The Best Body Type for BJJ?

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What do you think is the best body type for BJJ?

The lanky type like Keenan Cornelius’s?

The short and stocky type like Andre Galvao’s?

Or the body type of people like Roger Gracie, Buchecha, and Gordon Ryan?

These guys are the best of the best, after all.

Sure, if you wanted to become an open weight champion, it indeed helps to be heavy and strong …

But then we see a match between Mikey Musmeci and Mahamed Aly where Mikey almost beat Mahamed Aly.

The weight difference between them was like 40kg.

Then, there’s someone like Lachlan Giles.

He got a bronze medal in the open weight division at the last ADCC, submitting elite heavyweight competitors with heel hook.

Lachlan competed as a 77kg grappler, and I suppose his opponents were all about 20kg heavier than him.

What’s interesting is that Lachlan fought against Lucas Lepri in his division and lost to Lepri.

Lepri passed Lachlan’s guard and dominated Lachlan from the back position.

Lepri has beaten giants like Seif Houmine (about 140kg?) and Abraham Marte while being a lightweight (76kg) competitor.

Some moves are easier to do and more available for specific body types. But it doesn’t mean you cannot or should not do these moves, especially if you find it easy to execute them.

The point is … there’s something unique about your body type, and you can use this uniqueness as your advantage.

There are probably some disadvantages to it as well, but it’s up to you to cover or strengthen them with proper technique or extra training.

Jean Jacques Machado* was born with only two fingers on his left hand.

But he developed his game around under hooks instead of playing a typical grip-oriented game.

And he became one of the best grapplers of his time.

(* A legendary grappler and one of the Machado brothers. Eddie Bravo studied under JJ Machado.)

So, there’s no such thing as “the best” body type for BJJ at the end of the day.

When you think of your body type, it’s much better to find your unique strengths rather than worrying about what you perceive to be your defects.

Don’t cry over the cards you were dealt.

Learn to get the most out of them …

BJJ will help you with that.