I just wanted to ask a general question, how many of the larger guys on this site(225+) study or compete in any martial arts.
Now I know that there are some good sized heavyweights out there but in general it seems to be alot of the smaller guys who are interested in Martial Arts and MMA in particular.
I mean where I train,I’m the largest guy there by probably 20 or 30 pounds and I’m not hyooge by any means.(6’,225)
I’m on the bigger side at my school, 5’11" 215 lbs. We do have some bigger guys, one in particular is about 6’ 1", 270 lbs solid (former D-1 football player, navy SEAL, and currently a firefighter in a large city). He likes the school because we have alot of very technical grapplers, and his style is much more “soft” and technical because of it. He could crush most people, but works hard on his technique.
I think this is a reflection of the master instructor, who is 5’8" and 150 lbs, and just a very quick, athletic fighter. He has trouble relating to the problems that big guys have with BJJ soemtimes, I think, but if you stick with it, you develop a more effective toolset.
[quote]groundNPound wrote:
I mean where I train,I’m the largest guy there by probably 20 or 30 pounds and I’m not hyooge by any means.(6’,225) [/quote]
At 6’, 220 I’m almost always the biggest guy in my bjj classes. It’s a famous one, too, located in a major metropolitan area. So that really surprised me.
I’m 10-15 pounds overfat, but even once I’ve dialed down, I’ll still be one the biggest guys.
I’m not sure why that is… I know I started taking martial arts at ten because I got picked on. (I was the proverbial fat kid.) It was pure necessity.
So I’m guessing bigger guys don’t feel the same threats little guys feel, so they don’t see a need to train.
As a matter of fact… In college I lifted but didn’t do any martial arts. I never got picked on/messed with. People got out of my way/looked at me differently, even though I was laid back/chill. And no one knew I had boxed in a ring, trained with professional boxers, and was a belt belt.
Same thing today when I walk around in places others might fear to walk. People just let me walk by and don’t say anything. They have no idea what I know or what I am capable of.
Size is the ultimate deterrent. As Sun Tzu said, “To win without fighting is best.” The best way to win without fighting is to have enough muscle on your frame that people don’t even want to challenge you.
I’m a superheavy and I’ve been training in BJJ for over 4 years now.
Its funny, when it comes to schools I’ve trained at, I tend to find the same thing you have. Mostly smaller guys. But the second I sign up for a tourney all the monsters come out of hiding and I end up taking on guys with body types I’ve never had the chance to train against in practice. Where the Hell are these guys the other 364 days of the year? Them seem to just appear, squash me, and cease to exist.
I think a lot of smaller guys do start training to build confidence. Big guys are used to having people feel intimidated around them and aren’t usually intimidated. However, some people just want to learn how to fight, not because they want to feel better about being around bigger people, but because it’s fun!
Another reason might be that the big guys doing BJJ are naturally big guys without having to do any weight training. They would just be big regardless of what type of physical activity they pursue. Really big natural guys are not a dime a dozen so that might explain why you see less of them on the mat. Hell, only a very small portion of people think BJJ is cool so further narrowing that down to bigger guys means slim pickings.
One of the things about BJJ is that if you are a smaller guy before the weights, then weight train to near your genetic potential, you won’t maintain a lot of the size you gained through weight training once you become serious about grappling. I went from 165 to 235 and now back to around 195-200.
Finally, many smaller guys are more agile on the mat. This might lead some people to purposely lose some size to gain agility.