First BJJ Class This Week

I was, been dieting since the end of Dec for challenge in the BSL forum.

I think a lot of people think that strength training is about getting stronger relative to others and not relative to oneself.

1 Like

I’ve not read any of the other comments as I’m very pressed for time so sorry if I double up.
Chess is a good way to describe it. And position is the key.
Let take arm bar from guard. you think you need to know the submission. But its much more that that. The submission is the last .01%. The other 99.99% if every thing up to that point. And its so much more important in my mind. As if you know the first 99.99 the last .01% is easy.

Anyone can watch an arm bar video on youtube, but to pull it off you need to position you AND your oppo where you want. And then pull their arm off!

Quick update. Absolutely love it so far. The biggest take away for me so far, is that this is NOT wrestling. I do not mean that in any of the athletic applications, I mean it by the mindset, vibe and culture. As a true fish out of water, I am still blown away by how inclusive and friendly everyone is. The gym has an extremely diverse student base and as a dude who travels frequently to Brazil and is married to a Brazilian, a lot of the cultural elements have leaked into the martial arts. I may have just lucked out with the gym, membership base and the instructors, but I am definitely hooked. I’m also really freaking sore. For someone who looks the way I do, embarrassingly sore.

In terms of general fitness, I have had to cut back my lifting significantly while my body hardens to grappling again, and damn, my hips and core have been sore everyday since I started. Had to start doing Agile 8/Limber 11 everyday now. The hardest part for me so far is to just calm down, embrace the ignorance and just relax and enjoy myself. The atmosphere at the gym makes that easier. Each time I have gone, either a 4 stripe white or a blue has come up and asked to be my partner and been really friendly, open and helpful.

3 Likes

6 Likes

Just caught this - congratulations!

You are entering one of jiu-jitsu’s true “sweet spots” (the other, I’m starting to believe, comes when you’ve had your black belt for as long as you trained to get your black belt). Enjoy!

First comp yesterday. Took gold at lightweight masters. Awesome experience. Everything hurts today. I still hate the Gi.

4 Likes