Floor and strenght

[Rainbow_Warrior]

Does the strenght have more importance on the ground that if you are standed ?

Also the weight .... I think is very difficult to wrestle at floor with a heavy and strong guy....

I am not talking about height or be tall....because it does not matter SO much like you are on your feet

[Zapatista]

It depends on the grappling art you study. I believe (but am not 100% sure) that wrestling such as Greco-Roman, and maybe Catch Wrestling depends on strength and there is a disadvantage if you're smaller, but arts like jujutsu and judo are designed so that somebody smaller and weaker than their opponent can still fight against them and win.

[username8517]

but arts like jujutsu and judo are designed so that somebody smaller and weaker than their opponent can still fight against them and win.

This is true, but strength does play a part of in ju-jitsu. Say for example you were in your opponents guard and when you go to switch to side mount you get caught in a half-guard. You can bet that your opponent is going to control your trapped leg with every bit of strength they have, just as you're probably going to use your arm strength to create a break in their legs, effectively allowing you to free yours. Or if you're trying to put a kimura on your opponent you'll be trying to force their arm into a position they're actively resisting. Now in an actual street fight you'll be able to take liberties you can't in a match, such as biting, groin strikes, etc. to get out of holds, but if we're talking strictly sparring.

In the past, when I grappled with someone significantly smaller than me, even those with a little more experience than me, I was able to establish dominance over them by exerting more sheer force than technique. Granted they were often able to give me one heck of a challenge, but in the end my strength overcame their technique. Now the senior students definately put me through some nice demonstrations of technique over strength, but overall, they weren't physically weak people either.

So to sum it up, is strength on the floor as important as it is standing--no. But it's not something to write off either.

[Zapatista]

You're right bearich, I didn't think about the things you've mentioned. Here's another question, I've heard that BJJ depends less on strength than JJJ does, is that true? (I don't remember where I heard that, but I haven't done either art, yet, so I'm not sure)

[username8517]

Having never seen JJJ, I honestly cannot answer that question. Sorry.

[bushido_man96]

I think that strength is defenitely important, but when on the ground, you can take away some of the strength advantage a larger person would have. What I think is important on the ground is muscular endurance, more than sheer strength.

[Syphax]

I think that strength is defenitely important, but when on the ground, you can take away some of the strength advantage a larger person would have. What I think is important on the ground is muscular endurance, more than sheer strength.

Very true. Strength is always a factor, but if you are well-versed in the grappling arts you can use superior knowledge of body mechanics, etc. to cancel your opponent's advantage out.

[Jiffy]

Absoloutly it plays a part, but not as big a part as technique. Mass will always help.

Mass vs Technique - Technique Wins

Mass+Technique vs Technique - Mass+Technique wins.

[ps1]

Stabalizing types of strength help. Certainly two opponents with equal skill, the stronger/ faster/bigger person will likely win.

Someone else pointed out that endurance is important, this is also true.

All that said, a strong person will not defeat a person who has trained for a while if the strong person is untrained. We have huge guys come in all the time, most quit because they realize their strength isn't going to get them anywhere and they refuse to really relax and just do technique.

Someone above made mention of using tons of strength to keep the half guard. Though this is off topic, that isn't going to do anything but stall the match. The proper half guard is played by not locking your legs and moving under the opponent, thus gaining leverage and sweeping your opponent. Additionally, using strength to push your leg free is also not advisable and not effective against skilled grapplers.

Weight, used properly and placed such that it can control the hips or head, is an extreme advantage. This is why there are weight divisions in BJJ competition.

As far as JJJ, it does tend to use more strength than BJJ. If you do some research, that is why Kano created Judo. But it also does not have the extensive ground skill set that BJJ has.

[bushido_man96]

Stabalizing types of strength help. Certainly two opponents with equal skill, the stronger/ faster/bigger person will likely win.

This is why strong abdominal muscles, back muscles, hip flexor, and leg muscles are important in any athletic activity. The core is the key.

All that said, a strong person will not defeat a person who has trained for a while if the strong person is untrained. We have huge guys come in all the time, most quit because they realize their strength isn't going to get them anywhere and they refuse to really relax and just do technique.

Someone above made mention of using tons of strength to keep the half guard. Though this is off topic, that isn't going to do anything but stall the match. The proper half guard is played by not locking your legs and moving under the opponent, thus gaining leverage and sweeping your opponent. Additionally, using strength to push your leg free is also not advisable and not effective against skilled grapplers.

I agree with this, to an extent. The big, strong guys need to relax and learn the technique, and then, when they have done this, they can learn to apply their higher strength levels more effectively. Then, it becomes an advantage. All to often, both unskilled beginners, and very strong, unskilled beginners, will try to use their size and weight to muscle people around, only to have their momentum reversed and used against them. By learning the technique first, you can learn how to finesse the movements. Once you can use finesse, you can then learn how to apply the strength that you have. I feel that both are equally important.

Weight, used properly and placed such that it can control the hips or head, is an extreme advantage. This is why there are weight divisions in BJJ competition

I agree with this statement. However, there are some very skilled practitioners out there that really can have at it, no matter what weight they are fighting against. However, these people are very rare and very special.