Klint is back in town, and after a few weeks of Brazilian warm-ups right into training, we're back to five-to-ten minute warm-ups right into forty minutes of technique. It's a preference thing, I suppose--I'm not huge on working cardio for the sake of working cardio (as anyone who has trained with me can attest). I like learning the techs, working on hip movement in context instead of in a vaccuum. Still, the practices that Gina and Chris and Brady ran were super tight. Having different instructors come in and run class for a while is something that I think everyone should do, especially if you have only one instructor.
So how is may training going? I really don't know. I had a few weeks where I was feeling good, executing the very things that I was attempting, performing above my own expectations, that sort of thing. I didn't have much time to train after class Monday and Tuesday, but I trained the double-open-mat Friday and open mat again on Saturday. So that was three hours training Friday, another hour Saturday, and technique work (mainly) Monday and Tuesday.
I need to pay more attention to my goals when I roll. That might bring me back to that place where I feel like I'm accomplishing something when I train. Friday and Saturday were good in terms of getting some training in, but I lacked direction. I wasn't working specific positions, trying predetermined setups or anything like that. The benefit of Friday and Saturday, though, is that I was working with Josh (a smaller, mobile blue belt), old Mike (the purple who reminds me that I don't have nearly the technique that I want to have), Dan (a serious blue belt who gives me problems), and Ron (a blue belt as new as I am on whom I can try new techniques and still feel comfortable). Going across town for open mat is great; the pool of talent from whom I can learn and get mauled is three or four times the pool at our academy, and everyone is super cool. It took a bit of time to become a familiar face around there--the same as it is in any social clique, I suppose (you know, like a pool hall or bar or frisbee game)--but once you're in you're in.
I'm also becoming a little more apprehensive about what it means to be a blue belt, especially the first blue belt at our academy. I don't know what the balance should be between a) taking time to tailor my training to my partners' benefit and 2) being somewhat selfish with the training time I have and working to finish every time. I also am starting to look long-term and trying to figure out exactly what how much competition experience Klint will want me to have. I know that competition experience isn't a necessity for progression, and plenty of hard grapplers progress without it. But I also know it's something that would harden my game and build up my endurance and confidence. My next training will be Saturday, so I'll have until then to ponder.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Breaking in the new belt. Still.
It's been a good week of training. On Friday, I got to train at two open mats--one at Rev, and one at our academy. How do I get so lucky, you might ask yourself, as to train at two different open mat sessions in one night? Well, I don't see my wife that often, and I drive from one end of town to the other in order to get it done. So I probably spent equal amounts of time in the car and on the mat Friday. But it's all good.
At rev, I worked with a few blues and then purple Mike. The work with the blues went alright. The first was a moose who always wants to work his way out of side control, so he just starts flat on his back. I'm fine with that, as it affords me the opportunity to refine my attacks from side mount and see how new grips and wraps might work. Of course, at one point I got to his back and he said I tweaked his back when I was flattening him out. So that wasn't great. Then another blue--much closer to my size and body type--came up and we worked for a bit. It was back and forth; I can't remember whether either of us effectively passed the other's guard, but I remember that we were pushing each other pretty well. He had just come off a lengthy roll with another guy, so after about ten minutes he needed to break for some water. That left an opening for Mike. I always seem to pick up a lot from Mike when I get to train with him. He's deliberate without being slow, and methodical without being planned. It's the kind of game I want to have.
That couldn't last forever, though, because I had to get across town. A purple belt who teaches in the area was going to show up to train for a little while, so of course I came. We have so few people at our academy that any time anything jiu jitsu related happens, I feel an obligation to be there and represent. So it was myself, the purple Jon, one of his new-ish white belt students, and Kyle. We only had about a half hour to train because Jon had to get to the airport, but we made the most of it. Jon and I worked a little bit first, just to feel each other out. He's about my height and build, but he has a much more extensive history with both the martial arts in general and jiu jitsu specifically. So we got a little work in, and his student watched. When Kyle showed, Jon worked with him for a while and I took on his white belt. The kid was strong--he has a wrestling background and has only been doing jits for a few months, so he's still in that "my grips are my life" stage. It was good, though, he was trying to do the right things, I think. I used the opportunity to work on some things that I don't usually use. I still ended up with some armbars and triangles, but I was just as often using the position to transition somewhere else, going from the armbar to the back, working collar chokes. After a bit, Jon and I worked again while Kyle and Sebastian worked. This was a little faster than our initial roll, and it was very, very fun. I was attacking instead of laying back and waiting for something that demanded a reaction, and that is a huge change from just a few months ago. I even had him in some bad spots, one of which I really should have been able to finish but let go in favor of keeping a dominating position rather than burning out my grips on a tenuous and doubtful submission. He even told me after that I was really close to finishing it. Dammit.
Klint is still gone this week; I think he gets back sometime next week. And he'll be sore, fit, and probably more than a little frustrated. So those classes will be interesting. And terrifying. But until then, we have Gina this week, we had Tony work our wrestling last night, and with a little luck, another open mat with Jon Friday night. I really should think about finding a way to have this habit support me while I study for the bar this summer. It would be a lot easier than juggling BarBri, restaurant life, jiu jitsu, and marriage. If anyone has a recommendation, I'm all ears.
At rev, I worked with a few blues and then purple Mike. The work with the blues went alright. The first was a moose who always wants to work his way out of side control, so he just starts flat on his back. I'm fine with that, as it affords me the opportunity to refine my attacks from side mount and see how new grips and wraps might work. Of course, at one point I got to his back and he said I tweaked his back when I was flattening him out. So that wasn't great. Then another blue--much closer to my size and body type--came up and we worked for a bit. It was back and forth; I can't remember whether either of us effectively passed the other's guard, but I remember that we were pushing each other pretty well. He had just come off a lengthy roll with another guy, so after about ten minutes he needed to break for some water. That left an opening for Mike. I always seem to pick up a lot from Mike when I get to train with him. He's deliberate without being slow, and methodical without being planned. It's the kind of game I want to have.
That couldn't last forever, though, because I had to get across town. A purple belt who teaches in the area was going to show up to train for a little while, so of course I came. We have so few people at our academy that any time anything jiu jitsu related happens, I feel an obligation to be there and represent. So it was myself, the purple Jon, one of his new-ish white belt students, and Kyle. We only had about a half hour to train because Jon had to get to the airport, but we made the most of it. Jon and I worked a little bit first, just to feel each other out. He's about my height and build, but he has a much more extensive history with both the martial arts in general and jiu jitsu specifically. So we got a little work in, and his student watched. When Kyle showed, Jon worked with him for a while and I took on his white belt. The kid was strong--he has a wrestling background and has only been doing jits for a few months, so he's still in that "my grips are my life" stage. It was good, though, he was trying to do the right things, I think. I used the opportunity to work on some things that I don't usually use. I still ended up with some armbars and triangles, but I was just as often using the position to transition somewhere else, going from the armbar to the back, working collar chokes. After a bit, Jon and I worked again while Kyle and Sebastian worked. This was a little faster than our initial roll, and it was very, very fun. I was attacking instead of laying back and waiting for something that demanded a reaction, and that is a huge change from just a few months ago. I even had him in some bad spots, one of which I really should have been able to finish but let go in favor of keeping a dominating position rather than burning out my grips on a tenuous and doubtful submission. He even told me after that I was really close to finishing it. Dammit.
Klint is still gone this week; I think he gets back sometime next week. And he'll be sore, fit, and probably more than a little frustrated. So those classes will be interesting. And terrifying. But until then, we have Gina this week, we had Tony work our wrestling last night, and with a little luck, another open mat with Jon Friday night. I really should think about finding a way to have this habit support me while I study for the bar this summer. It would be a lot easier than juggling BarBri, restaurant life, jiu jitsu, and marriage. If anyone has a recommendation, I'm all ears.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Checking In
It's my night off of training, and instead of researching an abstract and somewhat confusing area of international law, I thought I would sit and type a bit about jiu jitsu. Because that sounds like much more fun.
I got to work with John last night for the first time in what must have been months. He took off to backpack in southeast Asia last fall and vanished for something like 10 weeks. When he came back, he injured some cartilage in his ribs, so he was hitting maybe one training session a week for a while. He's back, and for once we both had time to train after class. And I now completely buy into the idea that so long as you keep showing up, you will improve. Danaher said it, Forrest Griffin said it, Klint said it, and I for once have had an experience that told me the same thing. When he left, John and I were pretty comparably skilled. He's just a bit larger than I am, and he can grow a much better beard, but last night I was able to work open guard comfortably. I hit a few sweeps, took away his base--did all those things that you're supposed to do. It was strange.
So how does this relate to everything else? Or anything else, for that matter? A friend of mine gets on my case for writing about nothing but jiu jitsu in this space. Part of me---and by part, I mean the part that could throttle him into unconsciousness---thinks that everyone should be as enamored with the gentle art as I am. But in reality, such is not the case. So this little parable of getting better while my opponent got cultured is the same thing that everyone's parents told him while he was growing up; if you keep working at something, you're going to get better at it. Think you're a bad writer? Write 5,000 words a day and take the time to critique them with an objective eye. And keep your attention while you write the next day so you don't make the same mistakes. Think you can't legally analyze something? Spend four hours on one case, go to class where you (in theory) figure out what it means, and look at your notes afterwards to see where you went wrong. Want to play the piano? Do you think those professionals were able to play for hours on end when they started? Think Michael Jordan was able to hit a free throw with his eyes closed when he was in high school?
No. Blood, sweat, time, and exhaustion.
Back to jiu jitsu, though. After class on Monday, Brady and I talked for a while about training and jiu jitsu in general. Then after class Tuesday, Gina and I did the same. Before John and I rolled. It seems that they are taking me under their wings as higher belts. Our academy in Woodbury is very new, and as such we don't have many students. Most of our team trains out of Edina. But here are a purple and brown belt, students of my instructor, taking time to check on my progress. It made me feel pretty good. And I've worked with Brady pretty extensively since I began training. He would be the only person willing to train afterwards when I started. It was great for him--he had a large white belt to try new things on, and I had someone to throttle me and show me how little I knew, and how much I was unaware even existed. It's nice to have those higher belts guiding me, for lack of a better term. Especially while my instructor is gone. Keeps the motivation high.
I got to work with John last night for the first time in what must have been months. He took off to backpack in southeast Asia last fall and vanished for something like 10 weeks. When he came back, he injured some cartilage in his ribs, so he was hitting maybe one training session a week for a while. He's back, and for once we both had time to train after class. And I now completely buy into the idea that so long as you keep showing up, you will improve. Danaher said it, Forrest Griffin said it, Klint said it, and I for once have had an experience that told me the same thing. When he left, John and I were pretty comparably skilled. He's just a bit larger than I am, and he can grow a much better beard, but last night I was able to work open guard comfortably. I hit a few sweeps, took away his base--did all those things that you're supposed to do. It was strange.
So how does this relate to everything else? Or anything else, for that matter? A friend of mine gets on my case for writing about nothing but jiu jitsu in this space. Part of me---and by part, I mean the part that could throttle him into unconsciousness---thinks that everyone should be as enamored with the gentle art as I am. But in reality, such is not the case. So this little parable of getting better while my opponent got cultured is the same thing that everyone's parents told him while he was growing up; if you keep working at something, you're going to get better at it. Think you're a bad writer? Write 5,000 words a day and take the time to critique them with an objective eye. And keep your attention while you write the next day so you don't make the same mistakes. Think you can't legally analyze something? Spend four hours on one case, go to class where you (in theory) figure out what it means, and look at your notes afterwards to see where you went wrong. Want to play the piano? Do you think those professionals were able to play for hours on end when they started? Think Michael Jordan was able to hit a free throw with his eyes closed when he was in high school?
No. Blood, sweat, time, and exhaustion.
Back to jiu jitsu, though. After class on Monday, Brady and I talked for a while about training and jiu jitsu in general. Then after class Tuesday, Gina and I did the same. Before John and I rolled. It seems that they are taking me under their wings as higher belts. Our academy in Woodbury is very new, and as such we don't have many students. Most of our team trains out of Edina. But here are a purple and brown belt, students of my instructor, taking time to check on my progress. It made me feel pretty good. And I've worked with Brady pretty extensively since I began training. He would be the only person willing to train afterwards when I started. It was great for him--he had a large white belt to try new things on, and I had someone to throttle me and show me how little I knew, and how much I was unaware even existed. It's nice to have those higher belts guiding me, for lack of a better term. Especially while my instructor is gone. Keeps the motivation high.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Where Have I Gone To?
Nowhere, really.
I had to take the MPRE this morning. For non-lawyers, that's the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam. Every aspiring lawyer must pass it in order to gain admission to the bar. Of course, I didn't give as much time to studying as I could have, but I felt OK coming out of it. So there's that.
Also, Klint is gone for the month learning a combatives system. So I had three different instructors at the three classes I got to this week. All three of them were able to attend the seminar with Fabio Gurgel last weekend that I missed. Two days, three hours per day, privates available if you have the time and dough. And I was 400 miles away helping my brother celebrate his 30th. But no worries. Two purple belts and a brown belt took the time to fill in for Klint and teach us some of what they learned. A new approach to side control. A very strange armbar from the top. Refinements to a butterfly sweep.
Having different instructors for the next month is going to be interesting. I've taken classes from Brady before, but never from Chris or Gina. Brady is a small wrestler, so his approach is very different from my own. But that also means that I have a lot to learn from him. His first class was a lot of discussion and a few test balloons---we tried out the position a little bit, and then got to talking about it a bunch, showing a few adjustments to make and then theorizing about how to get around them an how to work them into our game. That came at the expense of trying them out fully, but that will come. Gina is a tiny tiny brown belt, and she's fierce. Her favorite position is knee-on-belly, and she'll put you there no matter how well you might think you're defending it. I'm probably most looking forward to her classes this month. Chris is a bit smaller than I am, but he's built solid. He's a tough purple who loves the old style jiu jitsu fights. He probably got us warmer before starting in on the techniques than I've ever gotten in class before. It's going to be a good month.
Friday I got to open mat across town, and for once I rolled with only higher belts. The timing worked out in my favor this week. I worked with Enrique (a purple who's shorter than I, but weighs the same because of the muscle he has packed onto his frame) first. He set us for 6 minute rounds, and we went at it. I lasted 5 minutes of the first before he tapped me, and I think our second round lasted something like 9 or 10 minutes. I was able to fight off a pretty deep ezekiel choke, and even got back to full guard after he passed once or twice. I noticed a serious improvement from the last time I worked with him. After that, I trained with Matt, a purple who is well-regarded in the academy. We had never trained before last night, so I didn't want to embarrass myself, but I also didn't want to throw my technique out the window. Thankfully, neither happened. Of course, I didn't end up finding any taps. but I did much better than I thought I would. I found some controlling positions, even dove in on a clock choke at one point (couldn't finish--my collar grip wasn't deep enough). He showed me a great roll to get out of the turtle when your opponent is behind you without hooks in, and complimented my game overall. After that, Brady and I worked for a few rounds. Then I went home to study for the aforementioned test a bit more. Yes, studying took a back seat to training. It's nothing new. And it's exactly how I want it.
Training as a blue belt is very different. I don't know why that is. It might be that the fact that your belt has some color on it gives you some confidence that you didn't have before. I didn't think I would perform as well as I did last night. Or against Chris on Thursday. Or Tony last week. I am more willing to take actual positional risks more often, figuring that I'll find a way back to neutral (or at least out from under a bad spot). I find myself in something of a groove with my training. Of course, I'd like to hit three-a-days like some people I know, but I'll settle with two hours a night, 4 or 5 times a week. I don't know whether I really want to look into competing more, but that's something for after school if at all. I need to get this diploma under my belt, otherwise these last few years have been really very confusing.
I had to take the MPRE this morning. For non-lawyers, that's the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam. Every aspiring lawyer must pass it in order to gain admission to the bar. Of course, I didn't give as much time to studying as I could have, but I felt OK coming out of it. So there's that.
Also, Klint is gone for the month learning a combatives system. So I had three different instructors at the three classes I got to this week. All three of them were able to attend the seminar with Fabio Gurgel last weekend that I missed. Two days, three hours per day, privates available if you have the time and dough. And I was 400 miles away helping my brother celebrate his 30th. But no worries. Two purple belts and a brown belt took the time to fill in for Klint and teach us some of what they learned. A new approach to side control. A very strange armbar from the top. Refinements to a butterfly sweep.
Having different instructors for the next month is going to be interesting. I've taken classes from Brady before, but never from Chris or Gina. Brady is a small wrestler, so his approach is very different from my own. But that also means that I have a lot to learn from him. His first class was a lot of discussion and a few test balloons---we tried out the position a little bit, and then got to talking about it a bunch, showing a few adjustments to make and then theorizing about how to get around them an how to work them into our game. That came at the expense of trying them out fully, but that will come. Gina is a tiny tiny brown belt, and she's fierce. Her favorite position is knee-on-belly, and she'll put you there no matter how well you might think you're defending it. I'm probably most looking forward to her classes this month. Chris is a bit smaller than I am, but he's built solid. He's a tough purple who loves the old style jiu jitsu fights. He probably got us warmer before starting in on the techniques than I've ever gotten in class before. It's going to be a good month.
Friday I got to open mat across town, and for once I rolled with only higher belts. The timing worked out in my favor this week. I worked with Enrique (a purple who's shorter than I, but weighs the same because of the muscle he has packed onto his frame) first. He set us for 6 minute rounds, and we went at it. I lasted 5 minutes of the first before he tapped me, and I think our second round lasted something like 9 or 10 minutes. I was able to fight off a pretty deep ezekiel choke, and even got back to full guard after he passed once or twice. I noticed a serious improvement from the last time I worked with him. After that, I trained with Matt, a purple who is well-regarded in the academy. We had never trained before last night, so I didn't want to embarrass myself, but I also didn't want to throw my technique out the window. Thankfully, neither happened. Of course, I didn't end up finding any taps. but I did much better than I thought I would. I found some controlling positions, even dove in on a clock choke at one point (couldn't finish--my collar grip wasn't deep enough). He showed me a great roll to get out of the turtle when your opponent is behind you without hooks in, and complimented my game overall. After that, Brady and I worked for a few rounds. Then I went home to study for the aforementioned test a bit more. Yes, studying took a back seat to training. It's nothing new. And it's exactly how I want it.
Training as a blue belt is very different. I don't know why that is. It might be that the fact that your belt has some color on it gives you some confidence that you didn't have before. I didn't think I would perform as well as I did last night. Or against Chris on Thursday. Or Tony last week. I am more willing to take actual positional risks more often, figuring that I'll find a way back to neutral (or at least out from under a bad spot). I find myself in something of a groove with my training. Of course, I'd like to hit three-a-days like some people I know, but I'll settle with two hours a night, 4 or 5 times a week. I don't know whether I really want to look into competing more, but that's something for after school if at all. I need to get this diploma under my belt, otherwise these last few years have been really very confusing.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
One of my New Favorite BJJ Videos
Old-School Master Draculino shows jiu jitsu's utility. Again. Here, he addresses a basic concern: why does bjj emphasize the guard when all someone has to do in a self-defense situation is reach down and grab your balls?
The General
Fabio Gurgel, head of Alliance, is holding a seminar at the Edina school this weekend. And I cannot go. So instead, today I am making lessong plans for teaching high school children and tomorrow I'm doing more of the same. Because money is fungible. And food is more important than training with the General. Just barely, but it is.
Klint is gone for a month learning Dave's Guerrilla Combatives, getting certified so he can train police and soldiers in it. While that means we won't have a black belt instructor for a month or so, it also means that we'll have the opportunity to train with a handful of the upper belts. Chris (purple), Tony (purple), Brady (purple), and Gina (brown) will be covering Klint's classes. Klint describes Chris as having a great "old school" game, and while I'm not entirely sure what that means, it should be fun. Tony is a cop, a former wrestler and powerful as hell. Brady is probably 140 lbs, curly-q mustachioed and lighting quick, and Gina is 110 lbs of kick-ass. So it should be a fruitful month.
Training has been very good lately. I've had successes, and I've hit roadblocks that I'm still looking for detours to avoid. I'll put more down later. But I've not forgotten this space.
Klint is gone for a month learning Dave's Guerrilla Combatives, getting certified so he can train police and soldiers in it. While that means we won't have a black belt instructor for a month or so, it also means that we'll have the opportunity to train with a handful of the upper belts. Chris (purple), Tony (purple), Brady (purple), and Gina (brown) will be covering Klint's classes. Klint describes Chris as having a great "old school" game, and while I'm not entirely sure what that means, it should be fun. Tony is a cop, a former wrestler and powerful as hell. Brady is probably 140 lbs, curly-q mustachioed and lighting quick, and Gina is 110 lbs of kick-ass. So it should be a fruitful month.
Training has been very good lately. I've had successes, and I've hit roadblocks that I'm still looking for detours to avoid. I'll put more down later. But I've not forgotten this space.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Year In Review
This has been jumping around in my brain for the last month, and I have a snowed-in morning to finally get it down in black and white.
I started training regularly last February. In the past year, it is safe to say that jiu jitsu has invaded much more of my life than anyone anticipated. I started out hoping to go three times a week, figuring that school would creep in and take one of those nights every now and then. The classes were rarely more than 5 people, and usually one colored belt would show. I went to a Dave Camarillo seminar when he was in town. I had been training for only 2 months, and it was more than a little intimidating and frightening. I had never been in a room with so many other jiu jitsu guys, and they were tough, tough jiu jitsu guys. The first weekend in May, Klint held his first promotion ceremony and I got my second stripe on my white belt. Dave and Damian were both there, and we got to pick Dave's brain about jiu jitsu when we were done. Of course, none of us had been training more than six or seven months by that point, so we didn't even know what questions to ask. We're trying to get a hold of the big picture from one of the best in the game, and we don't even know where to start.
Slowly, jiu jitsu training took precedent in my week. I convinced a friend to sign up by spending a morning going over techniques with him in his basement. My "hopefully three-a-week" schedule became "if I don't get to at least four, there better be a good reason." I got my third stripe in September, and my friend and I built our law school class schedules around jiu jitsu. I competed in a tournament, despite not having the time to train properly for it. I finished one fight with a triangle, and lost my other two. It showed me where my weaknesses were, what my strengths were, and how important diet and technique are. I went to Denver to have Thanksgiving with some of my wife's family, and I snuck two classes in at Easton Jiu Jitsu in Arvada. I got my blue belt almost exactly one year after I began training.
I have had the following jiu-jitsu-related injuries: tweaked left thumb, pains in the rib-cartilage area, strange pains down both shins, gi burns across my face, bit lips (before getting a mouthguard), miniature staph in both knees, nose bleeds, and extremely strained back muscles. That last one required x-rays to make sure nothing was out of place, and stole two weeks of training from me.
I have trained with people who have received the following injuries: hyper-extended elbow; partially torn meniscus; sprained knee; severely strained hamstring; torn acl; dislocated index finger; broken hand (and he trained through it with his cast on--because he's a beast); separated rib.
I have made great friends with quality people.
I have apologized to and profusely thanked my wife for jiu jitsu. Often at the same time.
I have never needed to use my jiu jitsu outside the academy.
I have bested higher belts, and lost to lower belts.
I have almost learned how to move my hips.
I have probably lost fat and added muscle, though it almost looks like I'm wasting away. My wife tells me I look like Skeletor. That means that I have not learned how best to manage my diet.
I have cried in the locker room after class.
I have laughed in the middle of a roll.
I have tried to explain to my friends why I keep doing this thing that doesn't seem to make any semblance of sense to them. But when I tell them the easiest way to figure it out is to come to a sample class, they constantly beg off. I'm still working on it.
Beginning jiu jitsu is the second smartest thing I've ever done. (For those counting at home, the first is convincing my wife that I was good enough to marry.)
As for where I now stand, this part is more intimidating than my first class. I am the first blue belt at our academy. I'm the big shoulders--at least as far as rank goes. Sure, some higher belts from across town come in a few nights a week and occasional Saturdays, but Klint has put me up as the one of his students thus far deserving this rank. I'm more than a little intimidated. I have to be more aware of what my body is doing, what my opponent is doing in response--what is working and what isn't--and figure out my game.
As far as the rest of my life is concerned, I can say only that jiu jitsu has been a huge benefit. I watch my diet closer. I've been a vegetarian for years, but now I try harder to balance protein and carbs and veggies and all that--you know, eat healthy and smart. I drink less, both quantity and frequency. My sleep schedule is currently wonky as hell, but that has more to do with the high school teaching than anything else.
I'm stronger, leaner, and (I like to think) smarter than I was a year ago. And it's not entirely because of jiu jitsu, but a lot of it is.
I started training regularly last February. In the past year, it is safe to say that jiu jitsu has invaded much more of my life than anyone anticipated. I started out hoping to go three times a week, figuring that school would creep in and take one of those nights every now and then. The classes were rarely more than 5 people, and usually one colored belt would show. I went to a Dave Camarillo seminar when he was in town. I had been training for only 2 months, and it was more than a little intimidating and frightening. I had never been in a room with so many other jiu jitsu guys, and they were tough, tough jiu jitsu guys. The first weekend in May, Klint held his first promotion ceremony and I got my second stripe on my white belt. Dave and Damian were both there, and we got to pick Dave's brain about jiu jitsu when we were done. Of course, none of us had been training more than six or seven months by that point, so we didn't even know what questions to ask. We're trying to get a hold of the big picture from one of the best in the game, and we don't even know where to start.
Slowly, jiu jitsu training took precedent in my week. I convinced a friend to sign up by spending a morning going over techniques with him in his basement. My "hopefully three-a-week" schedule became "if I don't get to at least four, there better be a good reason." I got my third stripe in September, and my friend and I built our law school class schedules around jiu jitsu. I competed in a tournament, despite not having the time to train properly for it. I finished one fight with a triangle, and lost my other two. It showed me where my weaknesses were, what my strengths were, and how important diet and technique are. I went to Denver to have Thanksgiving with some of my wife's family, and I snuck two classes in at Easton Jiu Jitsu in Arvada. I got my blue belt almost exactly one year after I began training.
I have had the following jiu-jitsu-related injuries: tweaked left thumb, pains in the rib-cartilage area, strange pains down both shins, gi burns across my face, bit lips (before getting a mouthguard), miniature staph in both knees, nose bleeds, and extremely strained back muscles. That last one required x-rays to make sure nothing was out of place, and stole two weeks of training from me.
I have trained with people who have received the following injuries: hyper-extended elbow; partially torn meniscus; sprained knee; severely strained hamstring; torn acl; dislocated index finger; broken hand (and he trained through it with his cast on--because he's a beast); separated rib.
I have made great friends with quality people.
I have apologized to and profusely thanked my wife for jiu jitsu. Often at the same time.
I have never needed to use my jiu jitsu outside the academy.
I have bested higher belts, and lost to lower belts.
I have almost learned how to move my hips.
I have probably lost fat and added muscle, though it almost looks like I'm wasting away. My wife tells me I look like Skeletor. That means that I have not learned how best to manage my diet.
I have cried in the locker room after class.
I have laughed in the middle of a roll.
I have tried to explain to my friends why I keep doing this thing that doesn't seem to make any semblance of sense to them. But when I tell them the easiest way to figure it out is to come to a sample class, they constantly beg off. I'm still working on it.
Beginning jiu jitsu is the second smartest thing I've ever done. (For those counting at home, the first is convincing my wife that I was good enough to marry.)
As for where I now stand, this part is more intimidating than my first class. I am the first blue belt at our academy. I'm the big shoulders--at least as far as rank goes. Sure, some higher belts from across town come in a few nights a week and occasional Saturdays, but Klint has put me up as the one of his students thus far deserving this rank. I'm more than a little intimidated. I have to be more aware of what my body is doing, what my opponent is doing in response--what is working and what isn't--and figure out my game.
As far as the rest of my life is concerned, I can say only that jiu jitsu has been a huge benefit. I watch my diet closer. I've been a vegetarian for years, but now I try harder to balance protein and carbs and veggies and all that--you know, eat healthy and smart. I drink less, both quantity and frequency. My sleep schedule is currently wonky as hell, but that has more to do with the high school teaching than anything else.
I'm stronger, leaner, and (I like to think) smarter than I was a year ago. And it's not entirely because of jiu jitsu, but a lot of it is.
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