[bennyb]

Thought I'd share a couple new pics I took.

[Andy62]

Very impressive !

[Michael Beasley]

Great stuff Benny!

[John Peterson]

Hello Benny,

You certainly appear very powerful and at 5'10" 255 lbs of muscle, you are seeing yourself eclipse many others that have literally 10 X as much time and experience as you have in terms BJJ. This is where your extreme strength and conditioning are paying off for you big time. As you learn the subtle nuances of movement. balance, and leverage, I have no doubt that you will be able to go as far as you want to go.

For a man that has what you have in place naturally, World Class potential is evident.

God Bless You, My Friend.

---John Peterson

[bennyb]

Originally Posted by John Peterson

Hello Benny,

You certainly appear very powerful and at 5'10" 255 lbs of muscle, you are seeing yourself eclipse many others that have literally 10 X as much time and experience as you have in terms BJJ. This is where your extreme strength and conditioning are paying off for you big time. As you learn the subtle nuances of movement. balance, and leverage, I have no doubt that you will be able to go as far as you want to go.

For a man that has what you have in place naturally, World Class potential is evident.

God Bless You, My Friend.

---John Peterson

Thanks John. I'll take the compliments lol.

[bennyb]

To give you an idea on my BJJ experience, here's my thing about it some might wonder. I haven't tapped anyone out YET, only because i am inexperienced. Im basically surviving against these guys. Some of them have been ruthless with me. When I first started, I was tapping out practically every 4 seconds. Even my coach told how bad I was and made it a point to throw so many things at me about how to work against guys who are purple belts and very strong wrestlers who are white belts. I've gone against Black Belts and they're brutal. As I learned more and more, it's taken them more time if not more than one round to tap me out. We do 5 minute rounds up to 5-6 at a time and on most sessions I do up to 4 in a row or every other round because there aren't many of us in there at times.

One day, I will have one of them tapping out, it may not happen today, maybe not next week, but it will happen. I've even had days against them that I didn't tap out the entire time and I'm proud of that and just surviving going the distance. These guys are far better athletes than I ever will be, one has even competed in Japan, the UFC and has had a decent kickboxing career so to me, he's the most intimidating to roll with. It truly is an honor to go against these guys. I'm no tap out artist, I'll admit it but I'm not a pushover and give them an arm, leg, knee or ankle either.

[John Peterson]

Hey Benny,

What you have written above explains for one and all why I have predicted that YOU will become a master level competitor.

But before I go any further Congratulations are in order! By gradually mastering BJJ over the balance of your lifetime you will be able to apply your great strength in the most vital and functional of all ways to apply it, and that is in self defense of yourself and those you love.

At the same time, make no mistake about it, those men that were once tapping you out every 4-seconds are learning something too as they grapple with a man more than twice as strong and well conditioned as they are and they are realizing that as you grow and mature and learn the subtle nuances of the art that they too have to improve or the day will certainly come that the student becomes the master and ends up tapping them out.

Keep it my friend and remain a life long martial artist, that way you are achieving a maximum of functional strength and fitness.

You're in my prayers Benny...I love to see how YOU have grown as a writer, a warrior and a MAN.

---John Peterson

[Michael Beasley]

Benny, you are blessed with strength. My advice is to try not to rely on that when grappling. You can in competition, but in learning BJJ concentrate on the techniques. If you master those, your strength will push you over the top.

[ware]

Originally Posted by Michael Beasley

Benny, you are blessed with strength. My advice is to try not to rely on that when grappling. You can in competition, but in learning BJJ concentrate on the techniques. If you master those, your strength will push you over the top.

I would agree. I wrestled years ago. I was strong from lifting weights. I was able to dominate anyone that was not technically better than I was because of my strength. But, the better technicians could always beat me unless they made a mistake. Strength is the icing on the cake.

Listen to some of Firas Zahibi's stuff on strength for MMA. His thoughts are basically how strong do you need to be? Not bodybuilder or powerlifter strong for sure. Once you are strong enough then maintain and work on other things. In your particular case Benny, you have a gift of strength and a love of pursuing it so I'm sure that even if you decide you are strong enough for BJJ you will still work on bending or some other aspect of interest.

[JamesDT]

Fantastic job.. Many compliments to you. Brute strength!!! Comic book superhero level bulk! Would you mind sharing your recent workout regimen?