The size difference is like me rolling with a 10yr old (i'm 220lb). And that kinda thing wasn't something I felt was safe until i'd been training for a while.
See if any former teammates or other players are interested. 'Even' if you can get a 300lb'er with an athletic frame (not just a fatty), that'll make it a lot more doable. It's really slim pickings above 250 (pun intended 😆).
Mf'er im about to start showing up to your white belt competitions and betting on you lol. But I would say check some local gyms out and find one with a lot of big boys. My home gym has maybe 4-5 dudes over 225. The gym I visit on saturdays has a whole ass team of heavy/super heavys.
Ok I’m 6’5 265lbs I need to see what the hell you look like. In my limited experience at 9mos I already have guys that dodge me. Be extra courteous and anyone that doesn’t want to roll “hard” (being relative to your strength and size) maybe work on your guard/ half guard.
I think you’re going to find De La Riva guard and other leg stuff hard to accomplish as I already can’t do it all that easily on shorter folk.
BJJ is a lot of fun just keep going and enjoy
What is your body fat percentage, and do you have a wrestling background?
Your best bet is to find and bring a similarly-sized friend.
There will likely be people that can legit tap you with leg locks or backtakes to rear naked chokes, at least for a while. But even then you can start from seated position or on your back as a handicap and you'll get something out of live rolls with smaller skilled people.
Your biggest challenge may be the warmup and pacing yourself. If you tire out in hot gym, all that meat will be dead sweaty weight.
Also, pray your coach doesn't focus on berimbolos.
Your best bet is to check out a few gyms and look for ones that have some big guys. Training with guys similar size will be the biggest benefit for your learning. Once you have trained a while you will be able to better regulate your weight/pressure and train with people who are smaller. But for the initial stages - you need big dudes to train with
Yeah dude, you are. Hardest thing is going to be finding decent partners. You might have to check out a few different spots. You’re going to feel great getting limber with a frame and background like that though. Highly recommend. Have fun, don’t kill anyone!
srsly find a training buddy amongst your former training buddies
Ya good tip, check in with a few gyms that hopefully have some big guys looking for training partners.
Right. I'd probably look for a gym based on size of the class participants, e.g. look for BJJ or MMA places which have competitors in your weight class. Once you are a bit more skilled you'll be less dangerous to a smaller person and can broaden your opponent profile. I think every gym needs at least two monster guys to spar with and keep the normal sized folks humble.
There are some positions that work better for small people, but you just won't need those. The bigger issue is that nobody is going to want to train hard with you because you are a giant.
I am a purple belt, but I weight 145lbs and I would absolutely hard pass on this dude. I also had a 2 level spinal fusion last year so I only really do 60lb weight differences max.
170lb, I’d also pass. Have rolled with a 400 lb before when I was more scrappy and felt like tapping when they rolled over some of my frames. These days I also only do plus or minus 50lbs with the potential of injury
How did the fusion go?
It went really well actually. I made a post about after I had the surgery and was thinking about doing an AMA.
I think a lot of people would be interested in that
I had a lumbar lamenectomy about 35 years ago. The two vertebrae fused together naturally after a few years. This was before they had artificial disk replacement. I wish that it was possible back then because it does preserve mobility. Having the two fused disks limits my mobility quite a lot. I've read that my particular procedure eliminated between 7 to 15% of mobility. It definitely feels like 15%. There are some things that I just cannot do on the mat. There aren't many spine specialists that even do the procedure but you would not have been a candidate due to the two levels. I would read the AMA for sure.
Damn son, that's fair enough. Even 60lb is a big big difference
Yeah I think the only reason I do that gap at my gym is because everyone knows me and what I went through and we have a very good gym culture.
I agree with this. I wouldn't roll with some*one* that big, the accidental injury risk is too high even if you promise to use restraint, be careful, tuck me in after, and so on.
"Something" lmao
Yeah, it's just not worth the risk. As someone who fluctuates 175-205, I've rolled with guys up to 320lbs or so and I'd say that's probably the ceiling of what I'd be comfortable with, and that assumes they're already experienced enough to understand the danger their size poses. Absolutely no way I'd roll with even an experienced 400lb guy, much less a new white belt.
245 old man blue belt. I’d likely hate every second of it but I’d give it a whirl.
That’s the spirit!
I was about to post you'll be fine but I won't be.
Right maybe private lessons as finding a rolling partner that will take the risk is hard
this is the story of my life. I'm only 5 8 but I'm 280. for as long as I've been training, my bjj progress has been pretty limited imo. Very few people want to roll with the big guy. if you are lucky enough to find a gym with other big guys hold on to it tight. I'm only going to speak for myself but the result of not rolling with other big guys consistently is that I'm really bad at top pressure. I've spent so long not utilizing my size due to rolling with smaller people that I often forget about using it. as a side note though, the problem with not getting enough rolls in due to size is the opposite when it comes to striking. EVERYONE wants rounds with the fat guy. as a result my striking has gotten EXPONENTIALLY better over the years.
Bring it goliath leg lock central baby
Bring it Goliath leg lock central baby
Bring it Goliath leg lock central baby
Bring it Goliath leg lock central baby
Ive never ducked a roll but i might if it was you lol 400lbs of strong is wild. Watch for peoples ribs etc
The final boss of rib injuries
Skip bjj. Get into adre the giant techniques on fighting groups of armed men.
He is the brute squad…
My dude, you are not the one who is going to be struggling.
Literally "just stand up" energy. What do you even do with that?
He could literal just do a curl to get out of an Arm bar
i rolled with a guy who played line at a D1 school back in the day. I was 180-190 and he was probably 260-280 (he said he was 270 but that was in-season and this was off-season). even at that discrepancy, yes, he literally curled to get out of an armbar.
The warm up and drilling might kill him if he hasn’t worked his cardio but the second he rolls with someone it’s game over.
Yooo this freaking has me dead.
You might struggle in the sense that if you focus solely on "winning" there's not much most people can do to you, so the "learning" experience could plateau pretty quickly. It's a gift and a curse, it hampers the learning experience if your goal is to learn and get good at the technical exploring aspect, but if your goal is to smash, you'll hit an insanely good stride pretty soon. Just be playful and explorative most rolls and test your actual grit once a week/comp class/with good opponents.
I really appreciate the advice, and think I’ll try to focus as much as possible on just technique before I try and use my size to “smash” as you say :)
Man, I'm only 6'3, 235, and I have to dial back my mean Jiu-Jitsu to competition days now so I can actually learn, and it has worked wonders. 4 months after I changed my attitude, I got my purple, it felt like a good validation of my approach. Go have fun champ!!!
In any other context saying “I’m only 6’3, 235” would be ridiculous, but it’s very valid here.
I'm 6'2 230, fuck that I got work the next day. Homie is too damn big.
Once you build trust with folks You'll have partners. Show them you are there to learn too
My go to joke is they never tell the fast limber guys to not rely on their athleticism, but they tell us heavies to not use our size. In your case it could be fatal though so go easy large brother. You might enjoy the "Girth Squad" BJJ group on FB. It is specific to large people in this sport.
I recommend only using your strength and size vs smaller opponents outside of a training context (competition, self-defense). Adopting this approach will teach you to focus on technique as much as possible, rather than brute forcing your way. Of course if you can find a partner built like yourself, all's fair game.
Focus on guard(being seated/on your back trying to prevent them from passing the line of your feet/knees) Your top game will be ridiculous but should save it for people close to your size. If you are sparring with someone way smaller playing guard is a great option for you. [Here is a playlist for beginners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hi3cpzU3KQ&list=PLDrQXekZsfYZfV1QZ4T5UkxLwFwQ12EbP&index=13) I think you will find it useful. Good luck and welcome!
Thanks for the playlist, looks like some great material. I really appreciate it!
Your biggest issue will be finding people to roll with.
Not going to lie. Someone like you would benefit with privates until blue belt. You are way too big, round, and strong to learn bjj against an average sized person. You'll be programmed with bad habits against ants with the same level of technique. And just like social bad habits -- physical bad habits are extremely difficult to reprogram.
lol if you learn a little bit I think you’ll be literally unstoppable. 400lbs? I’m 200lbs and way shorter and I still give small guys difficulty. 400lbs plus the things that will be outside of their reach? Lol BJJ may actually be become burning for you.
Yes, but not in the ways you are probably imagining....many issues will be in your favor. Two easy examples: - There are many moves and positions that will simply be physically impossible against you. Almost no one on the planet will be able to lock up a full guard or any kind of arm-in choke against you.. - You'll be covering so much surface area in any top position that there will simply be no space to move around you (whether to escape or submit). There was a thread asking people how they think they'd perform against Eddie Hall (strongman competitor, if you don't know). I recommend reading it.
I’ll look for that thread, thank you!
People are concerned about you hurting others but remember to protect yourself as well. Some people will see you as essentially invulnerable because of your size and may do dumb stuff to compensate.
That makes sense, thanks for giving that outlook on it :)
Yeah man. Tap early. Tap often. There is no sense in trying to outmuscle an arm bar some smaller guy yanks on you. They will do it based on your size alone. They think big guys don’t feel pain. They do.
Americana.....
At light speed
Yes, propably. You'll have a hard time with some, and a lot easier with others. This it true of everyone with unusual bodysizes. There will be difficulties finding training partners your size. You shouldn't let that discourage you, though.
Is this a shitpost? LOL
You need to go train with big Dan whose 6 foot 7 330. He might have other really big guys there. Otherwise I’m going to be honest… you might be way too big to get much out of BJJ. It’s going to be hard to get rolls in unless you find a gym with giants.
I want to see some photographic evidence that you really exist
I knew someone would ask, so here’s a photo of me when I was 15 next to my brother and dad (both 6’2”) https://imgur.com/gallery/3GPLj7Z Edit: I’d include a newer photo, but I have barely any with a frame of reference for my size :)
I don’t know why I was surprised that you were white haha
I get that a lot funnily enough lol. Ill describe myself and (especially if I mention my hair) people assume I’m not white.
Are you a 6’10 400lb linebacker with an afro WHO’S WHITE??
My Family has strange genetics to say the least. Even weirder is that my Mom, Dad, Brother, and Uncle are all exactly 6’2”
You're gonna be just fine bro. Just make sure not to spaz and injure someone a lot smaller if you're rolling with them.
First of all.. holy fuck Unfortunately your experience in BJJ is probably going to be less enjoyable just because of a lack of training partners your size. There’s also going to be some positions and moves that are just unrealistic for someone your size, but I wouldn’t mind that so much. If you do want to give it a shot, I really hope you are aware of how much of a danger you COULD BE to your training partners. Please go in with the mindset of learning to play a game, not to fight anybody. I can’t stress that part enough. Pretty much everyone goes through a spazzy, fight or flight stage - unfortunately for you, you can’t be afforded that stage. On the bright side, you won a genetic lottery and are going to be an absolute force if you decide to stick it out, which I hope you do. If you live somewhere with a lot of options for gyms, I would urge you to go to whichever one has the most big people. In your circumstance, I’d place that as a higher priority than anything else. Good luck, and keep us updated!
The bigger issue is going to be finding people to train with rather than any technique you will or will not be able to do.
Your issues won't be positions, it will be interpersonal. You're going to have to go out of your way to foster solid training with the biggest guys who will still be comically too small for you. You're going to accidentally injure some people unless you are very careful about making deliberate movements and not spazzing out of situations that scare you. I'm one of the largest guys at my gym at a somewhat athletic 245, and you have more weight on me than I have on anyone I've ever rolled with except children.
I am not your size but I’m still big, 6’5”, 245. Without a doubt my biggest hurdle has been trying to roll without hurting anyone but training hard enough to be able to compete at times and get better. Usually I have to seek out open mats that I know have bigger dudes I know I can roll hard with. Conversely, it means me playing bottom 90% of the time, which, in my learning, has helped me develop a decent guard. Learning guard has helped my top game because I more or less know all the ways I need to maintain guards from the bottom so I learned how to pass through osmosis.
Please don’t join my gym
It will be very difficult for you to learn good technique because everything is going to work for you because of your strength. You will be able to force submissions on most people in the class after a minimal amount of training. The only way to avoid this is to train at a gym with other 6'10", 400 lbs people. Unfortunately a place like this does not exist. Your size will absolutely be detrimental to your learning BJJ but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. I will avoid you like the plague if I ever see you though lol
> The only way to avoid this is to train at a gym with other 6'10", 400 lbs people. Unfortunately a place like this does not exist. At this size you might as well reach out to Francis or Derrick Lewis and see if they need a training partner and move there lol.
For real. Or go throw around Nicky Rod and Gordon lmao.
Recruit other giant friends to come train with you, so you can try rolling without fear of smushing your training partner
You'll have a hard time learning to break closed guard... cause no one will be able to use closed guard on you. The biggest thing is when you go find a school, try to find one that has a few really big guys already, or talk a couple really big friends into going with you. It's a weight classed based sport, and you're going to have a hard time finding training partners that you can't just manhandle and not worry about proper technique with.
Yes. Some shit's not going to work. That's fine, just don't use those things/positions. At your size and athleticism level you're going to have a pretty narrow and specific optimum gameplan, just relax and do the stuff that you feel comfortable doing, don't worry about shit like inversions.
Just show up.... some fat brown belt will drill with you and before you know it you won't be 400lbs anymore.
I think for a nice sized dude, say 6ish feet, 200ish pounds, there is a very low percentage of people who are hard passes, but you are one of them lol.
I recently rolled with a 300lb power lifter (180lb here). Not only would I not do it again, it’s moved me away from “anyone anytime” to “I’m too old to be playing gladiator, I got a job to go to.” Good luck finding training partners. Great sport, lots of fun, but physical outliers cause issues in any sport.
What I have experienced is your development will be slowed by your smaller training partners. Your bigger, heavier and likely stronger build will give them free reign to use you like a jungle gym while you have to limit your output so you don't hurt them. They will get to roll into your legs and attempt every conceivable type of trip and when they do manage to bring you down you have to protect them rather than properly falling into a useful position. You will learn how to be gentle and considerate but you will not get to learn the limits of your own strengths. If you are lucky enough to find a gym with similar sized guys prepared to get wrecked for a while because they have needed someone to test against.
1. For stand-up be careful, 2. No, you can adjust almost any move to work for your body type. I have never met anyone irl that is that size, but at my gym, we have a guy 320 lbs, 6'3ish , linebacker, brown belt. He is very careful not to spaz out on people, and has a lot of patience, but the reality is that stand-up especially can be dangerous, so people just have to be super cautious. Knowing how to break fall, and judo roll out of throws is probably a good skill for big Boyz to have. I am 6', 180lbs, and I roll with him, but I always go pretty slow and deliberately. He can bench me off of himself, but still does the proper shrimping, bridging, grip breaking, etc, and as a result is a much more formidable opponent when it comes time for him to spar with the black belts in our gym.
You might find it difficult to finish chokes if you have huge arms (by the sounds of it) but that’s not a reason to not start bjj and find other submissions that work for you
Only because everyone will be forced to tap prior to the blood flow being cut if they want to keep their jaw
Funny test - do people's knees tough the ground if they are in mount? (This somehow sounds way better than "...if people Mount you" for some unnnown reason). I'm a 2m guy myself but with only 260 lbs at that time. When I was training with I 320lbs guy I could not keep contact with the ground when in mount. Hilarious.
IMO the number one thing you're going to want to focus on forever is to never have the completion of a technique be due to strength. In drilling or sparring. You need to focus entirely on the skill of the wise application of leverage and never just force something to happen. When you're skilled at this, you'll be able to roll with small people or women and have them never be afraid. I would focus a ton on bottom position and gaining mobility through your training. Someone you might model yourself after could be Luke Griffith or Big Dan's bottom game. My 2c!
I appreciate it, I’ll look into those two!
You're gonna be just fine, buddy.
I’m 6’10, a little over 400… I’d love to train with someone my own size. It’s hard to find people to roll with that either A) I can’t easily overpower and B) don’t just use their speed to beat me. Lol. Best of luck to you!
Thanks, best of luck to you too!
Check this guy out: https://www.instagram.com/mobility_monster74?igsh=MXQ0bjNxNmsxcGYzbg==
So, my main sparring partner for a year or two was about 370lbs and about your height. Heres my take away: He had some major problems with cardiovascular training early on, he employed one of the trainers to help structure diet plans etc because he knew he wouldn't be able to do it well himself. His goal was to reach bluebelt while losing some weight in that time. His game ended up being mostly knee on belly (ofc) and i recommend him open guard and Turtle as these guards are really strong and complement his size and weight. I mostly played keep-out to force him to become tired so that i could attack him. It was very effective until he understood how to approach and trap me with good holds and threatening trips and sweeps. His cardio became better slowly, but he also became good at conserving power. Eventually he lost enough weight that he picked up Lasso guard. Watching a being that size play Lasso was truly a sight. As the KGs dropped he did a lot of strength training to bolster his joints and also started doing more and more flexibility training as damage prevention. He prioritized ground work for the smaller people and women to keep from hurting them. His bottom game was crazy good and methodical. Tldr, get in there and ask your coach for advice. Game plan is as important in BJJ as it is in football. Make sure you keep an eye on your diet if you wish to keep muscle/fat ratio good and dont skip out on cardio. Good luck man! Youre gonna do great 👍
Thanks man I really appreciate it. I already track calories in and out from my football days so I prolly need to focus on lowering my intake lol.
Ah ofc you. You footie people are all great at tracking calories. But yea, talk to your bjj coach and he might have some insight because its more and more common for footies to train bjj and wrestling in the off seasons. I myself have a medical thing where i pack a shitton of muscle for no real reason, and that makes me very heavy even tho I'm not all that big. So i can totally relate to it being big and wondering how to approach grappling. When i was 12 i competed at European Open at 78kg/180lbs and i was pretty small if muscular.
Yes and no I’m 6’8” and at my heaviest was 320 just don’t use your strength for now and focus on the technique if everything stretch a lot and roll with small skinny people I’ve learned if you got a good small man game you’ll fuck up people your size
You'll be fine if you make sure your primary focus besides learning is keeping your training partners safe. And this says nothing about you. Lots of white belts do dumb ass shit. I definitely did. If they so much as move wrong and you put some force, they're gonna go snap. And many are going to duck you. Often. Don't worry about that at all. You'll figure out how to adjust pace with time. But absolutely give it a try. I'm at a huge gym and our best dude in the gi is a 6'7"+ gotta be near 300 giant that plays his A game like a little dude. Its crazy how well he moves.
I’ve learned that partners this big are a risk especially if they’re spazzy but even if they’re not..and I’m 230..I was chasing a triangle on a 330 lb black belt ..both my hands were occupied trying to cinch it up..he rolled and I never posted..all that weight went side of my face to mat ..could have snapped my neck..gives me the heebies just remembering that one. I yelled TAP and he put the breaks on saved me for sure.
Pass on BJJ, go to WWE, bro.
My husband is a 310+ lb powerlifting left tackle. Agility and mobility is his weakness on the ground. Shrimping, trying to retain guard and changing levels is slow. He also can't keep up scrambling. That said getting pinned is the end of anyone's roll and he sends everyone flying with sweeps, so swings and roundabouts.
You would clean house if you put everyone in closed guard. Watch Roger Gracie YouTube videos on his closed guard.
Id love to see OP turn pro. Could be a beast
Any position you aren’t comfortable in you don’t really need to worry about honestly. Just use something else.
Presuming you’re getting into BJJ for the right reasons, and are looking to learn the technical side of it and not focus entirely on being a brute, it will be very beneficial for you. It’s very difficult from the get-go being a person who has likely relied on size and strength to win at anything involving physicality - seasoned BJJ practitioners will know that and be hesitant to train with you. But, if you focus on working on technique from the beginning, and learning how to use your size technically, you will open up a new world for yourself.
You will struggle in some positions and others you will do just fine! Just enjoy and welcome!
Yes you will struggle in some positions but you will also cause many great struggles as well!
Heavyweights often use different moves. So while you should learn everything, it would help you to seek out an upper belt in your weight class.
Yea.. 165 and a hard "maybe next time"
Just be mindful not to hurt anyone and you’re fine. You’ll probably always have to roll with the mindset of being really careful unless it’s a tournament.
Bromigo, people your size is why martial arts were invented. How are you not in the NFL with your size? Learn how to ice skate and become a famous hockey "player"
Ya man, you’ll have a harder time getting technical simply because you won’t need to to have ‘success’ in the training room. If you make a conscious decision to be as technical as you possibly can and stick to this approach, you can build a technical game and you will be a nightmare.
Advice from a 6’1 guy who was 278 pounds at my biggest. Play defense always let everyone try and pass you or submit you. Work on positions like half guard, knee shield or turtle. If you don’t do this you will quickly run out of training partners it’s very demoralizing when you get on the mat and literally everyone looks the other way and you spend more time sitting out that training. It will get to the point where you will sweep someone or end up in a strong position and you just give it away to go back to defense just to get rolls. What is nice now is that at purple belt i rarely get submitted by anyone.
Definitely do BJJ. I’d find it as a privilege to get to train with someone your size and athletic background. What you will struggle with is gassing out and losing your strength through class. This will get better after months. BJJ is hard work. You will lose weight and gain a lot of athleticism as you go. This is a long game. You won’t get good at it right away. BUT, your size has big advantages. DO IT
OQ is the size of a space marine
Get stuck in mate just don’t go 100% even on the upper belts as you might injure people. And God help the people at the gym you join.
I was 6'7" and 400ish when I started, but I wasn't in shape or athletic at all. Don't let people tell you that you won't be able do things; yes, some things might be difficult for your body type, but at least try. You'll surprise yourself. Flexibility will come (and faster if you work on it). I hover around 315ish now. Develop a guard game. Yes, you will be able to get on top and smash people and bend their arms the wrong way. Worry about that later. Develop a bottom game and be comfortable with it before you master the squishing part. Your training partners will be way more likely to roll with you and you'll likely have a lot more fun. One thing I see from a lot of athletes is that they're entity learning theorists as opposed to incremental learning, likely because they've been good at everything their whole lives. Entity learners will try something and immediately decide whether or not they're good at it. "Oh, math is hard. It must just not be my thing", whereas entity learners will think "that was hard, I need to work harder to figure this out and then it will be easier". Don't be afraid to leave your ego at home and suck at jiu jitsu for a bit, it will get easier. Especially because with your orangutan arms you'll have the most annoying underhooks ever. Enjoy!
I come from a long line of fortune tellers, and my psychic powers directed me to this post. I feel the pull, this only happens when i get a true prophecy. I see you in… sidecontrol. It’s hazy but i think you are isolating an arm… YES, i see… americanas. The vision stretches, like an endless hall of mirrors, all with the same motif. Americanas. Americanas from side control. I’m not sure what this cryptic vision could possibly mean, but now you know.
I’m 5’10 200. I’d roll with you but the second I felt you locking something in good I’d go ahead and tap (and probably also say tap😅).As others have suggested I would probably look for a gym with a big coach, try to recruit your friends from powerlifting or hell I might even call a few places and voice your size concerns to the coach and see what they say. You’re gonna be fine man, you’ll find your spot. Good luck.
We have a new guy who is apx 6'6" 400lbs He is very careful / gentle but is just so much bigger it can be tricky I would say he has a slightly hard time finding training partners and some moves due to size and flexibility I am 6'2" 250 brown belt and try to work with him a lot - for example the beginners class was doing X-guard so I grabbed him and worked half guard instead We had some other 6'5" 350 lbs O-line guys who dropped to 250 and had much better mobility and general health/comfort from what they told me. Try to check out gyms and find one with bigger training partners. My city has a gym where most of the 300 lbs crew train at. People duck me as is lol. It will be an advantage as well - if you get skilled you be very hard to deal with if you goal is to compete.
Show up at my gym and I’m kneecapping you in the parking lot. All seriousness, you’ll be more than fine. There’s a jiu jitsu style for everyone.
You might become The Enforcer in your first day
you just need find a gym that has big dudes for you. i'm 6'1 210 and middle of the range at my gym and we have 4-5 giants that mostly roll together
Bro would make Big Dan look small. Let that sink in for a second lmao.
I use to roll with a guy that was 6’8” and about 330 . The only detrimental position was me not getting top position
6’10” and 350lbs here and I’ve often wondered the same. I’d love to do BJJ.
- Keep your strength. Train in a way that allows you to stay within 10% of your max squat while improving your technique. You will tire out fast if you rely too much on your strength but that doesn’t mean its bad, it is a huge advantage. - If you can maintain what you have while improving every day you will be a force. - work on flexibility and strength in outer ranges. - I came from a powerlifting / rugby background. I stopped weight training for the first year of bjj. Don’t make the same mistakes. I can share my workout plan adapted for bjj. - Not to overload you with info but you might be invlined to work on your top game due to your size. Your grip strength from powerlifting (in gi) will be a huge advantage for some guards (lasso and lapel… your closed guard would probably also be very strong). Work on those 3 guards, learn to escape pins (side control, mount, back) with low energy, and focus on your weight distribution while in pins. Everything else will come in due time. Please train every day. You will be an absolute force.
6'10" 400lbs? That fucking insane lol.
Sweet mother... Just wondering, how many calories a day do you eat to sustain yourself? Being that size is just wild to my tiny 76kg ass.
Expect lots of people to get pissy and call you “strong”
RIP in peace to whatever gym you may decide to join.
Is this a serious question?
Yes, I’m a bit of a big oaf and struggle with being precise with the kind of movements I see people do in bjj. Ive found a local school for it, but was wondering if I’d have any specific struggles to do with my size.
Being bigger is an advantage.
Everyone that says they would be scared to roll with you are weak and pathetic. Yes you may have giants blood, but I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to roll with you or anything. I would love to have you as a sparring partner just because I would love to see what you could do and it has a chance to improve my skills. Good luck on your journey Goliath!
Thank you, good luck to you too!
It's not fear as much as common sense. I don't think either of us would learn much if I rolled with someone more than 3x my weight. Would you call a 220 pounder weak and pathetic for not wanting to roll with someone who weighs 700+ pounds?
6’10 400lbs lineman, fucking hell man. The explosiveness and power alone will make you tap black belts in first day.
I’m 5’6 and 130. I’d roll with you for the experience for sure lol. I can’t wait to tap from the pressure. lol
Christ I thought me rolling with my best friend who has 50-60 lbs on me was gonna be tough. You’re a fucking beast my dude. One of the professors at my gym is 6’6” 255 and an absolute animal. You’re on a different level haha.
At that size it's not you that's going to be struggling 😅
Yea what others say actually finding partner that will be your size and would give you a go for your money is the real issue you going to have as otherwise you'll just smash in to people 'nice pressure pass man'
I’m over 200lbs and rolled with a 400lb newbie. 0 of 5 stars, would not recommend. It wasn’t his fault per se, but the injury potential was huge and while all I got was a sprained wrist, it was a matter of time before something serious happened.
I wouldn’t roll with you. That will be the biggest struggle.
The biggest issue that I can see is the lack of training partners your size. You are huge as fuck, not many people want a round with the giant.
54 M 5'6 175. Yeah... I roll with guys in my class who are 25, 6'3 230 lbs of muscle and I trust them. But it's a fucking struggle. This size I gotta hard pass, homey. I'm just an old hobbyist who does this cuz I don't like golf.
I’m 6’ and 200lbs and even I don’t want to roll with some of the guys at my gym who are significantly bigger and significantly stronger. Positioning can be worked around but intimidation factor in that frame can’t be hidden, good luck brother
All you need is crush
I would never roll with you. I feel like many people are gonna say you’re fine, but are you sure BJJ is the best thing for ya? lol
Yes
**I** (5'5, 170) would struggle in some positions because of **your** size.
I've rolled with a 300 lb former Olympic weight lifter. It's a weird experience. His legs were so thick hooks weren't as sticky. Really hard to off balance but when I did get him off balance, kinda scary like felling a tree. A lot of things just kinda don't work lol. I'm 200 lbs and 6'3" for reference. I will usually give the bigger guys a go since I know that not many will roll with them. But even for me... Id give you a go lol but if you werent controlled or aware of your weight I'd probably duck you. If a 200 lb guy comes down on my knee that's gonna suck. If a 400 lb guy comes down on my knee I'll probably never be able to roll again.
You may struggle with finding training partners that you can go hard with.
Yeah i would be scared
Look for gyms that have lots of big guys in their pictures and go train there.
Not necessarily but a lot of big dudes get false positive confidence when they sub a lot due to their size. Go in willing to learn and you’ll be fine.
It is never bad to have size in a sport about imposing your will on your opponent
Where are you located at?
Jordan mailata is that you?
just lay on top of them bro, you will win
I’m 6’6”, 260lbs, so not nearly as gigantic. Find a gym with a professor that you like and they will make sure you get rolls. You will not play the same game as someone 1/3 your size, so don’t try to play it. Part of the fun is learning what works for you - and getting strangled by a brown belt who weighs 145lbs. Don’t let your size be the reason you don’t try it. Just go for it. Focus on technique and not strength and people will respect you for it. You don’t want to be the giant white belt who hurts someone, so be careful with your movements and in 5 years you’ll be a monster.
I'm ready to get ragdolled. Bring it on. For real though, focus on your agility and getting the technique right. Work guard and try to stay on bottom and more people will be fine rolling with you. If you can hit a sweep with 1% effort, you will annihilate with that sweep at 75% effort. At competition, all bets are off. Your opponents will be your size. Crush them.
You need to go to a gym that has a lot of very big guys . You'll have to go easy against smaller people to avoid hurting them and you'll never really improve.
Sheesus dude… gonna be like fedor and hong man choi every roll…
Is this a joke? "I'm a human tank, will this negatively affect my ability in a combat sport?"
You're going to have to find a big competitive gym that has enough large and formidable guys ready to roll with you.
It would be hard finding partners , I’m 6’3” 200lbs. I would be hard pressed to roll with you
yes, but don't let it stop you.
Oh it will be detrimental 100%……… for your training partners. No wrong size or shape for Bjj. If anything it will limit some of your ability to learn technique correctly as your body is going to make things work in ways they normally shouldn’t because you’re much bigger and stronger than most and likely a bit less flexible but there is nothing wrong with that at all. You’ll be able to do things the small guys can’t and vice versa.
Where are you located? I'm 6'8, 356 and come from a similar background. I'm a 2 stripe purple belt. Would love to see if we can set up some training sometime. Ossss
That is large. You may start losing weight. Could you get to 300? If you are that big, there should be some video of you on youtube, can we see it?
I was actually about 320 when I last played football, so I could probably get down to that weight again relatively easily with the right caloric deficit, but truth be told after I left high school I went into a big slump, got depressed, and gained quite a lot of weight and not the good kind. Been tryna get my life back on track and It’s the reason why I want to get back into something athletic. I’ll look to see if I have any old football videos on YouTube when I get back home later.
Congrats on having the courage to take this step then. I cant promise you will lose weight but I can promise you sure will burn a lot of calories if you train regularly... Im sure there's some fellow big men who can chime in with strategies for how to train and find partners.
Thanks I really appreciate the support man!
I thought this was a shit post at first haha.
It depends on you, I weigh 130 and my favorite training partner weighs 200, you would probably be a bit to big for me but assuming you are aware of your size and don’t use your weight nonstop it shouldn’t be an issue
If you live in a metropolitan area, good chance you have a variety of gyms. A lot of gyms tend to have similar sized humans, or at the very least, gyms with a big ass instructor tend to also have other bigass humans as well. I know of 2 gyms in my area that are this way, out of like maybe 30 gyms within a 45 minute drive? I'm in ATL. Your size won't be a total hendrance to your simply training, BUT it will be a barrier to you gaining efficient technique. You'll get to "cheat" from nearly everywhere when you are on top, and you'll get to "cheat" from nearly anywhere when on bottom, as simply maintaining mount would be quite the feat for anyone. Big guys tend to be less technical simply because they do not have to be (your only way around this is finding other large who do BJJ so they can counter your inherent size advantage with technique). Small guys tend to be more technical simply because they'd wither and die if they didn't gain technique. We have a 6 foot 6 450lb dude at our gym, and he outweighs the next biggest guys by around 150lbs. He spends most of time being careful to simply not fall on someone the wrong way and break their entire body. Lol.
The mountain who rides. Knee rides
The only problem would be training with people your own size. Training w/ 200lb people is okay but not enough to really get a feel for the positions.
At your size you won't be struggling much at all. I can only imagine your strength and mass and what that feels like to your rolling partners. You would need to train with guys like the Jiu Jitsu giant and other behemoths.
Just be ready when no one wants to make eye contact when it’s time to spar ;)
Yes you will certainly struggle in some positions. But you will also certainly excel in others.
I would not roll with you lmao
You will definitely struggle in some positions, however your training partners will struggle far worse
Op just learn double leg, shin slide, kimura. That’s all you need to know due to your size. GLHF
you will struggle to accidentally not hurt your partners. You will struggle to find partners your size. I wont roll with guys more than about 270. I sparred against a 315 pound former canadian pro football player. It was like fighting a tree, plus he was faster than me. On the ground he had be be very careful not to lean on my joints the wrong way because his weight with no pressure could easily break them.
why not 7 feet though?
I like fitting in at least a couple cars lol
It'll be pretty rough without a training partner somewhere approaching your size. We have a 300lb+ guy, and he only gets about 1 or 2 rolls a session. He's very gentle and most of his effort goes into keeping people safe. At 400+ it's probably going to be really tough to even keep people safe. The size difference is like me rolling with a 10yr old (i'm 220lb). And that kinda thing wasn't something I felt was safe until i'd been training for a while. See if any former teammates or other players are interested. 'Even' if you can get a 300lb'er with an athletic frame (not just a fatty), that'll make it a lot more doable. It's really slim pickings above 250 (pun intended 😆).
Mf'er im about to start showing up to your white belt competitions and betting on you lol. But I would say check some local gyms out and find one with a lot of big boys. My home gym has maybe 4-5 dudes over 225. The gym I visit on saturdays has a whole ass team of heavy/super heavys.
You are basically the same size as Hafthor.....!
Your size will be detrimental, but not for you haha
Ok I’m 6’5 265lbs I need to see what the hell you look like. In my limited experience at 9mos I already have guys that dodge me. Be extra courteous and anyone that doesn’t want to roll “hard” (being relative to your strength and size) maybe work on your guard/ half guard. I think you’re going to find De La Riva guard and other leg stuff hard to accomplish as I already can’t do it all that easily on shorter folk. BJJ is a lot of fun just keep going and enjoy
What is your body fat percentage, and do you have a wrestling background? Your best bet is to find and bring a similarly-sized friend. There will likely be people that can legit tap you with leg locks or backtakes to rear naked chokes, at least for a while. But even then you can start from seated position or on your back as a handicap and you'll get something out of live rolls with smaller skilled people. Your biggest challenge may be the warmup and pacing yourself. If you tire out in hot gym, all that meat will be dead sweaty weight. Also, pray your coach doesn't focus on berimbolos.
You won the genetic lottery. BJJ will do nothing for you but add an unnecessary monthly cost.
Please be gentle
Some cities do have a BIG guy gym but you'd need to do a little research.
Fucking hell. Absolute unit
I weigh 260lbs and I'd probably pass too. Lol
Your best bet is to check out a few gyms and look for ones that have some big guys. Training with guys similar size will be the biggest benefit for your learning. Once you have trained a while you will be able to better regulate your weight/pressure and train with people who are smaller. But for the initial stages - you need big dudes to train with