Okay, so, I’ve been hitting the mats a lot lately, trying to get better at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. One thing I’ve been experimenting with is the turtle position, especially since I’m a bigger guy. I heard some mixed things about whether it’s good for us big folks, so I decided to put it to the test myself.
First off, I started by drilling the basic turtle position. You know, getting down on all fours, keeping my elbows tight to my body, and making sure my head was tucked in. I practiced this a bunch with some of the other guys at the gym. It felt awkward at first, especially with my size, but I started getting the hang of it after a few sessions.
- Spent the first few days just getting used to being in turtle.
- Worked on keeping my base solid and not letting anyone tip me over easily.
Next, I started working on defending from the turtle. This was tough. I had some of the smaller, quicker guys trying to take my back, and let me tell you, it was a struggle to keep them off. I focused on staying heavy, blocking their hooks, and using my weight to my advantage. It was tiring, man, but I could see how this position could be useful in a real roll or even a fight.
- Had guys try to take my back while I was in turtle.
- Focused on blocking and using my weight to make it hard for them.
After getting comfortable with defending, I started to think about attacking from the turtle. This is where things got interesting. I experimented with a few different techniques. One that I found worked pretty well was wrapping my opponent’s upper body and kind of knocking them off balance. It’s not easy, and you’ve got to be quick, but when it works, it’s a great way to get out of a bad spot.
Trying Out Some Attacks
I tried a few things like:
- Going for a quick roll to try and reverse the position.
- Using my legs to push off and create some space.
- Once, I even tried to go for a weird kind of choke, but that didn’t really pan out.
Honestly, it’s still a work in progress. I’m not some Jiu-Jitsu master or anything, just a regular guy trying to learn. But from what I’ve experienced so far, the turtle position can be useful for bigger guys like me. It’s not a magic bullet, and it takes a lot of practice, but it’s definitely something I’m going to keep working on. It’s not just about offense. Being able to hunker down and not get tapped out right away? That’s huge, especially when you’re gassed.
So, if you’re a bigger dude or dudette doing BJJ, don’t sleep on the turtle. It might just save your bacon sometime. Keep grinding, folks!
