What are good physical attributes to have in BJJ?

[Prototype]

Realistically I named a bunch of attributes you DON't need but said it helps if you have them.

The only thing you NEED is to be able to get on the mats. The more of some attributes you have, the less you need of others.

My experience is that the single biggest difference maker is strength. The more strength you possess relative to your size, the better you will do most of the time. But this is true of all fighting arts, if for no other reason than strength relative to size is GREAT injury prevention. Extra muscle mass shields joints and makes moving under load easier. Allows you to train longer and harder with less recovery time. And, when you are new and don't know what you are doing, allows you to do better against other newbies that don't know anything and so you feel better about training and keep showing up. Which is actually the number 1 key to success. Keep showing up and training.

You want to know what makes a world champion on the mats? Look at their training schedules and diet. It is as intense and restrictive as any professional athlete. Top level instruction, time on the mats, and the training schedule and diet of a professional athlete. And the last piece of course. The will to win.

I don't think strength is important to striking like boxing. Two of the greatest boxers who ever lived - Ali and Mayweather jr were both finesse boxers

Ehh... strength in this context is more power to weight ratio. Ali was INCREDIBLY strong for his size. So is Mayweather Jr. Adding strength without adding size at their level is, in fact, an entire subset of the fitness industry; and how we learned about things like muscular cross sectional area being the primary mechanical measurement of power, but neuro-muscular recruitment tends to be the primary driver of performance in strength related tasks.

Taken together, they (recruitment and cross-sectional area) are the primary determining factors of musculoskeletal strength.

That, combined with the square/cube law is why adding size to add strength for combat sports only works up to a certain point.

Being stronger is ALWAYS better but being BIGGER is NOT always better. Finding that sweet spot where you optimize your strength for the amount of weight you are carrying is the key to determining what your weight class should be competitively.

Ali said he was not particularly strong/powerful.

[Tempest]

Realistically I named a bunch of attributes you DON't need but said it helps if you have them.

The only thing you NEED is to be able to get on the mats. The more of some attributes you have, the less you need of others.

My experience is that the single biggest difference maker is strength. The more strength you possess relative to your size, the better you will do most of the time. But this is true of all fighting arts, if for no other reason than strength relative to size is GREAT injury prevention. Extra muscle mass shields joints and makes moving under load easier. Allows you to train longer and harder with less recovery time. And, when you are new and don't know what you are doing, allows you to do better against other newbies that don't know anything and so you feel better about training and keep showing up. Which is actually the number 1 key to success. Keep showing up and training.

You want to know what makes a world champion on the mats? Look at their training schedules and diet. It is as intense and restrictive as any professional athlete. Top level instruction, time on the mats, and the training schedule and diet of a professional athlete. And the last piece of course. The will to win.

I don't think strength is important to striking like boxing. Two of the greatest boxers who ever lived - Ali and Mayweather jr were both finesse boxers

Ehh... strength in this context is more power to weight ratio. Ali was INCREDIBLY strong for his size. So is Mayweather Jr. Adding strength without adding size at their level is, in fact, an entire subset of the fitness industry; and how we learned about things like muscular cross sectional area being the primary mechanical measurement of power, but neuro-muscular recruitment tends to be the primary driver of performance in strength related tasks.

Taken together, they (recruitment and cross-sectional area) are the primary determining factors of musculoskeletal strength.

That, combined with the square/cube law is why adding size to add strength for combat sports only works up to a certain point.

Being stronger is ALWAYS better but being BIGGER is NOT always better. Finding that sweet spot where you optimize your strength for the amount of weight you are carrying is the key to determining what your weight class should be competitively.

Ali said he was not particularly strong/powerful.

Ali said a lot of things that were not particularly true.

Here he is knocking out foreman. Now, look at his back muscles. Pay careful attention to HOW they move when he throws a shot or even blocks. Also look at the cross sectional area of that muscle as a fraction of his size.

Ali was not a particularly BIG heavyweight, but for his size he was stupid strong.

[sensei8]

With BJJ, the practitioner welcomes the ground instead of fearing the ground!!

The uncomfortable becomes comfortable!!

The unforeseen becomes foreseen!!

The impossible become possible!!

The ground is no-mans land for many practitioners of the MA that have no ground training, and that fear, multiplies ones fear of the unknown ground...BJJ dispels that faster than Tide dispels a stain on ones clothes.

[XtremeTrainer]

Name a few for the uninitiated. It seems less reliant upon explosiveness and strength like wrestling, since many laser sharp masters are rather skinny. And BJJ guys are excellent in defensive positions.

I've been doing BJJ for about a year and a half now. What I can tell you with what experience I've got is that particularly at higher levels it is less physical and more strategic. While it does require some strength no matter what level you're at, from what I know the Gracies modified Japanese Jiu Jitsu first of all to focus more on groundwork but also for some of the moves to require minimal physical strength. BJJ is human chess, especially when you get to more advanced levels. As of right now all I've got are pawns and maybe a knight, the really advanced people have got all queens.