Jiu Jitsu discussion / complete beginner!
Discussion
Oh how time flies.....Today marks 6 years and 1 day since I started this thread. To mark the occasion I've pulled together a few little stats and anecdotes for you to enjoy:
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 6
Number of promotions - 3 (now a purple belt)
Number of major(ish) injuries - 1 (intercostal rib sprain, out for 6 weeks)
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 1
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 4
Competition wins (gold) - 1
Countries I've trained in - 7
So, for those wondering why I've been a member of so many clubs I'll elaborate. I originally started at Gracie club which had a heavy emphasis on self-defence, whilst valuable and worth learning, after a year or so I felt that I wanted to move more into the sport BJJ arena, hence move number 1. This was to another local club run from an MMA gym, the coach visited from another club 50 miles away once a week - I wanted to train more so I moved to his club after a few months (move 2).
Another club then started up in my home town, under affiliation from my then current coach, it made sense to start training there (cheaper, less travel, many friends training there) and we have move 3.
Fast forward to summer 2021 and I moved to Switzerland to live and work, I found a club relatively close who operated under the same lineage as my old club in the UK, great club, nice people but ultimately the 50 minute train journey and £10 cost each way became too much after 6 months (move 4).
This brings us up to date where I have been training for the last month or so, a club here in Basel which is door-to-door 30 minutes on the same tram line from home. Classes every night and its cheaper membership every month. My training volume has increased, on average I'm in 4 times a week and hoping to progress quickly (as much as my broken body allows).
Interestingly, despite the club changes, my belts have all been awarded by the same person (he also happened to win the Europeans in his category this year).
To close things out, my daughter doesn't train at the moment (hasn't since COVID) but she's showing signs of getting back into it. Her brother, however, has started once per week.
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 6
Number of promotions - 3 (now a purple belt)
Number of major(ish) injuries - 1 (intercostal rib sprain, out for 6 weeks)
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 1
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 4
Competition wins (gold) - 1
Countries I've trained in - 7
So, for those wondering why I've been a member of so many clubs I'll elaborate. I originally started at Gracie club which had a heavy emphasis on self-defence, whilst valuable and worth learning, after a year or so I felt that I wanted to move more into the sport BJJ arena, hence move number 1. This was to another local club run from an MMA gym, the coach visited from another club 50 miles away once a week - I wanted to train more so I moved to his club after a few months (move 2).
Another club then started up in my home town, under affiliation from my then current coach, it made sense to start training there (cheaper, less travel, many friends training there) and we have move 3.
Fast forward to summer 2021 and I moved to Switzerland to live and work, I found a club relatively close who operated under the same lineage as my old club in the UK, great club, nice people but ultimately the 50 minute train journey and £10 cost each way became too much after 6 months (move 4).
This brings us up to date where I have been training for the last month or so, a club here in Basel which is door-to-door 30 minutes on the same tram line from home. Classes every night and its cheaper membership every month. My training volume has increased, on average I'm in 4 times a week and hoping to progress quickly (as much as my broken body allows).
Interestingly, despite the club changes, my belts have all been awarded by the same person (he also happened to win the Europeans in his category this year).
To close things out, my daughter doesn't train at the moment (hasn't since COVID) but she's showing signs of getting back into it. Her brother, however, has started once per week.
Cheers Ben, without wanting to get all philosophical and preachy, I have the following to say:
- Overall its been an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable experience, that said I have gone through periods of low or no motivation where I stopped training for a few weeks. This has usually coincided with stuff going on in my personal life, now I try to view BJJ as a backstop in that as long as I'm training, it is a consistent in my life retaining some level of physical activity and mental relief.
- No matter how good, tough or strong you think you are, there's always someone who will smash you into dust (unless you're a world-class competitor a la Gordon Ryan)
- Before I started, I didn't realise how much I didn't know about physical combat. I still don't consider myself to know much (despite a couple of years of BJJ and a little bit of striking).
- BJJ is about the grind. Nobody is born knowing how to grapple or wrestle effectively. Obviously there are certain people who have good body awareness and general athleticism, but the mats are a great equalizer. You cannot cheat putting the time in.
- Equally, to practice BJJ long-term you have to be resilient. There will be injuries, niggles and mentally challenging periods where you literally feel like trash. The feeling of being dominated against your will by another human being can be difficult to deal with if you're emotionally fragile. I've seen a few guys storm off the mats and never come back.
- Be nice to white belts. These guys are not just training partners, they are the future of not only BJJ, but also the club you train at. Any higher belts that smash white belts week in week out and take pleasure from it need to have a good look at themselves.
- Try to avoid BJJ politics like the plague.
- I have built stronger bonds with guys and girls from the mats than anybody else in my life. Simulating murder week in week out builds an incredible amount of mutual respect and trust that I've never found anywhere else. My two best friends are as a result of BJJ.
- Finally, wash your damn training gear after every session!
Edited by Pete102 on Wednesday 16th March 09:52
Edited by Pete102 on Wednesday 16th March 09:53
Here's mine over a similar time period
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 2
Number of promotions - 1
Number of major(ish) injuries - 0
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 2
Competition wins (gold) - 0
Countries I've trained in - 1
Not half as exciting haha
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 2
Number of promotions - 1
Number of major(ish) injuries - 0
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 2
Competition wins (gold) - 0
Countries I've trained in - 1
Not half as exciting haha
AJB88 said:
Here's mine over a similar time period
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 2
Number of promotions - 1
Number of major(ish) injuries - 0
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 2
Competition wins (gold) - 0
Countries I've trained in - 1
Not half as exciting haha
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 3Number of clubs I've been a member of - 2
Number of promotions - 1
Number of major(ish) injuries - 0
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 2
Competition wins (gold) - 0
Countries I've trained in - 1
Not half as exciting haha
Number of promotions - 2 (to blue twice,once via ticks on a GB card and once 'on merit')
Number of major(ish) injuries - 2x broken little toes
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - 0
Competition wins (gold) - 0
Countries I've trained in - 1
I'm even worse!
Always good to reflect and really like and agree with a lot of your musings about what you've learnt over that period
my bits below
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 1
Number of promotions - 3 (now a brown belt)
Number of major(ish) injuries - 0 (not that were caused by BJJ anyway, my biggest recent injuries have been from mountain biking)
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - in the Gi I can think of about 10
Competition wins (gold) - 6 or 7
Countries I've trained in - 4
Over the last 6 years I thought i'd move more into BJJ and further away from No-Gi and MMA, however in fact i've done the opposite, BJJ has evolved to become ever more sport orientated and the techniques have less and less 'real life' application, they're purely designed for winning within the ruleset of that sport, entirely logical progression but that's not why I got into grappling. As such I've still done bit and pieces in the Gi but have mainly focussed on my no-gi / submission wrestling game as well as continuing some MMA training and stepping up my coaching. when i was a blue belt in the Gi i entered a bunch of competitions and won a few medals but i didn't have any sense of achievement from it as i had 10+ years no-gi experience and so as generally just running over other blue belts. I've competed once in a Brown/Black division in a small adcc show and did ok but lost, it showed me whilst I may have a decent belt i'm really not on the level of the guys that are competing at those kind of shows and are taking their Gi training seriously, maybe I'll focus on BJJ again in the future but for now whilst my body can handle it I'll continue with the MMA / Sub Wrestling
my bits below
Number of clubs I've been a member of - 1
Number of promotions - 3 (now a brown belt)
Number of major(ish) injuries - 0 (not that were caused by BJJ anyway, my biggest recent injuries have been from mountain biking)
Number of minor injuries - Immeasurable
Times choked out unconscious - 0
Times tapped - Immeasurable
Competition entries - in the Gi I can think of about 10
Competition wins (gold) - 6 or 7
Countries I've trained in - 4
Over the last 6 years I thought i'd move more into BJJ and further away from No-Gi and MMA, however in fact i've done the opposite, BJJ has evolved to become ever more sport orientated and the techniques have less and less 'real life' application, they're purely designed for winning within the ruleset of that sport, entirely logical progression but that's not why I got into grappling. As such I've still done bit and pieces in the Gi but have mainly focussed on my no-gi / submission wrestling game as well as continuing some MMA training and stepping up my coaching. when i was a blue belt in the Gi i entered a bunch of competitions and won a few medals but i didn't have any sense of achievement from it as i had 10+ years no-gi experience and so as generally just running over other blue belts. I've competed once in a Brown/Black division in a small adcc show and did ok but lost, it showed me whilst I may have a decent belt i'm really not on the level of the guys that are competing at those kind of shows and are taking their Gi training seriously, maybe I'll focus on BJJ again in the future but for now whilst my body can handle it I'll continue with the MMA / Sub Wrestling
The old saying - there are black belts....and there are black belts.
Last nights Gi session going over a half guard - quarter guard - knee slice - choke sequence, taken by arguably one of the best competition black belts in the country, this guys resume includes wins at the No-Gi Europeans, several IBJJF regional's and Pans at brown.
Managed to get a roll with him, he absolutely destroyed me. I couldn't do anything, it was like going back to being a white belt again, fearful of putting a limb in the wrong place due to impending danger. Of course it didn't matter what I put where, he had his way and more. I've learned to love these experiences as a way to keep grounded and appreciate the levels at play.
What's really an eye opener is there are guys even above him e.g. Jones, Ryan, Tonon, Hulk, Lepri, Ruatolo twins etc.
Mindblowing.
Last nights Gi session going over a half guard - quarter guard - knee slice - choke sequence, taken by arguably one of the best competition black belts in the country, this guys resume includes wins at the No-Gi Europeans, several IBJJF regional's and Pans at brown.
Managed to get a roll with him, he absolutely destroyed me. I couldn't do anything, it was like going back to being a white belt again, fearful of putting a limb in the wrong place due to impending danger. Of course it didn't matter what I put where, he had his way and more. I've learned to love these experiences as a way to keep grounded and appreciate the levels at play.
What's really an eye opener is there are guys even above him e.g. Jones, Ryan, Tonon, Hulk, Lepri, Ruatolo twins etc.
Mindblowing.
AJB88 said:
Know that feeling, I got wrapped up by Ffion Davies a few years ago.
I haven't been training since getting my blue belt annoyingly as I'm on nights this week.
I think it’s important to keep it in context, Ffion is world class, against hobbyists (even black belts) she’s a wizard. I haven't been training since getting my blue belt annoyingly as I'm on nights this week.
Taking that approach, I rolled with a new guy tonight and it must have seemed hopeless for him. Always other levels, I lover it.
Big week of training for me, tonight was no gi / wrestling, tomorrow no gi again, finishing off with gi Thursday Friday. I’m really into the swing of things now but I’m picking up little injuries in my toes, shoulder, fingers etc. Such fun
Pete102 said:
The old saying - there are black belts....and there are black belts.
Last nights Gi session going over a half guard - quarter guard - knee slice - choke sequence, taken by arguably one of the best competition black belts in the country, this guys resume includes wins at the No-Gi Europeans, several IBJJF regional's and Pans at brown.
Managed to get a roll with him, he absolutely destroyed me. I couldn't do anything, it was like going back to being a white belt again, fearful of putting a limb in the wrong place due to impending danger. Of course it didn't matter what I put where, he had his way and more. I've learned to love these experiences as a way to keep grounded and appreciate the levels at play.
What's really an eye opener is there are guys even above him e.g. Jones, Ryan, Tonon, Hulk, Lepri, Ruatolo twins etc.
Mindblowing.
who was it?Last nights Gi session going over a half guard - quarter guard - knee slice - choke sequence, taken by arguably one of the best competition black belts in the country, this guys resume includes wins at the No-Gi Europeans, several IBJJF regional's and Pans at brown.
Managed to get a roll with him, he absolutely destroyed me. I couldn't do anything, it was like going back to being a white belt again, fearful of putting a limb in the wrong place due to impending danger. Of course it didn't matter what I put where, he had his way and more. I've learned to love these experiences as a way to keep grounded and appreciate the levels at play.
What's really an eye opener is there are guys even above him e.g. Jones, Ryan, Tonon, Hulk, Lepri, Ruatolo twins etc.
Mindblowing.
Pomanski - https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/philippe-po...
So, a little update. I've been at my latest club for almost 2 months now and I can safely say its been a good move, not only in terms of cost, ease of access, class availability, gym facilities etc. but also technical level and standard of training partners.
Having the gym much closer (30 mins on the tram from either home or work) means that I'm much more motivated to train and this has translated to a huge increase in the amount of time I'm on the mats each week (anywhere between 6 and 8 hours). To give you an idea of my schedule over a 2 week period:
Monday - Travel day, catch the late Gi class after landing , 2 hours
Tuesday - NoGi / Wrestling 1.5 hours
Wednesday - NoGi / Wrestling 2 hours
Thursday - Gi 1.5 hours
Friday - 1 hour Gi, 1 hour open mat
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Open Mat / Rest day depending how I feel
Monday - Gi 2 hours
Tuesday - NoGi / Wrestling 1.5 hours
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - Gi 1.5 hours
Friday - Travel day, take the evening Gi class at my old club in the UK, 1.5 hours
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Depending when I drop the kids back home, possibly get open mat at my old club for 1 hour.
So there we have it, its a fairly heavy schedule and obviously I need to be careful with my rest and recovery. Last night I skipped the last 2 rolls as I had a bit of a feeling that they would result in an injury. Have to say it, I'm warming to the wrestling / nogi stuff alot, but I do miss the Gi.
So, a little update. I've been at my latest club for almost 2 months now and I can safely say its been a good move, not only in terms of cost, ease of access, class availability, gym facilities etc. but also technical level and standard of training partners.
Having the gym much closer (30 mins on the tram from either home or work) means that I'm much more motivated to train and this has translated to a huge increase in the amount of time I'm on the mats each week (anywhere between 6 and 8 hours). To give you an idea of my schedule over a 2 week period:
Monday - Travel day, catch the late Gi class after landing , 2 hours
Tuesday - NoGi / Wrestling 1.5 hours
Wednesday - NoGi / Wrestling 2 hours
Thursday - Gi 1.5 hours
Friday - 1 hour Gi, 1 hour open mat
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Open Mat / Rest day depending how I feel
Monday - Gi 2 hours
Tuesday - NoGi / Wrestling 1.5 hours
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - Gi 1.5 hours
Friday - Travel day, take the evening Gi class at my old club in the UK, 1.5 hours
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Depending when I drop the kids back home, possibly get open mat at my old club for 1 hour.
So there we have it, its a fairly heavy schedule and obviously I need to be careful with my rest and recovery. Last night I skipped the last 2 rolls as I had a bit of a feeling that they would result in an injury. Have to say it, I'm warming to the wrestling / nogi stuff alot, but I do miss the Gi.
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