Strength vs BJJ Technique: Is being stronger Helping or Hurting your Jiu-Jitsu?

[@ElbowsTight]

Strength in BJJ reminds me of the saying "It's Better To Have It And Not Need It, Than To Need It And Not Have It!."

[@bulletproofforbjj]

YESSIR! That's a great way to put it!!

[@Jack-xd1bd]

My high school wrestling coach had a saying ... "There are three pillars of wrestling you're either technical, strong, or fast/agile. Your success is based on how you train each of these skill sets and combine them." The great lie in BJJ is telling folks that all they need is technique without explaining that someones technical abilities (being able to hit moves in competition against a resisting opponent) success is based on their physical ability to pull it off either quickly, forcefully, or both relative to their opponents technical knowledge of defense, speed to defend, and strength to withstand the attack.

[@ethanchaney1139]

Ramsey Dewey summed it all up by more or less by saying that technique is only the most efficient use of your strength, it’s still your body and muscle physically executing the techniques. Dr Mike Israetel also explained it in a video that the stronger you are the less spot on you need your techniques to be, and that good smaller guys tend to be more technical because they have to be to be good, not because they choose to be.

[@unknownanonymous289]

@ethanchaney1139. Good points👍, I watch both those channels.

[@mbealhighjump]

The other underrated element of strength training beyond brute strength is endurance. You can tailor your training to not only build general strength and power at 100% exertion but to be able to hold your 50-90% strength for longer periods of time. I’m a 6’4” 210lb former collegiate athlete who is 3months into BJJ training 3x/week and lifting 3-4x/week (+Pilates 1x/week). Because I’ve been lifting for nearly 15yrs I’m able to hold my own against Blue Belts who have been doing BJJ but never strength trained. I’m still a newb, but I’ve noticed that the best way for me to learn techniques is to roll w/ 60%-80% strength exertion for positional work and only crank it up for finishes & playing defense. It’s nice to have it in the reserve because it allows me to not roll w/ a survival mode mentality.

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Strength gives you options! Definitely helps with efficiency.

[@thecasuallongsword]

my favorite technique is strength.

[@vitorfernnandes]

I think that discussion is that it changes from the level of jiujitsu. In the beginning, where you are learning the basics and fundamentals of the techniques, I see the use of force as something that can get in the way, because it allows you to cut certain paths. In a sweep for example, with enough strength it is possible to sweep someone without using the perfect technique (or as close to it as possible). An arm lock can be learned the wrong way, just by the fact that with enough strength it is not necessary to apply pressure with the hip and focus that pressure on the elbow. Some people can break the forearm with force alone, but is that the technique? If "technique" is what works, then okay.

[@user-nr2kb3mw8i]

9 times out of 10 I am the lightest/smallest person in training. 165lb male 5’8. I’m not weak but I can’t rely on using too much muscle/strength when rolling. I just try to use timing to my advantage and proper technique.

[@derekrotondo8315]

Feel your pain man. I'm a rooster or feather and my gym is almost exclusively heavyweights

[@GreenSideScythe]

5'9" 142lber here, I hear this only when I out work bigger guys., regardless of what technique I used.

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Being lighter guy in BJJ is tough but you would be surprised at how much you can increase your power to weight ratio. But yessir you must have great technique to over come bigger opponents.

[@Max-ki6df]

70kg so around 155lb here I do strength training, I don't care when I loose or about points, I just wanna kill these giants. It's just so stupid though all they need to do is grab your wrist=submission denied, wiggle their ass= you just lost mount/back, and since most rounds in my gym are whitebelt rounds I can't even punish them for bad technique, since they won't gas out that quickly. Only time I ever tapped someone 50lb heavier then me was a leg lock, and most of those are illegal for me since I'm still a whitebelt

[@letshuman8985]

I really needed this video! I was once told that I was using *too much* strength. I cant help it. It’s just…there. However, I combine it with technique, and it’s not like Im going to Hulk smash everyone I roll with. If it’s there, I am going to use it to my advantage.

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Gotta play your advantages in this game.

[@chrisgarciart]

I agree with your point that technique does overcome strength until someone starts learning bjj. I am 5’3” 140lbs blue belt so I feel like a bit of a gatekeeper. I’m able to keep new people in check and make them play my game, but give them a couple months or so of consistent training, and I can feel them biting at my heels or straight tapping me 😅

[@eddiesid1149]

You're still a King mate.

[@chrisgarciart]

@@eddiesid1149 Appreciate you 😤🙏

[@nikhilmuthukrishnan7222]

Its nice to see you both respect each other so much for the sake of the "magic"

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Haha there is plenty of behind the scenes brotherly disrespect 😉 - JT

[@brucekai7462]

In 99% of martial arts, a good big guy beats a good small guy... No way round it. Better to train with stronger guys and drop your pride and ego and just accept getting tapped whilst working on getting better and working on the fine adjustments that can sometimes stifle and out maneuver the stronger guy. The fuckery begins when the stronger guy is a spaz or jerky and uses brute strength uncontrolled which comes across as aggressive/bullish.. Thats when he has anger issues and should be spoken to. Any decent teacher can see the difference.

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Never good to roll someone who just wants to go crazy no matter the size.

[@tededo]

Interesting podcast as usual. Paraphrasing Josh Barnett who rolled a lot with BJJ black belts: every BJJ black belt you roll with out there is F$/" strong. Forget about the mantra with techniques they recall. If you roll with elite BJJ black belts, they match your strength with their strength, and if you use more strength, they'll use even more strength. I am viewing also this BJJ black belt from Republic Dominica, Abraham Marte. No one will tell him he cant use strength, no one, he must be born with it. Eddi Bravo once rolled with Marcelo and kept saying, I need to hit the weight lifting gym more. Marcelo himself once said of himself: I am a strong guy. I spent the last 15 years of my 20 years grappling on defending (ala Priit Mihkelson and older Dean Lister and Ryron Gracie). There is not a single year when I havent heard, Ted Edo wow you're the strongest grappler of this academy. My reply ? Thank you very much. This year, I use even more strength without much exhaustion. You know the top mount on me, I hip pumb and bench press the top guy with such an easy its sick. No instructor told me top using my strength. Dont be mistaken. In 2011, 6.0, 200 lbs (back then), I deadlifted 500 lbs, bicep curl 150 lbs, dumbbells curl one arm 70 lbs, 100 lbs dips, 325 lbs Floor bench press, I could go on. When I left powerlifting, I crank down those numbers to transfert my strength on the mat, and I could careless if they warn me, I wont stop use strength, cause it magnifies my techniques as you say it.

[@derekrotondo8315]

There's a white belt in my gym I roll with who loves the Americana. He has 70 lbs on me. It doesn't matter what i do when he gets mount, if he wants my arm to move, its going to move

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Thats tough! Gotta control him with those legs!

[@scottrogers1493]

Powerlifter for ten years, BJJ blue belt, 2.5 years... In my experience there is a diminishing return on additional strength margin in BJJ. There is a level of minimum strength my opponent can possess which drives down the value for me to exert a "one rep max" on them. The closer to full failure at high strength output bears an enormous oxygen and glycogen cost. Can I beat them in a moment? Yes. But I am then *weaker* than them in the next moment, particularly since their lower strength output cost less resources. All that to say, I lift for the enjoyment of lifting. But anecdotally I really see a diminishing benefit to being "very strong" versus "strong." Jiu jitsu skill being equal, I am about matched out when somebody possesses a baseline of strength, even as it is lower than my own.. couple-days-a-week lifter is probably optimal for BJJ.

[@sharlah4057]

I think as a female midget my strength is ok for my weight and gender. I do use my strength against people close to my build and technical level. I don't use it against higher belts who are smaller in case they decide to punish me with extra technical brutality for being disrespectful. If I try to use strength against a bigger stronger guy without a big technical positional advantage I am just tiring myself out to be squished / pulversised. I don't use it against smaller people in general (although they are rare) because I think it increases injury risk. If a larger guy uses more strength or weight against me than required I feel like my risk of injury sky rockets. For that reason I think it's worth saving the use of strength / all of your body weight for a subset of training partners. A little bit of strength shaming is required towards larger white belts to keep the rest of us safe. I am yet to feel like I might be injured by someone else's flexibility. I've only felt under threat of being injured by speed if it's combined with weight / a strong grip on a limb in a compromised position - not so much during loose passing etc. One time I DO appreciate a bigger guy using strength in a roll - when he's taking me down but slows my fall for me so I land softly. That's nice. So many times I have rolled with someone bigger who lifts me up high with speed and I think - SHIIIIIT! - only to be lowered gently to the mat. I have a brief heart attack but survive the experience.

[@donaldnewell4868]

I can tell you, watching my son in his 3rd year of wrestling, saying “dude’s strong” is still a compliment on that side of grappling.

[@SINdaBlock411]

Every time some bodybuilder gets the better of literally anyone in a bjj school, even a white or blue belt 90 lbs girl, they be like "HE CLEARLY WRESTLED IN HIGH SCHOOL OR SOMETHING" or "HE GRAPPLED BEFORE" or "THAT PERSON IS NO WHITE OR BLUE BELT OR A TERRIBLE ONE" ... bjj is easily the most petty kid stuff "martial art" I've ever seen when it comes down to coping with their style losing, especially at their own game

[@RippedPantsss]

This is good, you should always take into fact that people have attributes. You change your game plan whether someone is flexible, strong, tall/lengthy, lots of cardio, takedown game strong. Attributes have a factor.

[@robvidalbjj]

I like this conversation. So I’m with you guys in regard that brute strength as a white belts over compensates for newbies and the stuff they do will be effective but not technical. Also, when someone is way stronger and acting like a bill the propensity to get injured by either party goes up. But if you tamper your strength and learn the techniques you then can turn up the strength to the appropriate level. Or for that matter turn in down as well.

[@oosik411]

Good technique feels strong. I think my biggest gripe on strength is technique is out the window I’m going to toss you, force a sloppy sub on you, or squeeze you (not pressure). Compensating for poor form with strength. Some of the best rolls are with bigger guys that don’t roll like big guys. They have the pressure but don’t treat me like a rag doll.

[@jedsanford7879]

So we all go get on gear? its frustrating tryng to improve at BJJ and getting smashed with hammers. I try and tone down the strength when I roll and spar just so I can improve and not brute force things.

[@BigBWolf90]

At the academy where I train the guys I roll with have said "damn you're strong. Good. Keep rolling & showing up the technique will come."

[@DavidAlekhuogie]

As a tall guy who got smashed a ton at white belt. Now my guard is very hard to deal with and people just blame it on my height. I’m t’s so annoying because it’s like taking away all the lessens learned. And the people who really stay on the mats are the ones who learn how to love getting beaten. Nobody wants anybody to question those hard battles

[@relativisticvel]

Gordon Ryan started doing bodybuilding exercises after Peña beat him.

[@stevelewis8961]

Strength definitely helps your game IF you compliment it with your technique. But if you’re just relying on your strength to get you out of things it’s going to hinder your progress

[@weapestrong]

where is ur bjj gym located?

[@t.bruceford4098]

The same with all combat sports. The stronger boxer (Canelo for example) who also has skill is dangerous. Royce beat everyone because no one had the skill level. But when he ran into Kimo, the skill was matched with size strength and aggression.

[@ModernPracticalStonemason]

Remember “better to be a warrior in a garden…”

[@zzz_ttt_0091]

Firas Zahabi vs Devon Laratt is the example.

[@GhostWarrior97]

You guys are great but man. I train jiu-jitsu for self defence not for sports. I need to find a gym that gives teqnuice for saving myself other than for "points"

[@dimitardobrev3296]

sadly BJJ is now just as much a sport as it is a martial art - did you ever find the kind of gym you were looking for?

[@SINdaBlock411]

even bjj has weight classes, at any belt level, strength and size always wins in the end

[@marcusaurelius841]

Hat coming off soon 👲

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Next week eps there is a hatless JT spotted.

[@srali7609]

omg u get strength shamed, i know this one person who moans about it at my club

[@geneharrogate6911]

You're delusional in this day and age to dismiss size and strength as a factor in martial arts. Athleticism however is a different story. A guy who has the endurance to give nearly 100% for 5 minutes, move like a cat, explode out of positions and retain most of his strength certainly has an advantage over a bigger guy who is spent in 60 seconds. Strength is the first thing to go once you gas.

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Strength gives efficiency if you choose to use it that way. It's all about how you use the tool for the job at hand.

[@bw5187]

Resistance training can only help your BJJ and your overall health and fitness.

[@bunchofives313]

I feel seen

[@Matto_Harvo]

Strength? Yes! But weight? Gravity is neither a skill nor a technique

[@dimitardobrev3296]

but using gravity, that is a skill/technique

[@Matto_Harvo]

@@dimitardobrev3296 that would make fat people more skilful than fit people with the same 'skill' level. I'm guessing that you're on the big side, new or love being squashed by 'skill'.

[@chadguru9565]

1rd. Luckily I have no strength to be ashamed of

[@bulletproofforbjj]

Join team Strength! It's worth the shame...

[@kennylynch8575]

tequniq beats strength all the time

[@bulletproofforbjj]

There is no technique without the ability to apply it- which requires strength...

[@SomeBlackDude26]

As a 300lb guy, I often think I'll be disliked in BJJ. Being strong is like a sin to BJJ students. I strike with a lot of power, and I feel like being a grappler with that strength is looked down on.

[@dimitardobrev3296]

why do you care so much about others' opinions? Just do the thing

[@SomeBlackDude26]

@dimitardobrev3296 Easier said than done when everyone is smaller than you and doesn't want to train with you.

[@dimitardobrev3296]

@@SomeBlackDude26 that does sound a bit rough