Grappling Dummy

[tallgeese]

I've seen, as well as everyone else, has seen the Bubba and Grapple Master dummies built for BJJ and other grappling arts. I've always thought that one would be pretty neat for getting extra reps here and there, but like alot of people I don't have $600 to throw around on something that is a supplemental tool.

Well, as it turns out, there are several on line guides for constructing your own. Some are better than others and I complied a few to come up with something I thought would work.

I decided to give everyone here my thoughts on it in case they were thinking of it. Also, having been up and running with it for a few weeks now, I can give someone a better feel for it's uses and limitations so they can decide if it's worth it for them.

First up, there's no end of variations you can do. Basically, most homemade instructions will be built around an endoskeleton of heavy duty wire bundles used to carry electricity into one's home from the lines outside. It's think and heavy and if done right, the most expensive part of the operation.

Basically, you'll have a soft spinal cord with arms and legs taped on. Some people just pad this then with pool noodles. Personally, I wanted it to mimic a person's joints as much as possible, so I used a PVC exo skeleton that made up a spine, neck, upper and lower arms, and upper and lower legs. I also used PVC taped to the hard spine to make shoulders and hips. This allowed me to run a single piece of wire thru these articulations and cut down on the parts that could fall off.

The PVC was then drilled and poly cord used to hold it in proximity for the joints. There are then alot of methods recommended to pad this thing and flesh it out. I used a combination of pool noodles and the blue foam from Wal-mart used as camping mats.

For the body, I used a couple of cheap foam pillows covered by some more camping foam and duck taped to firmness. This works fine and is much more cost effective than the high density foam that some instructions use.

I'd suggest checking out several sites and piecing together the features you want with the cheapest effective material you can find. Then get lots of duct tape and an old gi.

As to the function, having the hard PVC in there is a good idea, it really lets you get a better feel when you're working with it. Also, build a good defined neck, this lets you set chokes and cranks pretty effectively.

In use, it's pretty good - FOR WHAT IT'S DESIGNED FOR. Don't try to throw it, ground n pound it, or expect it to feel like a real partner. That being said, it's really good for working positional transitions from the top and submission series from side and full mount. It's good for drilling guard escapes and sweeps from there. It will even let you walk thru set ups from your guard to a degree, but you won't be able to push off it's hips real well. It just dosn't have the mass.

Now, mine came in final cost at just shy of $100 buck and a day's worth of off and on work. I get to use it after or before lifts for 10-15 min to run simple reps of movements to further beat them into my head. For that, it works great.

Should you build one? Well, if you see a Bubba in your future, I'd hold off and just get one of those. If there's no way you're going to sink that kind of money into a dummy, then it's worth constructing one to rep on. Just be aware of the limitations. If you get to be on the mat 4 or more times per week, I don't know that I'd build one either, but if you're limited to a couple times per week of really drilling grappling an grappling only, then it's helpful.

Bottom line, I'm glad I have it in my work area and would recommend it. Just make sure you don't think it will be as good as the real thing. But, for simple repetition, it's a helpful tool for reconstructing new movements in your head and working them in chain.

[bushido_man96]

Very nice, tallgeese. Thanks for sharing. It sure sounds like you did your research in putting this together.