Muscle=bad

Considering the lowliness of my rank in Jiu-Jitsu, I've rolled with a lot of people.

At home it's been limited to a couple of dozen, but out on the road there have been more.

In Arizona, I figure I've sparred with about ten, and in Los Angeles about a hundred.

Let's call it an even 125 sparring partners.

Out of all those people, well over 80% have been on-the-matt to improve their technique. The few others have had other agendas. I Find the silliest to be somebody who desperately wants to submit me, or to dominate me.

What's with that?

I'd guess about a dozen of my partners have been Brown or Black Belts. All these events have been similar in one way. They all let me try my stuff, or forced me to defend to the best of my ability. None went all-out, but when they pushed it was always with technical skill.

Except for one guy. He wasn't taller than me, but must like lifting weights. His arms are bigger around than my thighs. Also, he wanted to dominate me, but he didn't do it with skill. He did stuff like grabbing both of my wrists, and then clasping them in one of his hands. This, of course, left his other free to attack with while I effectively had no hands at all.

So here is this high-rank, big-muscle guy trying to dominate this old, low belt with strength.

Surprisingly, I found him relatively easy to defend against, considering his level. So what if he could trap both of my arms with one of his? What's he planning on doing with his free hand; tickle me to death?

This kind of thing went on for several minutes. During this time, Ryron Gracie yelled at my partner to, “use technique,” and, “stop using muscle.” My partner just carried on.

Ryron came and shooed me out, taking my place. Muscle-boy tried his stuff. He used power to try and force stuff through on Ryron, but it didn't do him any good at all. Ryron neutralized his power easily.

I don't think the guy got the message. He was used to forcing things through with strength against lower belts like me, and it worked, just not as well as better technique would have. He also tried to use strength on more skillful opponents, and it didn't work at all.

I wish I could have borrowed this other guy I met down there. He was attending some university on a football scholarship. His position was something like tackle. He is huge, and is clearly the strongest person I've ever rolled with, and also the largest. He rolls like a great partner, and uses skill and speed rather than power. He is also a Blue Belt like me.

It would have been perfect if he'd been put with mister muscle. That guy's entire game would have collapsed under the weight and power of the football player. Imagine how badly he'd have freaked out to have found himself with nothing he could use against a Blue Belt.

Last night I experienced something similar again. A stronger, heavier guy really, really wanted to submit me. This would be fine, except he wanted to do it using power and determination.

Several times we ended up in positions where he had the potential to go for an armbar, but didn't try as I was setting up to defend. It would have been a race of quickness and skill, and he never went for it. It might have failed, and he wanted to succeed.

He would let it go without making the attempt, so he could find something he was more comfortable with.

Through it all, he tried crushing, pain techniques that don't really force a submission. In no real danger from such, I would work myself out. He was causing pain to no effect.

He finally caught me at the very end of our five-minute round with an extended Americana armlock, and I tapped.

None of the submission attempts he made during the entire roll, including the final Americana, would have had any chance against a similarly powerful partner. None.

How would he do against the football guy, or the LA muscle guy?

How do you prepare for such an encounter? What you do is to roll as if everybody is within your strength range. If you catch yourself doing something that would never work against somebody your own size, let it go immediately. It is impossible to do this perfectly, but the goal should be to try.

This is also better for your partners. Nobody likes

That way you are magically never able to rely on strength. Every roll is a practice of skills that you'll need someday against the inevitable stronger opponent.