Being an tall lanky Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner can be a blessing. But it can also seem somewhat of a curse when you go against a more compact BJJ guard passer / wrestler type who knows how to tuck their body into a tight little ball that leaves no openings.
My body type falls sort of in the middle. I’m 6’0 210-215lbs give or take a few. So I’m kind of average. Although in most cases when I compete in my division (super heavy) I am the short of the BJJ competitors.
So more often than not I play compact. Because of this I know certain positions that I don’t necessarily like.
One position in BJJ that seems to frustrate a compact player, if done right, is the knee shield half guard. The knee provides a barrier between the compact top player and the longer person on the bottom. This allows the BJJ Guard player on the bottom to maintain space to open up their attacks from the half guard. Rather than getting squashed. If the grips are used in tandem with the space that’s created. You can also keep the guard passer on top off balance.
If you’re a tall lanky Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner. This can be a great position because it allows you the space you need to setup things like guard sweeps, collar chokes, armbars and triangle chokes. I mean, the triangle choke is almost always synonymous with a tall lanky BJJ player.
