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Comment by sizzle | Hacker News Reader

How do wrestlers fare at BJJ? Do they throw you for a loop so to speak because their moves are so unpredictable and they have advanced grapple reflexes?

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Nicky Rodriguez, a life long wrestler was beating world class black belts in only a year of training. We had a D1 wrestler join our gym and after the first week was awarded a blue belt (usually takes 2-3 years).

They won’t know many submissions, and initially are more susceptible to exposing their back (in wrestling being on your back is the worst possible outcome where in jiu jitsu it’s an offensive position), but at the end of the day grappling is grappling.

Nicky Rod is also a big exception. D1 wrestlers are a small % of all wrestlers. Most wrestlers I encounter are like good white belts, but they have a ton of bad habits like you mentioned. Wrestlers do alright in BJJ though, for sure. They have a good sense of bodies and weight, though I have seen it hinder some wrestlers who stay in their comfort zone and never branch out, eventually losing out to folks who focus more on BJJ technique.

Yeah that’s fair, the same can be said about really strong people who only rely on strength. They seem really good initially but 5 years later they are still just trying their Americanas from inside someone’s closed guard.

Wrestlers aren't that unpredictable, and are usually more controlled than an untrained person off the street. Depending on how much wrestling experience someone has, it can definitely start them out at a higher level. But, they still have a lot of blind spots - particularly if you put a gi on them.

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