Whilst training and teaching last night we had a new chap come along. A big chap. He is a local doorman and built like a tank. This guy is some south england strong man contender and he is to be fair a unit. Very nice chap but it was fun rolling with him. I went for a shoulder choke as it was a simple option but his chest (peck) muscle and bicep are so big his arm WILL NOT reach his throat for the choke!!! I laughed to myself inside (amongst the panic of Oh Poop!) and then had to go for the armbar but talk about funny!!! What a laugh! - He has a fair punch on him as well being about 22 stone of muscle and about 6'1!
As an interesting training point how will you adapt your approach to take advantage of his weaknesses? Personally i like training with larger opponents as you train harder to achieve your goal.
What is interesting people have said I am very strong but I am not a patch on this guy I know that, In light sparring he is powerful and has a Karate background besides his reality stuff from doorman work etc. Really nice guy though and the low Thai style kicks he was very impressed with despite his leg hurting from just light ones. He was stunned at how hard me and my guys kick the pads and pleased that in a few weeks he will be getting towards that level. This guy for me with a bit of training will prove an excellent training partner as he is a real powerhouse and best of all he is soooooo keen and humble to learn.
Ah sorry how I will adapt is is pretty much as I said in last post. 1) Work his cardio for one as he should (hopes) gas before I do. 2) Work on using my speed to out manover him 3) As I did at the time stick behind my Jap and low kick as its a life saver and worked very well 4) In grappling isolate limbs as body builders can suffer with less flexability in their joints so Kimaura, arm bar and other joint maniplulation can work very well. 5) Rely on my ability to throw people as this is a good strength of mine and I can throw big guys well and have sufficient technique to support their weigh. 6) In striking body shots also work well as he has a low body fat index shots count more. Plenty of others but you get my drift.
I'm not the largest buy far in the circles i train in nor the smallest. Now a few years back we had a chap, 20 odd stone bodybuilder, really had to work hard to adapt. The area this particular chap was weak on(not saying that all BIG guys are) was flexibility and size. The was just some ttechniques this guy could not get on, mind you it REALLY hurt when he hit me. Another thing i noticed was reversed wrist locks dropped the guy everytime moreso than small guys, mind getting into a postion to apply was another story completly. Also he seemed more weak towards attacks towards large muscle groups. Now i am my own worse enemy as i don't give anything away you have to really take it, which normally involves beating the snot out of me. But the power this guy did have, i remember him dropping a strike on my shoulder real hard and the whole of my left side of my body just went numb. I have heard the aspect of bigger people with lower cardio levels an in the ones i have met it rings true but then again i have not trained with hundreds so can't speak from wide experience. As per throws, totally agree as i was dumped hard from 5ft last night straight onto the point of my shoulder (my arms were trapped after going for a choke) i could not breathe properly for a couple of minutes. But its all good fun, come home with loads of bruises and aches and pains.
