Body type and advantage: observe the three men in the photo. It is immediately apparent that all three differ markedly in body type. They share something in common however – all three were Olympic champions in and rose to be the absolute best in the world in their generation and arguably of all time. The same game can be played in jiu jitsu. There are many distinguished figures in contemporary jiu jitsu, too many to list here, but six names that nobody will argue against being described as among the foremost in success and influence in their time in the sport would be Roger Gracie, Braulio Estima, Marcelo Garcia, Rafael Mendes, Cobrinha and Leandro Lo. Yet it is clear that these champions have very different bodies and even look very different in the way they their bodies. The lesson is simple – WE CANNOT USE BODY TYPE AS AN EXCUSE FOR SUCCESS OR IN ANY FORM OF GRAPPLING SPORT. There is no link between championship success and body type. So often I am asked whether an athlete I coach is more with a given move or due to his body type. For example, people will often tell me that the long rangy body of Gordon Ryan is the key to his strong control. Yet they overlook the readily observable fact that Eddie Cummings, with an entirely different body type, also exhibits very strong back control – he just uses different methods. The same can be said of Roger Gracie and Marcelo Garcia – both were superb in attacking the back, but they have very different bodies and very different methodologies. In truth, THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO ACHIEVE VICTORY IN OUR SPORT THAT NO ONE BODY TYPE CAN MONOPOLIZE GOLD MEDALS. There are sports where body types and confer advantage – basketball is an obvious example – there are only so many ways to get a ball in a net high above the average persons reach; but jiu jitsu is not like this. None of the major submission holds require any exceptional physical gifts and the means of getting to them are limitless – so success is equal opportunity in jiu jitsu and the winners podium at the best known competitions reflect this heartening fact.

No tags for this post.