My First BJJ Class

[MikeMartial]

One word: Pure Ownage. And not by me!!

It totally fuckin' rocked, and I had zero clue of what I was doing all class. Completely refreshing after 20+ years of strictly stand up. I may have a new addiction. It's like a whole new world of martial arts was just handed to me.

We went over escapes from side mount and submissions from in the guard. One thing I quickly realized is how essential it would be to drill this stuff over and over. One submission we worked on was an ankle lock (achilles lock?)---godamn both my achilles are freakin' sore right now. I imagine some weird shit will be really sore tomorrow.

In the free grappling at the end of class, I had the real wake up call; since I had no idea what to do other than the two submissions, pretty much everyone I was partnered with was just messin' with me. I gotta say, one thing I DID NOT enjoy was grappling with a guy a mere 20 pounds heavier than me. I felt like I was being smothered the whole time, while he was barely breathing and using zero effort to flip me around like a rag doll. The energy expendature was completely different tahn what I was used to---I never felt "out of breath", like at the end of a MT round, but I was---it makes little sense, I know, but the feeling was very new to me.

Humbling was the key word of the night but godamn I had a blast, and there's no question it's going to be a regular part of my weekly regime!

 

[Bearcub]

I can relate. I did standup stuff from the time I was 15 to the age of 25. I stopped training for 20 years. Then in my middle forties, I started training again. I could and still can go round after round on my feet. However, when I did my first BJJ class, I was gassed in the first few minutes and I was still only doing drills. I lasted about 30 seconds in free rolling. I was so exhausted, I had to tap out. After a year of BJJ training, my ground endurance has really improved.

With that said, I now have a BJJ blue belt. I am also hooked. I would like to go all the way to black belt if age does not get in the way.

Good luck with your training.

 

[flyingfox272]

BJJ is humbling to say the least, I started a couple months ago and I love it, great for conditioning. I'm 6'4" 225lbs and I've tapped out from guys who were quite a bit smaller. I learned pretty quick that physical strength only gets you so far in BJJ, I can hang for a while rolling, but when I gas I get caught and I'm forced to tap to guys that wiegh 50 lbs less than me(kinda embarrassing).

Looking forward to forcing someone else to tap!

 

[oxymed]

I love BJJ i have blue belt......been training about 1.5 years......only thing that sucks is the occational injury.

 

[Kane Fan]

BJJ is humbling to say the least, I started a couple months ago and I love it, great for conditioning. I'm 6'4" 225lbs and I've tapped out from guys who were quite a bit smaller. I learned pretty quick that physical strength only gets you so far in BJJ, I can hang for a while rolling, but when I gas I get caught and I'm forced to tap to guys that wiegh 50 lbs less than me(kinda embarrassing).

Looking forward to forcing someone else to tap!

it's a different skill really
being the big guy is an advantage, if your good at being big
it has it's own skill just like being small has it's own skill
I can really tell the difference when I am instructed by two different sized people at the same school
most smaller guys 160 and under give good guard type advice, but when they try to show me top dominant stuff, it's just not the same as when the guys who are around my size (at the same school mind you) show me top stuff
it's like oh yes, THIS works better for me...
you'll get to like being big after you work at it awhile
thing is when your in the bottom of a sidemount/cross body
then you always wish you where a little guy so you could manuver better but what are you going to do
your the size you are

 

[Maverick]

I love BJJ i have blue belt......been training about 1.5 years......only thing that sucks is the occational injury.

and the ringworm

I left some good advice for you Martial on the TUF thread..... last post by me.

 

[shootfighter1975]

Yea you will eventually find a style of BJJ that suits you the best... It took me about 3 years to really figure out what I was good at and what I was not so good at....

 

[Steroid Guru]

BJJ is awesome, ive been doing it for about 5 months now. I have to learn to pace myself when rolling because I gas out quick.

 

[motiv8]

I will agree that it is an humbling experience. It's one of those things that you have to put in plenty of mat time to start seeing some progress. I have learned that if you role as much as possible you will get more of an understanding of the game. Even if you don't have much of an offense your defense will improve. You will quickly learn good transitions and then the offensive techniques will eventually come. No matter what your skill level, always role with those who are better than you. A great book for any one who is training in M.M.A. is "The Code of Bushido". This book will really encourage you in your BJJ training!

 

[monkey_boi]

I just started BJJ this week and boy am I glad everyone else also felt completed wrecked after their first session. It was damn intense. It was the first time I rolled and I also didn't have a clue what to do. I swear I thought I was gonna die that first time and then later my trainer called me again , this time my opponent made me tap like three times. It was bloody embrassing.

I hate to hijack this thread but is it advisable to do weight lifting on the same day as BJJ training. I do weights in the morning and do BJJ in the afternoon.