This BJJ Tradition is a Death-Sentence for Your Takedowns

[@edouardlorge4059]

open weight in Judo was a thing before the 2000's. Japan has a big open weight still going on and it's considered the most prestigious tournament of the country

[@Chewjitsu]

Didn't know that. Super cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@gam3rfr3ak13]

Open weight competitions are still a thing, at least here in Canada. I've done a couple, mostly at smaller local tournaments.

[@schenksteven1]

I’m a college wrestler and a blue belt. I couldn’t agree more with this.

[@scotthenson9194]

If you want to improve your takedown game you need to improve your grip fighting game. In my experience, bjj guys like to lock into a standard sleeve/lapel grip and stay with it. That will get you murdered if they are a lot bigger and stronger than you. Outgrip them, get them moving and then attack and you can take the big guys down.

[@Chewjitsu]

Agreed. Grip fighting and hand fighting are huge. This is true on the feet or on the ground. Grips and body positioning control everything.

[@FR-ty5vn]

@@Chewjitsu You’ve probably already done this, but I’d love to see a video on your grip fighting…

[@julienp7766]

Thanks for sharing!

[@rudals1281]

A wrestler took me down and I got right back up and signed up for a wrestling class. Now, I'm doing jiujitsu and wrestling back to back.

[@dznArro]

you're lucky there's wrestling schools near you

[@Sensei_Gaz]

Same, but for Judo/JJJ

[@FR-ty5vn]

Great video - I’ll just add, even as a guy who’s been thrown across the gym by bigger guys (and I’m 190 lbs), the other reason to work with everyone is for self-defense in that you don’t know who’s going to attack you on the street…so it’s good experience to go with all body types, but it definitely is risky 😂

[@kungfupanda431]

As always very practical advice Chewy. If I could add something from my own humble experience, as an over 200 lb player, if I'm working stand up with lighter people I like to practice with a kind of flowy style where the emphasis is on working grips, footwork, trying to off balance and just setting up the takedown then just stopping and resetting. It's obviously not as useful pre-competition but for just general muscle memory and figuring things out it's great and low impact. Thanks for putting these videos out Chewy, I've been watching your stuff since I started (7+ years ago)!

[@richmoreno9938]

I’m a year into BJJ training. Drilling takedowns are my most feared thing, but I also see how important they are to learn. Thanks for the tips.

[@KHL-uh7zi]

OH!! takedown... broke my wrist when I was practicing the takedown with a big guy. Now I am afraid of takedown now

[@JEZ288]

Me too... but you just have to feel the fear and do it anyway!

[@penicillin308]

This is my greatest gripe with BJJ. Their break falls suck, it doesnt always mean that you would always avoid injury but a big portion of the warmup should be breakfalls and knowing what its like to be thrown so you can apply the breakfall.

[@rlockwood88]

@@penicillin308hearing this is wild to me because every warm up we do at our BJJ includes break falls and shoulder rolls, and we start every class with a takedown. Maybe it's because we're also an MMA gym?

[@robmundle]

Great video. Size and strength absolutely matter.

[@zman5387]

This is a great point! When I wrestled we only wrestled with people in our weight class or close to it. BJJ will mix it up with people of all weoght classes, and that can mess up your training for competition.

[@Docinaplane]

learning a good double leg, inside and outside trips, and chain wrestling will go a long way.

[@SwordFighterPKN]

smaller guys should go the direction of Judo take downs, wrestling ones are going to be much harder for the smaller guy vs. the bigger guy. But I bet there is at least one guy in the gym that will work take downs with him. I give the dude serious kudos for wanting to learn takedowns.

[@Urmomma5f4t]

Drop seoi is great if you’re short and smaller. Just get a good one so your back isn’t taken. I’ve thrown lots of people well over 40lbs heavier with it. You need to be fast though. Most BJJ guys are semi bent over so the throw works easier on them…

[@thos1618]

This is quite a bad take. You're going to Uchi-Mata or Osoto-Gari someone whose weight scares you? But that same person is too big to Arm-Drag or Sweep-Single? Newbies often imagine Judo to be this mystical thing that it isn't, and Wrestling to be this brutish thing that it isn't. I used to be like that too.

[@SwordFighterPKN]

@@thos1618 I've got years of both,so I'm not just pulling a comment out of my ass. 145lb guy is not going to arm drag or single leg a 200 lb guy that has any experience. But judo throws and especially sweeps are a great equalizer. Like it or not wrestling is brutish, that's kinda the mentality of wrestlers. Both have there place but as chewy states, rightly, there is a reason there are weight classes where take downs are involved.

[@thos1618]

@@SwordFighterPKN Good comment. I disagree but respect your experience.

[@thomasorth-hall4738]

I agree. Shorter guys will naturally have their hips lower than a taller guy and that’s great for judo throws. Just takes proper technique

[@808BJJ_Black_Belt]

I agree ☝️ train with same size for takedowns

[@mdavissq3d]

LOL I teach the kids class at the gym I train at and we have been working takedowns for like the last month. Normally in regular rolls I let the kids pick their partners (maybe with a set rule for one of them like the bigger kid or higher ranked kid has to play a certain way). But like you point out Chewy, I am very adamant about pairing them up with same size kids for safety during takedown drilling. Funny part is the kids HATE IT and always complain about who they get paired with cause they don't get to go with their friends. After watching this I need to sit with my kids class add go over the points you put out their, THANKS CHEWY!

[@ssmith3573]

If someone thinks size doesn't matter, they are welcome to have watched when I trained with people who were under half my weight, and where I could literally, while in turtle position, have them trying to sink their hooks in, stand up, walk to the edge of the mats, wipe the sweat off my face, get a drink of water, and walk back to the spot on the mat, and get back into turtle position with her never having left my back (or having stopped trying to find the choke). Or the time my training partner was trying to sink an arm bar, but I happened to see a high energy roll coming at us, so I picked up my arm with her on it, spun 180 degrees to protect her, put her back down, and then told her to finish the submission. These were never my most technical rolls, for all they were fun and enjoyable for us both, and my training partners always knew I was hampering. And it hampered my training for competition, because there was no one in my size category to roll with, so I rarely got to experience what it felt like to go all out rolling, because I outweighed most of the folks by at least 50-60 pounds. Sure, the senior belts had enough technique to neutralize me, but that's different than playing in the super heavies with folks who are as strong as I am and learning to work under that pressure.

[@TheYouTubeMechanic]

I'm a small dude at a heavyweight gym. I go roll at a 10th planet open mat every few Sundays and they have way more lightweights to practice with.

[@kingartifex]

as a big guy, its hard enough to get training partners on the ground. Most of my effort goes in mitigating my own strength, because if I am not careful the other guys will not want to roll with me. Whenever I go to a new gym I need to work for weeks to prove to the others I am safe to roll with...light sparring as much as possible. point being, if I go for takedowns everyone will ostracize me 😂

[@rickgraham7641]

I'm a hobbyist in my 40's and find that take downs just bang the crap out of me no matter how much I work on my break-fall and that's why I avoid them. But if you want to have a well rounded game and/or compete they are a MUST. Regarding larger people I find that as a smaller, faster person my main advantage is ease and speed of level changing when it comes to takedowns. Good luck 🙏

[@justinaddison3805]

As a bigger guy, thank you for easing my guilt in seeking to roll mostly with the bigger guys

[@grogblue]

Since I embody the example of the 250 lb bigger guy (down from 305 since last year, w00t!), I try to pick whoever is closest to my size, or accept the challenger that wants to play. There's always one or two that like the challenge if there's space, and there isn't always another heavyweight on the mat. I have no idea if it's a good or a bad idea, but I've had some success in turning takedowns into situational rolling. If we drilled a takedown, or if the rolling partner wants to practice one, I'll give light resistance to the takedown, and go is when my butt/hands/knee hits the mat. Curious if this is a good or bad idea, or if there's something else I should consider or pay attention to. So far people have appreciated getting the extra rep or two for their takedowns without having to worry about getting pancaked if I sprawl.

[@user-st2si3he1o]

I go to a fairly small gym and there's rarely anyone with a similar weight and skill level to mine around. Is there still anyway to develop confidence and technique with takedowns in my situation?

[@yakovdavidovich7943]

Another thing that I find differentiates BJJ from Judo is approach to randori. In Judo, it is not unusual to see a sliding scale of standup from drilling throws, to trading throws, to so-called French randori (yakusoku geiko, or "agreed upon practice" where it's sort of randori, but one person is tori and the other is uke for the throws), to "hop randori" where you limit intensity of defense and allow as many throws as you take, to light randori, heavy randori, and then shiai (tournament). BJJ knows how to do "flow rolling" but rarely applies that idea to standup, and accordingly is missing a huge part of what can acclimate someone to standup and lead to comfort on the feet.

[@daltonwalker3584]

Ive found learning some turtle to be super beneficial for building up my confidence with wrestling. Similar moves and principles. But nice and low on impact and volume.

[@Wiseman501]

Two words... Flying Crucifix. xD

[@savagecabbage553]

Flying omoplata.

[@medicineandbrazilianjiujit8511]

Thank you for the advice, Coach.

[@kbags98]

@chewjitsu someone already touched on this but one option-depending on how it works in your area-doing freestyle/Greco wrestling. It’s been 20 years for me but my high schools freestyle program was open to all ages. Not school affiliated but ran by the folkstyle coach from the school. I think it was the same at all of the h.s.’ in the area.

[@jabarzua]

Unfortunately lots of gyms are not big enough for it to make sense to only fight people of similar weight. I'm like 130lbs and almost everyone in my gym is way heavier than me, except from one guy who is newer, so if I want to roll hard I have no choice but to go against the big guys.

[@donaldnewell4868]

My 12yo is both a competitive wrestler and a yellow belt. There are a bunch of grey/yellow/orange belts a couple years bigger and much heavier. He has learned to use an entirely different approach w the bigger kids. He still hits some takedowns, but largely uses trips, duck unders, etc. with an emphasis on getting to their backs. There are 14/15 year olds who can just rag doll him if he hits a hi-c or something similar and it is a bit off. I can see where it would be tremendously frustrating if he was only learning his takedowns in bjj.

[@wizzle0979]

Also, training takedowns with a partner your same size can also be safe for you. Your training partner can help your breakfalls when training with them. If you have 70+ pounds on them, they can accidently slam you on your shoulder. It happened to me and took me out of training for 6 months

[@ryansmith9138]

One of the few times my experience disagrees with this. Im a 2nd Dan judoka and have trained at many Judo clubs. when it comes time for randori we pick partners in much the same way as BJJ clubs, you just pick whos around and generally if you can, yeah your gonna try and stick to people similar size, but you will often see smaller guys with bigger guys. iv done randori (sparing) agaisnt guys way bigger than me as a regular event at many differnt clubs. Ironically when it comes to ground work in Judo Smaller guys would struggle way more with the bigger guys cause we didnt have the skills to frame and survive and simply get squished. where as standing we have space and speed to use to our advantage. I can imagine at the elite levels of Judo they would stick to their weight more, simply as thats better for contest training and they want to avoid injury as much as possible

[@Clayjar444]

Footsweeps and many leg techniques are safe to try with any size difference

[@avaval]

I love your advice! I just wish their were more women in my gym close to my weight. Most of the women in my gym are about 50+lbs lighter than me and are shorter than me, by a lot, usually. I've tried take downs with men my size, and it feels impossible lol.

[@GorrillaSwole]

Dang ive been saying this in my head all along and i do so much better and have so much confidence when I actually get to roll with guys my size i feel its only going to make you tough to a certain extent to get better overall you need to train with your weight class im always rolling with guys like 30+ lbs heavier

[@honeyhole411]

Your new outro looks pretty cool bro 😎

[@dudeman209]

Takedowns actually allow me to compete better w/bigger guys cuz I can do things cut angles and use agility, scramble up from guard, etc.. And big guys gas faster, but I'm also long and have very quick feet every tho I'm not that big.

[@ijustwannaleaveacommentony6511]

how does the arm spin fare against bigger guys?

[@THE_Secular_Conservative]

Wish there was a grappling martial art that had the takedowns of Judo and ground game of BJJ without having to take 2 separate arts.

[@jesselowe9374]

You just described Judo. About 90% or more of BJJs groundwork is in Judo. Also, Sambo is a strong style, but you can't do chokes. Catch wrestling is very strong also but not as widely available as Judo.

[@SubCultureMEDIAHilbert]

Collar drag takedown. Works against bigger guys and is pretty safe and super simple.

[@ifthatthenthis3797]

Imo Takedowns are unnecessary for competitive guard players. I'm a guard player but I can takedown the average Bjj player and definitely the average non trained person But Bjj is fun for me I don't need it for street fights I carry It's fun and fitness. To me it seems people are so focused on wrestling and judo their Bjj actually suffers They can't stop the pass and they can only submit in dominant positions, and they are scared of losing positions. Wrestling after purple belt doesn't seem to be an advantage like it clearly is at white and blue

[@tamamalosi]

Strength is a technique. Find a training partner of your weight, and use them to sharpen your skills...and vice versa. I'm Ultra Heavy (290lbs), and I roll full on woth only two ppl. My training partner (330lbs) and my Professor (235lbs). If you compete...you need to practice competing.

[@yo2stix]

Slide bys, duck unders, swing singles will work on bigger guys.

[@julienp7766]

Interesting!

[@CBKDaHottest]

What’s considered a big guy just wondering

[@louy7927]

here after watching mighty mouse compete in the absolute division lol

[@Chewjitsu]

This is why I said "most of the time." There will always be exceptions. Mighty Mouse is an amazing athlete, 1 of the best fighters of his era and a terrific competitor.

[@gladiumcaeli]

Chewy what brand of wrestling shoes would you recommend? I know this is a bjj channel but you used to be a wrestler at one point. Also have a nice day

[@Chewjitsu]

Honestly bro. I just had a super basic pair of Asics. You can snag a pair fairly cheap. Unless you're some monster in wrestling looking for any edge you can get, shoes aren't that big of a deal. Find a pair you like and then break them in.

[@gladiumcaeli]

@@Chewjitsu thank you 😁

[@coachjoe5595]

If you need to ask this question, then his suggestion is 100% on point. If you already know what shoes you like, you've spent some time on the mat. If you have no clue, then you're likely somewhat new to the sport, and would gain the same benefits from a $40 pair compared to a $240 pair. That being said, "Look good, feel good. Feel good, wrestle good." Sometimes a little drip is what you need to elevate your confidence. Buy what your budget can handle. There's not much difference in shoes, at the end of the day. Maybe one has a bit more flexibility or support in a specific area, or the outer sole grips your home mats better than another pair. It doesn't really matter. Listen to Chewy.

[@gladiumcaeli]

​@@coachjoe5595 Thank you 🙏🏼

[@rollinOnCode]

so you are saying we need more butt scooting? lol

[@billbobaggins7617]

Is that a dermoid cyst on your eyebrow?

[@martialarborist7918]

Mighty Mouse just beat a 6'3" 250lb brown belt at pans with takedowns and top pressure

[@AlexVinchenzo]

That's why he's mighty fucking mouse

[@joshuaamado559]

I’m not Mighty Mouse dog xD

[@badart3204]

After already learning how to fight

[@JoeyG-o8r]

Yea he's a world class athlete, I'm just some bitch.