Big Concerns

The bigger people are, the bigger their responsibility is to look after training partners. To quote Spider-Man, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Firstly, I am one of these guys. I am both over 6ft tall and over 100kg. I have to admit, there are times you forget about your size. I can tell you, however, no one else does – not for a second. There are some reasons why big guys can become dangerous. One is they are just dangerous to start with. Another reason is, and this has happened to me, as a bigger guy, when you walk into a fight gym and step on the mat, you almost automatically have a target on your back. The big guys want to beat you and the smaller people do too. The problem is not necessarily the big guys, that just kind of sorts itself out. Rather, it’s the smaller people that become difficult to interact with, especially in striking. Some of the smaller people feel they can hit you as hard as they want (“he’s big, he can take it”) then when you pop them back with a solid shot, you look like the asshole. In that situation it becomes a lose-lose situation and from what I’ve experienced in fight gyms, it continues until people know that they can trust you and that can take some time. You have to be able to go at the right level against the right people; too hard and you look like a dick, too soft and it comes across as disrespectful.

After grappling for a while, I started asking people what they hate about grappling bigger guys and the answer is always the same “when they just hold you in side-control.” I have been guilty of this and to be honest, I still am. However, from the outside looking in, it seems the annoyance comes from the feeling that is all the bigger person can do. That is, they are not beating you with anything other than gravity and that pisses people off. If two skilled people are rolling and one is bigger and they are working like hell to hold a position then that is just part of the game. But when a 100kg guy is squishing a 50kg girl, that is just poor form. This can come from a couple of places and that is bigger guys have been able to solve most of their problems with strength so what the hell else are they going to use. It can also be a fear of getting beaten, or the ugly side of being competitive, they must crush and kill all comers so the instructor can see how good they are and give them their new belt. Then there is the lack of options, they don’t actually have anything else they can do as they don’t have any other positions that they are comfortable with so they just squash. For me, I try to remember what is like to get mauled in grappling so after some taps or control I flip positions or try some different things. The down side of this is when people get a little excited about their dominant position and get a little carried away which can cause them to get squished again.

From my own personal perspective, which is one-eyed obviously, I do not use full power or strength in training unless it is really called for. So, when people say that you got that because of strength or power, I do get frustrated. As a bigger person, it is almost inevitable to use that strength and size; it becomes difficult to not use it. But it should be in addition to their skills, not the go to. Therefore, when I am striking against smaller people, I try to match them with speed and skill. Lots of head movement and so on. Yes, my reach will always be a benefit at range so you can get in closer to make it more even and so on. In grappling I work my guard or side control escapes against smaller people. Basically, I try to take what they are best at and compete in that area as fairly as possible.

With smaller people, I wait until they ask me to spar or roll as I do not want anyone to feel uncomfortable against me. It is also a constant that we remind people to keep in mind who they’re sparring against; someone smaller, bigger, more experienced, less experienced, and so on. Everything needs to be considered. It must be said that I have a lot of respect for the smaller people in the martial arts world. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be training against someone a foot taller and 50kg heavier. That is something that I have not even got close to experiencing. Then when I have trained with people bigger, I realise how much it does suck. On the other side of that coin, though, you can see why the smaller fighters are technically the best. Since, in many instances, skills and technique is what they have to rely on – full respect to you all out there.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor