I'm looking to finally turn to the "light side" and actually work towards a Black Belt in BJJ. Just curious what camps/systems/seminars/videos my fellow grapplers and frenzied suggest. I'm a big guy at 275 but I have incorporated rubber guard into my SAMBO so I'm just curious for suggestions. I have tested out at a brown belt level according to BJJ instructors in the area but too many areas are becoming purely MMA based and I can only grapple and teach striking due to my neck. Anyways, feel free to throw me some suggestions.
BJJ Systems
(16 posts) (6 voices)-
I don't train personally, but I know there are a lot of "Gracie Jiu Jitsu" affiliates around. You could look for one of those. As far as DVDs, again I know the Gracie's have one, but they are not the only ones. If you head over to your local bookstore you can find a multitude of books by different members of the Gracie family, as well as by Eddie Bravo and I think Robert Drysdale, among others. There is also Jiu-Jitsu 101 (I think) on YouTube, as well as 10th Planet(Bravo) has some videos on YouTube.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Yeah I started with Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet Mastering the Rubber Guard book, and I loved it. Thanks for the heads up. The one Gracie Affiliate closest to my area said he'd call me if they ever got any big guys worth coming in for but every time I've checked the guys are there for the wrong reasons or are so far below my level I can't develop anything and end up not being to get anything out of rolling with them.
That sounds really elitist but I really don't mean to be!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Yeah, I understand that. I expect it will be hard to find many BJJ guys your size, it seems like heavies are usually strikers or wrestlers, and therefore not going to show up in your local BJJ gym. I'm sure you can find something in your area though.
Do I remember correctly that you are in the Atlanta area? If so, and you are willing to make the ~2 hr drive to Athens you could go to The Hardcore Gym and train with Rory and Adam Singer (Adam is a big fellow).
Posted 4 months ago # -
Well I did both striking and both HS-College wrestling for years and while Muay Thai is one of my best aspects the neck-head injury history kinda screws that up. I have realized though I prefer grappling to wrestling, I just get bored with wrestling because I love to work off my back and there's little better in combat sports than tricking someone into submission by using finesse rather than strength.
Yeah I am in the Atlanta area and I have pondered checking that place out. I'd just have to figure out some arrangement because it'd be quite a haul to pull off.
Posted 4 months ago # -
You could go train BJJ with Frank Mir...hes pretty big...
haha just kidding, or was I?
Posted 4 months ago # -
what city are you in chrisl? i can look up any schools if you can tell me and i can ask my instructor if he knows anyone from your area usually he does because he travels alot
Posted 4 months ago # -
chrisl, heres what i could find...from what ive heard my trainer doesnt know the bjj teacher personally but he said that from what he's heard and experienced at grappling tournaments that alliance BJJ is the best in all of GA and its in atlanta...not to mention hears some info on the head trainer
Jacare, elected 2008 Instructor of the Year by OnTheMat.com, is our professor, head coach, and chief BJJ instructor. He is a Grappling Hall of Fame inductee who is a 6th degree black belt under the legendary Rolls Gracie. Jacare is founder and head coach of the Alliance Team and he has led them to many championships. He has coached and trained champions like Fabio Gurgel, Fernando Gurgel, Leozinho Vieira, Ricardinho Vieira, Paulo Sergio Santos, Ricardo “Franjinha” Miller, Chris Moriarty, and many more. As a coach, and former Brazilian champion, he has a unique understanding of what to expect in competiton and has helped many competitors achieve their goals in both BJJ and MMA. As an instructor, Jacare is unsurpassed in his attention to details and he gladly passes his knowledge on to his students.
heres the address(i dont know if its anywhere near your part of atalanta but )
-Alliance Martial Arts Center® 6331 Roswell Road Atlanta, GA 30328
-(404) 843-0606 (phone)
-info@alliancebjj.com(Email)
Posted 4 months ago # -
chrisl - you may want to look into a guy named Manny Rodriguez.
I believe that he is the current [or former] King of the Cage HW champion and a He11a courageous cancer survivor. He also has a rep for tweaking BJJ for big men, and I think at 275 you and he are at the same [walkaround] weight.
While he isn't in the Atlanta area, he might have some DVDs or other media on his unique training tips for big men.Specifically in the Atlanta area, more specifically Roswell, GA, there is a place that has a solid BJJ rep amongst my fellow scientific/catch-wrestlers called the Tiger Academy, which teaches Gracie JJ and hosted a Royce Gracie seminar about 5 weeks ago.
Tiger grapplers routinely beat ToeHold Club catch-wrestlers from all across the SouthEast, which is bad for them but good for you.
They also have the seal of approval from the Pedro Sauer JJ Association, which from what BJJ guys tell me isn't the easiest to get for schools not run by MMA superstars and/or BJJ/grappling champions.Also, with all due respect to Gunslinger, and of course Jacare, but Alliance Martial Arts Centre is He11a expensive, and Tiger Academy is considered by ATL area grapplers to be a more affordable alternative to Alliance.
Plus they are one of the very few schools still teaching the old Wing Chun fight style, which is the first martial art Bruce Lee mastered when he was living in Hong Kong, which IMO says a lot about their POV on martial arts.Hope the info helps, bro, and keep us posted on the "chrisl bjj project"...
;)Posted 4 months ago # -
haha thanks man. Yeah Alliance is great but waaay out of my price range. Plus they have some pretty annoying guidelines at this one you have to fulfill to stay there longterm. You know I have heard of Tiger Academy, that's pretty nice they can the Sauer Association, I know Big Frog trained under him.
I was also looking to get in contact with the original spider but his gym is somewhat of a pain in the a$$ to get to
Speaking of walk around weight I should specify that 275 is walk around weight, I just have an advantage of carrying that weight and being 6'3" so BJJ is a lil easier than if I were shorter and the same weight. Thanks for the help Jcohl, I'll have to start slow with HS wrestling season starting up but it is something I eventually want to achieve. I'm still having a problem coaching the HS kids because I keep going to my back, locking up chokes, but also I've already taught several kids how to sweep their way out of a bad position haha. It's weird being back on a mat and wearing shoes again.
Posted 4 months ago # -
most bjj schools don't care about the weight there is a gracie school in NH and some of the beginners are heavy guys chris so I can't see atlanta being any different.....I'm lucky here there is a gracie school where rickson visits sometimes and a pat miletech school right down the street
Posted 4 months ago # -
The problem isn't the weight, it's that I'm already at a higher starting level than most, plus most big athletic guys in the south are playing football somewhere. Here in the south a lot of people still think working on the ground is "g a y," so it's pretty hard to find solid partners to actually learn things with. Plus at 6'3" 275 it's harder to learn proper form when the guy I'm rolling with is 5'6" 140. Most instructors do not care(you are correct there) but I'm looking to get back into grappling competitions and I can't prepare working with smaller guys, you don't get a good feel for the moves. I was fortunate to have two big russians (6'5" 245 pound guys) when I was just practicing SAMBO but they moved back to Russia when the Ossetia conflict broke out. You just don't find a lot of big guys down here who want to actually learn BJJ.
Posted 4 months ago #
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