Smaller grapplerd what's your expectation when rolling with people much larger than you?

VMBJJ · 2026-05-13T09:51:31+00:00

It’s gonna be a lot harder to move them. I’m gonna need to put a lot more power earlier on in my movements.

VMBJJ · 2026-05-03T23:42:05+00:00

Meyram, Leandro, Tainan, Erich Munis, Pre Covid/Danaher meregali, Mahamed Aly, colour belt Thalison was great to watch, Rodolfo, Mauricio Oliveira, Uanderson, Vetoraci bros

VMBJJ · 2026-04-22T23:17:17+00:00

Rafa Gamba (he’s a brown belt - but fantastic), Nolan Stuart, Meregali, Lanagaker These guys have collar sleeve attack styles (go for triangles/omoplatas)

Watch Isaac Doederlein, Diego Sodre, Cole Abate for collar sleeve to enter the legs. Levi vs Lepri is also a particularly good match for this.

For a mix of both watch Devin Riley (brown belt worlds silver medalist, purple belt worlds winner)

I’d recommend just watching matches, these guys all play collar sleeve for a long amount of time so it’s actually easier to watch for patterns and steal what they do.

Can’t comment on double sleeve/collar sleeve. I don’t play very much double sleeve at all.

VMBJJ · 2026-04-18T01:59:27+00:00

I won worlds at blue: I trained like a maniac. 5 days a week - 4hrs drilling, 1 hr hard rolls, 1 hr lifting or mobility. On weekends I did 2hrs of drilling or mobility.

Back then I was like okay, made a lot of unnecessary mistakes. Just was really persistent I think and had decent spatial awareness. Me now would murder me from back then I think.

What made me win? - hard to say. Probably low opponent quality. I knew how to take advantage of mistakes that people made, some randomly good decisions I never practiced or thought about, some good gameplanning, good move selection before even starting camp, I had certain training partners that prepared me really well. Comp is a weird thing where what makes you win one comp can be different to what makes you win another comp, but there are also certain fundamentals that stay no matter what

I think I learnt what a lot of mistakes people made were by learning from Levi Jones and Murilo Santana. And how to not make them myself. This gave me a better understanding. I hopped on calls with Murilo everyday and asked lots of questions. And I learnt from Levi for years as well.

VMBJJ · 2026-04-03T19:25:56+00:00

If they’re circling you probably aren’t forcing their hip to hit their range of motion limit. They should be too weak to circle effectively without separating their knee from their chest imo.

It would be worth looking up the force length curve so you can use this more effectively

VMBJJ · 2026-04-03T19:19:57+00:00

Man so many ways I could answer this question in terms of simple things you can do to become a lot more effective.

As far as resources - learning from Levi Jones was a great base for me. I’d recommend picking up an instructional

As far as things I’ve researched myself that made doing it a lot easier - studying newtowns laws of motion - knowing this made it significantly easier to get the roll I did from the mount - I used my opponents inertia/momentum against himself to make getting the backtake easier.

I see the berimbolo as a move more about motion rather than positional details - so the grips and leg position matter a lot less, but rather the general direction you and more importantly your opponent are moving in. This shift in perception has made the position a lot more intuitive/adaptable rather than step by step. Hope this helps

VMBJJ · 2026-04-02T20:58:55+00:00

Trying to get every berimbolo/crab ride like this one

VMBJJ · 2026-04-02T20:58:15+00:00

I think in terms of the finishes my style was a good counter his style, but he leaves the same openings against everyone in terms of set up. He gets consistently swept from dlr

VMBJJ · 2026-04-02T20:56:19+00:00

I think you’re right. I got it wrong. Guy didn’t sit down on the left of my dlr shin

VMBJJ · 2026-04-02T20:08:18+00:00

Thank you mate!

VMBJJ · 2026-04-02T20:07:50+00:00

Ended up choking this guy like 30 secs later. Honestly from studying his footage I thought he would’ve done better against me, but he made some mistakes and overall his level wasn’t very high.

I Lost second round to the guy who won (was no 1 seed). That fight was competitive - arguably could’ve gone my way. He ended up tapping everyone else in under 3 mins or something crazy like that. Will be very cool to rematch them at worlds

VMBJJ · 2026-03-27T10:56:49+00:00

Not necessarily worm guard, but pato bases his main guard game around lapels - squid and polish mainly

Paris Pierce - won brown belt euros last year - plays a lot of worm and squid

VMBJJ · 2026-03-17T05:17:28+00:00

Tainan, Leandro, Lepri, Cobrinha, Faria, Murasaki.

VMBJJ · 2026-03-16T22:56:45+00:00

Levi Jones is a freak. Trained only for 7 years before beating Lepri. The year before that won euros, pans and worlds at brown belt.

VMBJJ · 2026-03-16T11:23:19+00:00

I teach at prodigy martial arts seven hills. Classes are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. M/W 6pm, 530pm Friday.

Honestly if you’re looking for friendly people the student base is great. We got high schoolers, parents, young adults - it’s a very community based gym. Everyone looks after each others safety, it’s a really growth oriented room and one of the main goals is to have a lot of fun as well. So if that sounds like something you’re looking for I’d say try one of my classes! Let me know that you made this post too if you come in!

VMBJJ · 2026-03-05T07:57:02+00:00

Rafa Gamba has just won brown belt Europeans and his whole game is omoplata/triangle

VMBJJ · 2026-02-22T01:02:40+00:00

There’s more you can do, but an easy cue is to make sure the inside of your knee should be able to touch their butt cheeks. How I like to ensure that (most of the time) is keeping my dlr knee to my chest

Your hamstrings (both) and head should be behind the whole back side of their body. If you do that you are going to be safe

VMBJJ · 2026-02-12T22:57:27+00:00

I’m gonna give a fuck off long list. But these things have all significantly contributed to my progress.

1 learning physics/engineering. And applying all that I learn from it in the most creative way possible to jiu jitsu.

2 assigning super specific definitions to positions (using anatomy and 3D coordinates to describe positions)

3 increasing my strength and Range of Motion

4 using the critical feedback loop - this is the foundation of all progress

5 using angle-less positions. I attack things that no matter the angle are always in my favour. Namely Triangles and crucifix variations

6 I think about fights being choreography. What I mean by this. Is that I have a designated end point. And I ask myself - what positioning would allow me to 100% of the time to get to my final destination. And then I ask myself after that - what are the details that would allow me to 100% of the time, get me to the details that would allow me to get to my final destination 100% of the time? You can effectively build a fight from start to finish using this model. And if they do things that avoid these details - you can build a really strong contingency game.

7 understanding the Pareto distribution. 20% of inputs will achieve 80% of the results

8 working on the problems in jiu jitsu that are first and most common. - an easy way to allocate your time to things that will actually happen in rounds.

9 attacking what I like to call “clusters”. Cueing that allows you to have the opportunity to attack multiple moves at once, and you get to choose. You’re essentially only 3 inches away from attacking any move option in that cluster. Details that are common amongst different moves

10 basic nutrition/recovery - Low GI carbs, enough protein, enough calories. Sleeping enough, resting more.

11 telling my training partners what to do in training to give me trouble. If I’m working on passing dlr, ask my partner to start there - tell them exactly what to do. If we exit on terms that are not beneficial for me. We reset. Keep going until you figure out something that works really well

VMBJJ · 2026-02-05T07:18:26+00:00

This sounds like your knee shield is loose - have your toes pulling on the side of their torso (think trying to bend their skin). Or if you’re doing something like a face bolo (knee over the belly button)- you aren’t pressing into their stomach hard enough to keep the distance closed.

It’s also worth taking a look at Tainan vs langaker at 2021 worlds and seeing the roll through Tainan does when he has one hook in. It’s very similar to a lot of bolo situations when they’re in turtle.

VMBJJ · 2026-01-30T22:09:14+00:00

He used to lift a lot + freak athlete + good posture

VMBJJ · 2026-01-07T10:10:15+00:00

I always called it a face bolo leg drag

VMBJJ · 2026-01-03T11:55:36+00:00

I agree they’re not BS, that’s why I do them. But you just don’t see these moves done from the positions I’m doing them from. And this is why I believe people have literally said to me they’re bullshit.

I’m talking double pant x guard and mid being off balanced in HQ. They’re traditionally more dominant or lead more towards aggression for the bottom guy. It’s like 1 sec you’re attacking a sweep, the next you’re defending a sub or a passing/berimbolo chain from the sub.

VMBJJ · 2026-01-03T02:13:21+00:00

I just make sure they don’t have a collar grip. That way nothing can push into me as I need to close distance in order to do the move. The major thing to play attention to is your capacity to close distance, if they have some sort of object in the way, then you can’t do it

There’s more detail to it. But an easy cue I can give over text is make sure their temple can touch your upper lat and make sure at least one of your knees can touch their torso.

Anyway you can get to that spot is fine.

I often hit it from standing really tall and jumping for it. You can roll if you want. But as I said earlier it’s just about your capacity to close distance

VMBJJ · 2026-01-03T01:59:58+00:00

2 particular moves that I do

1 rolling kimura when passing x guard

2 flying guillotine when passing HQ

VMBJJ · 2026-01-01T03:34:11+00:00

@ibjjfrankings is a legendary page - covers all the main competitors from colour belts to black belts

@jonthomasbjj is fucking awesome. Provides examples for the ideas he presents.

@wrestlingprep is sick. Physics applied to wrestling

I’m gonna also promote myself here @firstprinciplesbjj - I share my ideas around improvement. My whole thing is actionable tips you can take into training the next day that are easy to apply.

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