Jiu Jitsu discussion / complete beginner!
Discussion
Thanks all, I definitely feel like there's more of a pressure now for me to get my Gi game on point, though it has progressed reasonably well over the last 6 months and I've took several golds in competition at blue belt, in fact my first ever Gi comp was the only one I haven't taken a medal in. sure it'll be a big step up at Purple though
My timescales through the belts was a little different to normal but then I had about 9 years No-Gi experience before going to Gi, in fact I won Gold at the British Open (white belt) in 2010, the guy I beat in the final has been a black belt for 2 years. I think I was about 9 months to blue and then it has been about 18 months from there to Purple
Pete, certainly sounds like you're in the wars at the minute, to be fair though once you start taking martial arts seriously it's basically a commitment to forever being broken
My timescales through the belts was a little different to normal but then I had about 9 years No-Gi experience before going to Gi, in fact I won Gold at the British Open (white belt) in 2010, the guy I beat in the final has been a black belt for 2 years. I think I was about 9 months to blue and then it has been about 18 months from there to Purple
Pete, certainly sounds like you're in the wars at the minute, to be fair though once you start taking martial arts seriously it's basically a commitment to forever being broken
BRR said:
Thanks all, I definitely feel like there's more of a pressure now for me to get my Gi game on point, though it has progressed reasonably well over the last 6 months and I've took several golds in competition at blue belt, in fact my first ever Gi comp was the only one I haven't taken a medal in. sure it'll be a big step up at Purple though
My timescales through the belts was a little different to normal but then I had about 9 years No-Gi experience before going to Gi, in fact I won Gold at the British Open (white belt) in 2010, the guy I beat in the final has been a black belt for 2 years. I think I was about 9 months to blue and then it has been about 18 months from there to Purple
Pete, certainly sounds like you're in the wars at the minute, to be fair though once you start taking martial arts seriously it's basically a commitment to forever being broken
I'm sure you'll be fine mate - wouldn't have been promoted if you didn't deserve it!My timescales through the belts was a little different to normal but then I had about 9 years No-Gi experience before going to Gi, in fact I won Gold at the British Open (white belt) in 2010, the guy I beat in the final has been a black belt for 2 years. I think I was about 9 months to blue and then it has been about 18 months from there to Purple
Pete, certainly sounds like you're in the wars at the minute, to be fair though once you start taking martial arts seriously it's basically a commitment to forever being broken
Not sure if I mentioned it but Jack was promoted to brown belt a couple of weeks back. Rolled with him last week and he destroyed me. As usual
Back on the mats tonight, should be alright and hopefully on the mend now. I've been lucky that none of the injuries or ailments have kept me out for any significant amount of time, however, I've had more injuries in 3 years of MA than I did in 15 years of Ice Hockey
Pete102 said:
I'm sure you'll be fine mate - wouldn't have been promoted if you didn't deserve it!
Not sure if I mentioned it but Jack was promoted to brown belt a couple of weeks back. Rolled with him last week and he destroyed me. As usual
Back on the mats tonight, should be alright and hopefully on the mend now. I've been lucky that none of the injuries or ailments have kept me out for any significant amount of time, however, I've had more injuries in 3 years of MA than I did in 15 years of Ice Hockey
I had already decided to take a break from competition whilst I work on my technique, hopefully in about 6 months time I'll be more comfortable with testing my Gi skills againNot sure if I mentioned it but Jack was promoted to brown belt a couple of weeks back. Rolled with him last week and he destroyed me. As usual
Back on the mats tonight, should be alright and hopefully on the mend now. I've been lucky that none of the injuries or ailments have kept me out for any significant amount of time, however, I've had more injuries in 3 years of MA than I did in 15 years of Ice Hockey
He's an absolute beast of a grappler, one of my favorite MMA fighters too, I'm confident he'll take the cagewarriors lightweight title and then be off to the UFC
Thought I would drop into this thread.
I started BJJ around 2 years ago thanks to a mate at work who trains multiple disciplines with his twin brother (they have had fights on Cage Warriors/Bellator).
I started off going with another friend who was also new to it, he however was the theory type of guy who had spent 2+ years studying it before actually doing it. He went for about 4 months then had to quit due to moving away with work. I carried on for about a year gaining my 2nd stripe on white belt.
During this period I was also swimming,calorie counting/running and went from 17.11 stone to 11.2 stone. I never felt I was getting any better and felt I was continuously trying to survive rolling, even when rolling with white belts newer than me. I was also commuting to the club which was a 50 mile round trip. I took the decision to drop down from a membership to pay as you go and only attended once after that and never really thought about it again.
Fast forward to now, I'm 12.3 stone (today) and have put on a lot of muscle from my lowest weight 10.11 stone, I have been training weights and eating a strict meal plan, I have been wanting to get back into some kind of training, I have been pestering one of the twins if we can do some MMA striking training but they are busy guys so that hasn't happened.
I was doing some tidying at home yesterday and dug out my white belt (gi's are upstairs but belt was downstairs) have had a look at the academy I was training under has a local off shoot in my town now which is about 3 miles away from work. So I'm going to drop them an email and fancy giving it a go again (they train twice a week there). Never really fancied doing competitions but fancy doing it for the learning aspect again.
I started BJJ around 2 years ago thanks to a mate at work who trains multiple disciplines with his twin brother (they have had fights on Cage Warriors/Bellator).
I started off going with another friend who was also new to it, he however was the theory type of guy who had spent 2+ years studying it before actually doing it. He went for about 4 months then had to quit due to moving away with work. I carried on for about a year gaining my 2nd stripe on white belt.
During this period I was also swimming,calorie counting/running and went from 17.11 stone to 11.2 stone. I never felt I was getting any better and felt I was continuously trying to survive rolling, even when rolling with white belts newer than me. I was also commuting to the club which was a 50 mile round trip. I took the decision to drop down from a membership to pay as you go and only attended once after that and never really thought about it again.
Fast forward to now, I'm 12.3 stone (today) and have put on a lot of muscle from my lowest weight 10.11 stone, I have been training weights and eating a strict meal plan, I have been wanting to get back into some kind of training, I have been pestering one of the twins if we can do some MMA striking training but they are busy guys so that hasn't happened.
I was doing some tidying at home yesterday and dug out my white belt (gi's are upstairs but belt was downstairs) have had a look at the academy I was training under has a local off shoot in my town now which is about 3 miles away from work. So I'm going to drop them an email and fancy giving it a go again (they train twice a week there). Never really fancied doing competitions but fancy doing it for the learning aspect again.
Edited by AJB88 on Tuesday 9th October 11:54
AJB88 said:
Thought I would drop into this thread.
I started BJJ around 2 years ago thanks to a mate at work who trains multiple disciplines with his twin brother (they have had fights on Cage Warriors/Bellator).
I started off going with another friend who was also new to it, he however was the theory type of guy who had spent 2+ years studying it before actually doing it. He went for about 4 months then had to quit due to moving away with work. I carried on for about a year gaining my 2nd stripe on white belt.
During this period I was also swimming,calorie counting/running and went from 17.11 stone to 11.2 stone. I never felt I was getting any better and felt I was continuously trying to survive rolling, even when rolling with white belts newer than me. I was also commuting to the club which was a 50 mile round trip. I took the decision to drop down from a membership to pay as you go and only attended once after that and never really thought about it again.
Fast forward to now, I'm 12.3 stone (today) and have put on a lot of muscle from my lowest weight 10.11 stone, I have been training weights and eating a strict meal plan, I have been wanting to get back into some kind of training, I have been pestering one of the twins if we can do some MMA striking training but they are busy guys so that hasn't happened.
I was doing some tidying at home yesterday and dug out my white belt (gi's are upstairs but belt was downstairs) have had a look at the academy I was training under has a local off shoot in my town now which is about 3 miles away from work. So I'm going to drop them an email and fancy giving it a go again (they train twice a week there). Never really fancied doing competitions but fancy doing it for the learning aspect again.
Do you mind saying who the two guys are that fight on CW/Bellator?I started BJJ around 2 years ago thanks to a mate at work who trains multiple disciplines with his twin brother (they have had fights on Cage Warriors/Bellator).
I started off going with another friend who was also new to it, he however was the theory type of guy who had spent 2+ years studying it before actually doing it. He went for about 4 months then had to quit due to moving away with work. I carried on for about a year gaining my 2nd stripe on white belt.
During this period I was also swimming,calorie counting/running and went from 17.11 stone to 11.2 stone. I never felt I was getting any better and felt I was continuously trying to survive rolling, even when rolling with white belts newer than me. I was also commuting to the club which was a 50 mile round trip. I took the decision to drop down from a membership to pay as you go and only attended once after that and never really thought about it again.
Fast forward to now, I'm 12.3 stone (today) and have put on a lot of muscle from my lowest weight 10.11 stone, I have been training weights and eating a strict meal plan, I have been wanting to get back into some kind of training, I have been pestering one of the twins if we can do some MMA striking training but they are busy guys so that hasn't happened.
I was doing some tidying at home yesterday and dug out my white belt (gi's are upstairs but belt was downstairs) have had a look at the academy I was training under has a local off shoot in my town now which is about 3 miles away from work. So I'm going to drop them an email and fancy giving it a go again (they train twice a week there). Never really fancied doing competitions but fancy doing it for the learning aspect again.
Edited by AJB88 on Tuesday 9th October 11:54
If it's that local to you I'd definitely give it another go, also I'd say that most people feel like they're only just surviving in rolling when they're new, it's tough. You may have also been hampered by the rapid weight loss and your body adjusting, you may be far more physically able now
Tom & Richard Mearns are the twins, Tom is famous for dislocating his elbow at Bellator 200 recently. They both train out of BST Northampton along side Linton Vassell. They have also been on Contenders and quite a few amateur promotions.
I've dropped them an email to see what time classes are etc.
I've dropped them an email to see what time classes are etc.
Welcome to the thread AJ, and hopefully welcome back to BJJ 
I travel 50 miles each way once a week to train at my club so I know what a pain a long journey can be (luckily my instructor also teaches a class in my home town once a week, doing the journey twice a week would be a stretch).
Back on the mats last night for me, had a pretty good session actually. 45 minutes of rolling followed by 45 minutes of advanced half / deep half guard stuff. 3 weeks and counting till Austria for 4 days of BJJ.
I travel 50 miles each way once a week to train at my club so I know what a pain a long journey can be (luckily my instructor also teaches a class in my home town once a week, doing the journey twice a week would be a stretch).
Back on the mats last night for me, had a pretty good session actually. 45 minutes of rolling followed by 45 minutes of advanced half / deep half guard stuff. 3 weeks and counting till Austria for 4 days of BJJ.
AJB88 said:
Tom & Richard Mearns are the twins, Tom is famous for dislocating his elbow at Bellator 200 recently. They both train out of BST Northampton along side Linton Vassell. They have also been on Contenders and quite a few amateur promotions.
I've dropped them an email to see what time classes are etc.
BST is a cracking gym, can't go wrong training with the likes of those guysI've dropped them an email to see what time classes are etc.
Pete102 said:
Welcome to the thread AJ, and hopefully welcome back to BJJ
I travel 50 miles each way once a week to train at my club so I know what a pain a long journey can be (luckily my instructor also teaches a class in my home town once a week, doing the journey twice a week would be a stretch).
Back on the mats last night for me, had a pretty good session actually. 45 minutes of rolling followed by 45 minutes of advanced half / deep half guard stuff. 3 weeks and counting till Austria for 4 days of BJJ.
Glad to hear you're back on the mats I travel 50 miles each way once a week to train at my club so I know what a pain a long journey can be (luckily my instructor also teaches a class in my home town once a week, doing the journey twice a week would be a stretch).
Back on the mats last night for me, had a pretty good session actually. 45 minutes of rolling followed by 45 minutes of advanced half / deep half guard stuff. 3 weeks and counting till Austria for 4 days of BJJ.
50 miles each way is a serious commitment, I'm lucky that my gym is about 3 miles from my house, there are also another 7-8 decent clubs within 15 miles. Only downside to that is that the decent guys are spread out across the clubs, we have a decent relationship with a few of them though so get to have open mat time etc
Thanks pal, should be back at it tomorrow. Numbers are holding up at my home town club after dropping off a little with guys going back to university etc.
We don't do too badly to be honest, since I've been training with them there has been at least 5 blue belt promotions and there is a mate of mine pushing for his purple (4 stripe blue atm). The commute once a week is well worth it in my eyes do train with different people, also the advance class is taken by another instructor who has a different teaching style.
I'm making small changes to get myself back on track, improving the diet, getting back in the gym and structuring my sleep, also trying to introduce some Yoga into my daily routine. Although I'm relatively flexible for a big guy, I could be better, inverting isn't particularly easy for me at the moment!
We don't do too badly to be honest, since I've been training with them there has been at least 5 blue belt promotions and there is a mate of mine pushing for his purple (4 stripe blue atm). The commute once a week is well worth it in my eyes do train with different people, also the advance class is taken by another instructor who has a different teaching style.
I'm making small changes to get myself back on track, improving the diet, getting back in the gym and structuring my sleep, also trying to introduce some Yoga into my daily routine. Although I'm relatively flexible for a big guy, I could be better, inverting isn't particularly easy for me at the moment!
Well went for the first session in 2 years last night, after getting up at 4am for work so was a little tired. Drilling was good, it came flooding back. Rolling, still getting swept a lot and pinned but I will keep grinding. Managed to get an ezekiel choke on the same guy twice, Attempted it on the guy who runs the sessions (Brown belt) but he was too wise to it haha.
Got in bed expecting to drop straight off but body was aching so had to pop some Paracetamol to ease it haha.
Got in bed expecting to drop straight off but body was aching so had to pop some Paracetamol to ease it haha.
Edited by AJB88 on Friday 12th October 07:21
Pete102 said:
Hah, Ezekiel from top guard by any chance? you only get caught with that once (or twice in the case of your partner last night!)
Glad the muscle memory is still there, onwards and upwards from here pal.
Yep haha, I got caught with some kind of choke by the brown belt fed the gi through and choked, hard to see when your upside down haha. (or twice in the case of your partner last night!) Glad the muscle memory is still there, onwards and upwards from here pal.
Its Tuesday which means training night. I've had this horrible virus flu thing for the past week that has been doing the rounds...not full blown flu but enough to make you feel like crap. Fingers crossed I'm over it now.
Forgot to mention during my last post about my experience grappling with a high level 70kg brown belt....he absolutely destroyed me, an absolute education in weight distribution, off-balancing and timing. Swept me with ease, had a counter for everything and made me feel like a white belt. loved it.
Hows everyone's training going? Anyone competing at Nottingham? (unfortunately I'm away)
Forgot to mention during my last post about my experience grappling with a high level 70kg brown belt....he absolutely destroyed me, an absolute education in weight distribution, off-balancing and timing. Swept me with ease, had a counter for everything and made me feel like a white belt. loved it.
Hows everyone's training going? Anyone competing at Nottingham? (unfortunately I'm away)
Glad to hear everyone is enjoying their training, I agree that going with higher level guys in the Gi can be really enlightening as to how effective good technique is.
I don't plan on competing again for a while, I'm in the middle of a house renovation so am only training 4 times a week, 1 MMA, 1 Gi, 1 Boxing & 1 No-Gi, still enough training to keep me fit etc but nowhere near enough to compete at a decent level in any of them
I don't plan on competing again for a while, I'm in the middle of a house renovation so am only training 4 times a week, 1 MMA, 1 Gi, 1 Boxing & 1 No-Gi, still enough training to keep me fit etc but nowhere near enough to compete at a decent level in any of them
I'm still plodding on at my own level - had plenty of sessions over the last 2 weeks but not much actual rolling - heavy on technique and drilling. I've also done a couple of MMA classes and enjoyed those, focusing on wrestling and takedowns - really feel my lack of cardio when drilling these.
On a side note, I've recently been passed on several instructional videos if anybody is interested - plenty by Ryan Hall (deep half goard, arm triangles, triangle, back attacks, defensive guard, passing guard) and a Catch Wrestling seminar instructional, a Josh Barnett Hybrid Wrestling seminar, all the Gracie Combatives series (10 hours+) and a good few more.
Ryan Hall really is a great teacher and his videos are brilliant I think - he has a really outstanding way of describing concepts and breaking them down.
On a side note, I've recently been passed on several instructional videos if anybody is interested - plenty by Ryan Hall (deep half goard, arm triangles, triangle, back attacks, defensive guard, passing guard) and a Catch Wrestling seminar instructional, a Josh Barnett Hybrid Wrestling seminar, all the Gracie Combatives series (10 hours+) and a good few more.
Ryan Hall really is a great teacher and his videos are brilliant I think - he has a really outstanding way of describing concepts and breaking them down.
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