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Getting out from under someone who is extremely heavy?

9K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  BlacklistShaun 
#1 ·
I practiced some ground work with this one guy who was extremely overweight and nothing I knew how to do could get him off of me, I was wondering if there are any techniques you could actually use to lift off someone who is about 280lbs other than just pure strength.
 
#2 ·
Size matters, that's why there are weight classes. I weight 230lbs and I can often smother and bully someone who is significantly better at BJJ than I am if I'm significantly bigger than they are.

Ironman will probably have some good input for you but my recommendations would be to use misdirection as much as possible trying to get your opponent to incorrectly anticipate your movements and inadventently create openings for you.

In order to provide useful feedback it would be better if you clarified specifics. Are you in a full/half guard, mount, side control, etc. Are you able to upa (bridge out)? Shrimp out? If he is bigger then hopefully he is slower and your goal is to create a scramble situation where you can win better positions.
 
#4 ·
Usually he does full/half mount and sometimes a side but not much. When he gets on top of me he just lays down and I can't move my torso unless he lifts himself. I'm new to this so I don't know much about scramble situations. His slowness comes from fatigue and when he's tired he pretty much becomes dead weight.

benchpress? lol.
Everyday! :thumbsup:
 
#6 ·
Grease. The more slippery you are the easier ;)

Other than that aggresively go for the take down in the first place. I am myself pretty big, and it isn't easy for others to get me down (RAWRRR), but an aggressive takedown low on my legs (ankles) is what people do to me a lot.

You said the guy is 'heavy' but I'm guessing you are saying fat rather than muscular - in which case try to grab an arm and use a submission
 
#8 ·
What kinda sub would you recommend? I'm just beginning so I don't know much.

Oh I should also add that where we train we are usually doing ground work from the ground already, so most of the time we don't do take downs unfortunately.

Anyways, thanks for the help guys, really helpful :thumb02:
 
#7 ·
Ah, I'm probably not going to have a lot of advice for you. If he is going for submissions you can attempt to sweep but if he's a lot bigger than you and he's only focused on maintaining position you probably aren't going to have a lot of luck. Work on twisting back into guard and pushing away with your legs is probably the most luck you'll have creating space.
 
#10 ·
One thing to remember is wherever his head goes his body follows, if you can control his head with both your hands you can possibly get him off by trying to direct all your energy to pushing it to one side while arching your back to slink out from under him.

If you're stuck, no way out. Gain wrist control!!! If you don't he can start the feast. From there best of luck to you :)
 
#11 ·
There are a few things you didn't mention that might add to this conversation...

#1 You said he's about 280lbs. How heavy are you? Because if he's 280lbs. and you are 130lbs., well...there isnt' a whole lot you can do unless you are a black belt and he's a blue belt or lower.

#2 What are your experience levels? If he's a 280lbs. purple belt and you are a 200lbs. white belt, then you're likely gonna be out of luck because not only does he have you severely outweighed he also has you by years of technique.

With all that being said I belong to a gym that's "fortunate" enough to have some big boys. We have a 260lbs. monster that has ungodly strength, a 340lbs. guy, and a 390lbs. guy who's strong as an ox. I'm 200lbs. and I get to roll with them a lot because to be honest the weight gap is huge and I'm about the closest in weight to these monsters. When I first started I used to have severe trouble...I would get stuck under them (mostly in side control) and I couldn't do anything except sit there pinned to the mat for a while and then tap out from not being able to breathe. After doing this for a while I've picked up a few things and it's not as bad anymore.

Just remember to always keep moving, never just lay there, and if you do need to rest for a second never do so on your back...always on your hips. Constantly try to move and push for space, and every inch they give you fight to create a scramble. If you can force scrambles you have to use speed to get out and get to a neutral position. Most big guys like that are going to move as little as possible so they will give you some time to work and push and squeeze trying to make space...never stop fighting to get out.

One thing I'll do a lot with the 260lbs. guy is let him get mount...the way he's built in particular is pretty top heavy. If I let him get to mount he's not near as stable as some others. Normally once he gets to mount I can buck and throw him off balance enough to reverse the position. If he's got a good mount that day and bucking isn't working I'll throw an arm up and give him an armbar on purpose (he's kinda slow on his armbars from his size) and when he changes up I roll and work the escape to the pass.

Maybe that will give you some stuff to work on, but I'm still interrested in hearing you size and skill level vs. his...
 
#12 ·
We don't have belts where I go and I'm 190lbs and I've only been doing jiu-jitsu for about 3 months, he claims he's been there for 3 years but he can get me into a submission and he rarely throws punches, he just pretty much lays on me while I'm trying to get out.
 
#15 ·
3 years to one person is 1 year to another. What I'm saying is it all depends on the individual's ability to learn and the effort they put into the sport.

Problem I find with a lot of big guys is they know they can "squish" us smaller guys so they stick with that and don't focus on actually learning anything. Our 340lbs. guy has been doing BJJ for over 3 years and is still a white belt. All he knows how to do is bully people to the ground with his superior size, get side control, and use the key lock to submit. When he transferred to us I had been doing BJJ for 6 months, took a 5 year layoff, and then joined back...he had been doing BJJ for 2 years to my 6 months and I was tapping him (at the time I was 250lbs.). After losing 50lbs. I had to change my game, but even though he has years on me he has never tapped me.
 
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