I figured that - now. Back then I wasn’t confident. Appreciate the encouragement.
Appreciate this!
I bought an RV, Maine is on my bucket list!
My lifting partner is a blue belt, and he put the first Jiu Jitsu bug in my ear last year. He also kicked some serious ass when we bounced together last year. I just spent the last few weeks training another blue belt at my day job. He’s been putting Jiu Jitsu bugs in my ear too. So I took the plunge.
I was mostly worried that a smaller, more skilled student would want to use me as their meatbag. Most people in my class could have done just that, but none of them did. That’s been my experience so far.
Do it! I know a few good campgrounds in this neck of the woods.
It’s different honestly. I was big into MMA before I got into strength sports, and I wrestled in high school as my base. Wrestling was a lot more intuitive to me than striking. Yeah, it’s easy to throw a punch, but footwork, head movement, evasion, setting up strikes and openings, working angles, etc, can get tricky. With grappling, my opponent is pretty much stuck, and it’s about jockeying for position, and sometimes you can just be slippery and sweaty and get lucky.
That said, the top levels of both disciplines are insanely complicated.
So here’s the deal, like you said, it’s kind of easy to throw a punch, but a lot more difficult to strike effectively. I think most of us go into a martial art for different reasons, for me, at 50, it was a way to get fit, but I also wanted to be a bad ass, not ashamed to admit that. Growing up, I was a bad ass because I could hit with authority, and by virtue of two older brothers, was impervious to pain.
I guess the deal is what is a better base? Honestly, in a parking lot, I don’t want to roll with anybody. I want to kick you in the nuts and knock you out as soon as possible. So striking is better, right?
But, we all know street fights frequently end up on the ground, so grappling also becomes important.
Where to start then?
My buddy Mike that teaches BJJ also surfs. A lot places where you surf are territorial AF. I was considering writing a surfers guide to Long Island and was talking to Mike about Rockaway, a notoriously rough area to surf, so much so that a lot of guys taped knives to the bottom of their boards in case shit happened. I aske Mike about this and he said, “I’m a purple belt in BJJ so I really don’t worry about that shit.”
I admired his level of confidence in his ability to handle himself, he’s not a big dude, and wanted to have the same confidence, so I started into Kempo.
So, let me ask you this, would you be comfortable being one dimensional, a grappler but not a striker, or vice versa?
I was always pretty comfortable with my back and leg strength, so getting into a clinch was never a concern for me, but, if I was in that clinch with a highly trained BJJ guy, different story for sure.
And, of course, at 53, I’m smart enough to avoid this type of issue these days.
Here’s a gratuitous video of one my daughter’s friends when she was seven, and a student of my friend Mike.
Kind of speaks for itself.
I’m not particularly well-informed on the subject of martial arts in general, nor can I comment on the relative merits of striking versus grappling arts. I know that I can hit someone pretty fucking hard, and a simple shove from me can be enough to send a drunken customer reeling backwards to smack his head into whatever happens to be there, even without my full force behind it. That doesn’t make me a great striker and I’m by no means a good martial artist. I’m just a goon. Even so, getting hit by me is probably bad juju for most people, which is why I don’t hit anyone.
I really like being a part-time bouncer at my neighborhood bar, and I like the idea of having a skillset that can end a confrontation without me having to hurt anyone… Sort of like what the little girl did in that video, except I’m 285 pounds and the other guy is an incoherent slack-jaw who’s had a few too many nose beers after his whiskey breakfast.
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With this stuff, think you could charge more as a bouncer?
@biker Not at the bar I’m at now, although I cold probably get a raise if I asked for one. If I worked at the hood rat club across the river I think it is $5 an hour more, but I don’t particularly want to bounce at any other bar. Especially one where the local small-time gangbangers go to start small-time gangbanger shit. I like my local dive bar with cool customers who almost never play rap on the jukebox.
Its always been more about having fun, being social, enjoying the occasional adrenaline rush and gaining a little bit of local celebrity than the money, which isn’t all that great. I make way better money at my day job and it is plenty for me to live on.
Besides, I’m quite a ways away from being able to actually apply these skills with any level of competency in a bar encounter. It will be cool when I can though!
Wednesday 4/26/17
BJJ - 90 minutes
Wednesday nights are taught by a purple belt and there was only one other student there tonight. We worked on rear blood chokes. The only one I remember the name for is the Rear Naked Choke. I need to bring a notepad with me to start jotting notes down right after class. The terminology is nearly as overwhelming as getting choked out 30 times in an hour.
30 minutes of sparring was a fantastic workout. I got my first tap using a closed guard overhook and arm lock I learned on Monday. I’m not sure I earned it so much as it was given to me, but it was still nice to actually pull it off during a sparring session.
I think I’m going to have some marks on my neck. This is really awesome stuff.
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The issue might be that I wasn’t even looking at this from a self defense standpoint; more from a sporting one. The best self defense I have found was to simply not put myself in dangerous situations. I go to bed early, stay away from places I don’t belong, and don’t go looking for trouble. Being bigger and stronger than a lot of folks probably helps as well.
If I only had 1 art I could learn, I’d go with Judo personally. Hitting someone with the floor is a pretty effective fight ender, and the throws tend to help put you in a good position to run the hell away.
This all the way. Pretty much every fight is avoidable, even when you’re a local dive bar bouncer. For me it just isn’t worth hurting people or putting myself in a position to get hurt. I could have beaten the shit out of a LOT of drunk people in the last year, but I don’t want to do those sort of things to anyone. I don’t need to. I like to de-escalate, stroke the ego a bit if necessary and go get them a cup of ice water once things cool off.
Most of my draw to BJJ is sporting/activity based. It is cardio that I enjoy, and if there’s one thing I need, it is to drink less beer. Doing more cardio is definitely good too. It definitely helps that the BJJ philosophy fits in with my own personal bouncing ethos. Control the situation, don’t hurt anyone and produce the best possible outcome.
I really enjoy watching over that bar from time-to-time, and BJJ will only help produce more good outcomes when I’m working.
When I’m not working as a bouncer I just mind my own business and carry a small gun that I can shoot fairly well. I think that’s probably the best option to have if someone really doesn’t want to leave you alone. I’m sure as hell not fucking around with a street fight when I’m going about my business.
Maine - modern day utopia.
Rear blood chokes from a local dive bar bouncer. It doesn’t get any better than this.
Be careful with that gun; I’ve always thought muscle was all one needed, but you know your neighborhood.
@The_Myth If your utopia has snow on the ground in May and ridiculously high taxes, then yes, Maine isn’t half bad.
@biker I’ve actually got a LOT more training with firearms than I do with hand-to-hand fighting. I’ve carried concealed for several years and never needed it. But I’m always glad to have it, and for me, a mild-mannered grown-up who doesn’t start trouble, there’s really no disadvantage to carrying. Especially now that I have a few comfortable rigs that I can wear all day no problem.
Bouncing is different because I’m choosing to put myself in a situation where some violence might take place and I’m more or less agreeing that I’m going to involve myself in it when it does. Muscle, size and an occasional demonstration of how I can apply those things has been enough to keep me safe on the job.
When I’m not bouncing I really do mind my own business. Being large seems to encourage others to leave me alone too. I really do not want to involve myself in an unprovoked street fight. Not one bit. The gun is there as an option once walking away, ignoring the motherfucker and making my best efforts to leave the situation haven’t worked. If someone doesn’t want to leave me alone after all of that then I’m done fucking around.
At that point I think the business end of a 9mm will be more convincing that “I’m a Jiu Jitsu white belt”.
I pity the dumb troublemaker who tangles with you. Stay careful.
This might be a really stupid question but are you allowed to carry a gun while bouncing? I’m from the UK and know very little about gun laws and such.
@caesium32 No worried bud. The short answer is yes, I can. The thing to remember about the US is there are several layers of laws to know, with state-level laws typically being the most important to know. I posted the law below, but the gist of it means that as long as the place doesn’t have a “NO GUNS” sign AND I’m not intoxicated, they yes, I can carry in a bar. If I go south to Massachusetts the same behavior would be a felony crime.
This applies to all citizens who can legally carry handguns, which basically means non-felon adults with no mental illness or history of domestic violence. There’s no special bouncer laws, I’m just a citizen in a bar.
That said, I choose not to carry while on the job. If I had a lightweight revolver or a small .380 I might consider ankle carry. As it stands my carry pistol, a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield chambered in 9mm, is a little bit bulky and heavy to ride on my ankle.
If a situation that requires lethal force to resolve is going down in a bar, I’m probably going to be doing my best to get the hell out of there. I’m not playing hero for an under-the-table cash gig.
As an aside, I think it is very worthwhile to point out that Maine has far, far lower rates of homicide and violent crime in general than the UK. Your self-defense laws are garbage. Good luck!
Here’s the relevant part of Maine state law:
17-A M.R.S. § 1057, Possession of firearms in an establishment licensed for on-premises
consumption of liquor
- A person is guilty of criminal possession of a firearm if:
A. Not being a law enforcement officer or a professional investigator licensed under Title
32, chapter 89 and actually performing as a professional investigator, the person
possesses any firearm on the premises of a licensed establishment posted to prohibit or
restrict the possession of firearms in a manner reasonably likely to come to the
attention of patrons, in violation of the posted prohibition or restriction; or
B. While under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs or a combination of liquor
and drugs or with an excessive alcohol level, the person possesses a firearm in a
licensed establishment
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Thank you for such a detailed reply, I found it interesting.
You’re welcome.
Truth be told, I get hugged and rubbed up on a LOT more often than I get violent when I’m working. A gun on my hip would be found out pretty quickly, and people knowing the bouncer was armed with a gun would probably produce more bad outcomes than good.
I suppose I could adopt a “no rubbing up on the bouncer” policy, but that kind of ruins the point of being a dive bar bouncer.
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Thursday 4/27/17
BJJ - 90 minutes
Today we worked on guard escapes. I forgot to make not of the terms. I am super freaking tired right now and pretty beat up.
Massage tomorrow and maybe some lifting on Sunday.
They probably rub on you cause they know you’re “packing”. I still think you have an interesting life.