Fourth blue stripe on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu white belt
Yeah, it’s my fourth blue stripe on my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu white belt. That was easy. Do you know what it really is? It’s two months of rolling around and about 15 billion calories burned. Oh yeah, it’s also a lot of sweat.
This is my last stripe for this belt. The next step is a blue belt. To me, this is huge because the blue belt is a big leap. It’s going from nothing to being a force to be reckoned with. Seriously, blue belts have gotten pretty knowledgeable about what they are getting into. They can hold their own.
I’m excited because I have been putting a lot of work into this stuff and I like knowing I am getting somewhere. By the way, when I get my blue belt we are going to have a parade. You should really stop by.
So a lot has gone on at our club in the past few months. I attended my first seminar with a world champion Jiu Jitsu black belt. His name is Brian Johnson and he comes from Seattle Washington. Check out one of his videos. This is when Brian wins the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Regionals.
He is a really nice guy and we learned a lot.
Lately, we have been having guys from a few different schools come by to work out with us. It’s really helpful because we get some great exposure to different styles and techniques. The visiting guys love it because we have a nice club. They get to learn some stuff and we get to learn some stuff. There usually is a healthy variety of belts. We get some white belts, blue belts, purple belts and even two brown belts. The brown belts are really awesome to roll with because they offer simple but very effective tips. They don’t just beat us up. They kind of draw us out to see what we need help in and then tweak us to make whatever we are doing better. I picked up three really cool techniques that I have been incorporating into our classes.
I think there is a bit of a buzz about our school out there. A lot of guys are stopping by with big smiles. They love working out with us and, you know, this is the new year. You might like it too. If you live in the Hartford area, check us out.
I met with my Jiu Jitsu instructor this afternoon to go over the blue belt curriculum in good detail. It’s very helpful to have these one-on-one classes to really get things squared away. I think I did okay, because when we were finished, he gave me another blue stripe for my white belt.
Three blue stripes on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu white belt
When I first started this whole thing, I thought that this level was right before master. Of course, I now know that it isn’t. I think at the very beginning, I thought anything was right before master. Some guys had a few months experience and to me, that was pretty serious. Now that I have just a bit over six months behind me, I do feel like I am getting there. I still need to study up and practice, but I am confident that I will soon get my…
Man, I have this taste in my mouth. Oh wait, that’s just the taste of a blue belt.
I didn’t write a separate post about this, but I wanted to mention that we had some visitors at our club on Wednesday night. We had four guys from another club come over to roll with us. One of the guys taught the class and showed us some pretty awesome triangle set ups. There were two brown belts, one blue belt and one white belt. I had a chance to roll with a brown belt, the blue belt and the white belt. I think I am right where I am supposed to be because there was about a 0% chance of me inflicting any amount of damage on the brown belt, a very challenging few rounds with the blue belt and a chance to practice some of my submissions on the white belt, although he has improved tremendously since the last time we met. I have a feeling that the next time I see him, he will be practicing his submissions on me.
I was really pumped up when I left class that night. I loved the fact that we had guys from another school come over and how we all got along. Instant friendship and lots of helping one another. Just love it.
Remember guys, come work out with us…Giroux Bros Martial Arts in Glastonbury, CT. Perfect if you live in the Hartford area.
In case you don’t know what the leg triangle choke is, here’s a video:
And I still just love it. I want to do this forever.
Each time there is a class, I can’t wait to go. Of course, laying there flat on my back all sweaty at the end isn’t that much fun. Oh who am I kidding, yes it is.
If there is anyone who practices Jiu Jitsu out there reading this, you surely know of the addiction. It’s one of the better ones though because this stuff is so good for you in every way. You get in shape, learn self defense and make friends. Yup, you can even make friends. I know that’s hard to do later in life as we all get stuck in our grooves. Getting bogged down in our daily routines can take its toll, so some new perspective on the world every now and again certainly helps.
I would say that’s one really big benefit of our classes. We all get along really well and appreciate each others company. Every one of us brings something to the table that the others might not know and it really makes a difference. As hard as we go on the mat, we still like teaching one another all the good stuff that there is to learn.
I took some videos a while back, but they are way too big to upload. I figured that a few screen captures would be okay instead. Let me tell you, it’s pretty difficult to get a good screen capture.
So Jeff (Jiu Jitsu instructor extraordinaire) emailed me this morning and asked if I was up for an hour long workout this afternoon before some of his private lessons. I wrote back telling him that I was and that I would meet him at 2:30.
It’s really awesome getting one on one time because I get all the focus. I like learning and doing and getting that kick a$$ cardio workout. It helps the both of us because he gets a workout too. I especially appreciate the fact that he can see if I am progressing or not. Since he is the one I am sparring with, he gets the up close view. Sometimes I feel like I am climbing a mountain and that peak is right over the next hill. This stuff is starting to come together. I think I am actually getting better.
Some of the things I am focusing on is slowing down, not using as much strength and distributing my weight properly. All of these things are very “learned.” If you compare wrestling a friend in the front yard when you were a kid to practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as an adult, I would say that they might look similar at first glance, but are quite different in practice. For one, Jiu Jitsu is a heck of a lot more fun. It isn’t pointless rolling around. There is strategy and the satisfaction of knowing that your opponent is attempting some of the same things you are. Of course, there is always that ultimate high of getting a submission. For some people, that’s the goal. For others, the goal is just to get the workout. For me, it’s both.
Anyway, we had a great session. We went over the “Clock Choke” and what to do when your opponent is in the “turtle” position. Basically, the turtle position is when he or she is curled up in the ground in a defensive posture. There are some things you can do to break them down and get some submissions. These are important things to learn because you find your opponent in the turtle position quite a bit. Here is a quick example video of the Clock Choke. There are some different variations of this choke, but this one is pretty general.
In about a month and a half, I will be at my six month mark. As I think I wrote earlier on, getting a Jiu Jitsu blue belt takes about a year. There is a curriculum that needs to be met to get the blue belt, so I think I am going to start writing about each item on the check list after I hit six months. I did this with my flight training and it helped. I think it will help here as well. If you aren’t into Jiu Jitsu and you find yourself just breezing through these types of posts, I apologize ahead of time.
So, I am a few days shy of my four month mark in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Can you believe it?
I remember a little over four months ago. I was driving around going nuts trying to find some sort of martial art to keep me physically fit and to maintain my body’s lethal-ness. Okay, well maybe I wasn’t lethal before…oh hell, I’m still not lethal, but at least I am a bit more physically fit.
A few weeks into Jiu Jitsu training, I got a few back spasms. That really stunk. They were from using muscles that I have probably never used. I was just telling Laura today how good my back has been feeling lately. At my age, it’s important to keep the body doing all sorts of moves and exercises and I seriously can’t think of anything better for that than Jiu Jitsu. One of the stretching exercises I do every time we have class is to lay on my back and lift my legs all the way over my head until my feet are touching the floor. I never used to be able to do that. It’s a great stretch by the way.
For the past few weeks, I have been working out with two guys – one is my fellow classmate and the other is my instructor. They are both much better than me and really great to train with for this stuff. Since I am the newest, my instructor has his work cut out for him. Every so often, my classmate chimes in with some good advice. It’s like I am getting private lessons. Hey, not a bad deal.
I have been getting better. I can feel it. I am not getting my butt kicked as bad as I used to and I am starting to implement some submissions as opposed to just playing defense the whole time. I am also getting better at keeping pressure on my opponent (physical pressure by using the weight of my body) and I have gotten MUCH better at not getting completely exhausted every time I go out there with someone. That was a huge obstacle when I first started. I didn’t like the feeling of losing, so I used all my strength to stop what was happening. I would tire myself out to the point of being useless.
From what I have gathered, Jiu Jitsu requires some degree of intelligence to progress at. It’s not walking out on the mat to randomly see what happens. You need to have a plan and to be able to moderate yourself. You need to find your opponent’s weaknesses and exploit them. It’s a tricky thing and it’s as much in the head as it is in the body. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.
Today was a great day. After about 45 minutes of getting a great workout, my instructor walked over to me and put another blue stripe on my white belt. He said that I was getting much better and then offered some advice on the day’s matches. Always good advice, I just wish that I was able to use more of it. It’s not the easiest thing to try to submit guys who have years of experience at this stuff.
I will say this – there is a real benefit of working out with guys who have so much more experience than I have. While I do play defense, I am learning what types of moves to defend against. For example, back in the beginning, I would just stick my arms up in the air to stop whatever was coming at me. Now, let’s just say my arms don’t go up in the air nearly as much as they used to and I use many alternative strategies to defend myself. Every so often, I actually get in top position to see where I can go from there. It’s fun. Hey, only eight more months of doing what I’m doing and I might be close to my blue belt. I am looking forward to that challenge.
Here is a pic of my belt and a nice motivational video. By the way, stop by to say hi and you might want to give Jiu Jitsu a try yourself – Jiu Jitsu near Hartford, CT (located in Glastonbury).
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu white belt with two blue stripes
Okay, so now that I have been doing this for about a month and a half, I figured I really should start writing about it. It’s just been burning me up inside.
Remember that post a while back where I said that I had found a nice “exercise” class up in Glastonbury (or I was looking for one anyway)? Well, that exercise class is actually Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you aren’t familiar with what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is, you can do a quick read-up over here on Wikipedia.
Also, if you forgot what got me all motivated about this in the first place, you can re-read my “How To Develop Stamina” post. That will refresh your memory with how frustrated I get with myself.
Anyway, as I mentioned in that earlier post, I have this never ending quest to get in shape. One of the major problems with this quest is that I am getting older and my body is slowly falling apart. Don’t laugh, you are in the same boat. Ha. The rule book my parents gave me when I was born didn’t mention anything about how I was going to have to work harder and harder at getting fit as I get older and older. I am thinking they decided to keep that one to themselves and are now getting a little chuckle out of it.
Now, let me tell you that by no means am I out of shape. I am actually feeling pretty good. I just want to be able to run a marathon tomorrow and not feel it. Yeah right. Laura keeps reminding me that people actually train for that kind of stuff. Either way, continuing to think that I am out of shape keeps me motivated.
At the time I was writing that “Stamina” post, I was actually looking for a martial arts class to join in on. I had always wanted to learn martial arts and even gave it a try when I was a kid. I think I’ll save that story for another post, because I took my one free class with three of my friends and things didn’t turn out too well. That’s what happens when you put four giggly idiots in a class with a bunch of guys who could damage us. It was actually really funny…to us. Anyway…
I first sat in on a Taekwondo class here in town. It looked really good, but I just didn’t get the vibe I was looking for in it. One of the main factors that dissuaded me was the fact that there were kids in the class. I was looking for something more mature. It looked like everyone in the class was learning a lot, but I just didn’t think I would fit in.
Next, I went up to visit a Karate school in Glastonbury. I had watched a bunch of videos from this school on the internet and was pretty excited. When I got to the school, no one was there. I actually stood in the lobby and called the place on my cell phone. I heard the office phone ringing and I hung up. I took a quick look around and noticed that this school also really targeted kids. I guess this martial arts thing is really popular with the youngsters. Oh well. I left.
To make a long story short, I started looking into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and started liking what I was learning about it. If you look at the Wikipedia page I linked to above and have watched any of the videos that I have posted, I think you’ll know why. To me, it’s challenging, smart, fun, great exercise and a very handy tool to have in your back pocket.
I found a nice school that teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu up in Glastonbury. I called the owner and was invited up to sit in on a class. Now, mind you I have never really been to a Jiu-Jitsu class before, so I didn’t know what to expect. He mentioned that I could wear sweats or something to move around in, but I opted to wear jeans because I didn’t even know if I was going to be interested in what they offered. I just sat on the side and observed.
The night I sat in on the class, I learned that this was actually something I was really eager to get involved with. If you took a really quick glace at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), you might think it looks like high school wrestling. The difference between BJJ and wrestling is that in wrestling, you try to pin your opponent and in BJJ, you go for a submission, such as an arm bar, leg lock or a choke. Also, BJJ has a more practical side and can be used as self defense.
After a month and a half of pretty fast paced training, I would say that I have been bitten by the bug. My instructor actually was laughing about that this morning. As I was laying on the mat sweating, I reminded him that I didn’t even know what BJJ was two months ago.
The school I train at offers three classes a week. I haven’t missed any yet. My instructor and another guy also like to train one to two extra days per week. I go with them any time they ask me. I usually end up going in four times a week and sometimes five, like I did last week. It’s really, really good exercise, but I will admit, my body gets tired. I just need to get used to it.
For the first two weeks, I gotta tell you, I was kind of in pain. I had a few back spasms and my muscles wanted to strangle me for what I was doing to them. I thought I was down and out for a few classes when I had the spasms, but I still went in and worked it out. Believe it or not, practicing BJJ is sort of like going to the chiropractor. You go in with a back problem and come out cured. It’s amazing what someone stacking you will do for your back muscles.
Since then, things have been going rather smoothly. I purchased a new gi, a mouth guard and some knee pads. These things have come in really handy, especially the knee pads and mouth guard. I was watching a video a few weeks ago and the trainer was attempting to express how important mouth guards are. He then pulled out his front teeth to let the point sink in. He told the class that he lost all of his front teeth the very first time he went to train. I bought the mouth guard after I saw that video.
During the month and a half that I have been learning Jiu Jitsu, I have noticed some pretty nice changes. Firstly, I look a bit better muscle-wise. Things look more toned. Also, I can see my abs again. I never thought that would happen. I’m not sure if my stomach muscles have been built up more or if I lost weight. Either way, my good ol’ college six-pack is starting to show again. I think the real secret lies behind the creatine and soy protein though. Those supplements helped a lot in college and continue to help tremendously now.
I really wish you could see me spar with the guys in the class. You would probably get a kick out of it. It’s amazing how much I have learned in just a month and a half, but it definitely shows how much I have to learn. But, like anything else I get myself into, it’s pretty much a life long trip.
I had considered writing all about the different moves I learn here on this blog, but then thought better of it. I can well imagine that most of my readers really don’t know or care what a “Scissor Sweep” is. Well, if you do care what it is, check out this video for a demonstration.
You know, now that I put that video up, I am realizing how I can actually post a video for every move I learn. If I put a video up with some text, you guys won’t get bored and I will be learning something too. Hmmm.
Okay, I am outty. I just thought I would share the reason I haven’t been writing all that much lately. I have been so busy with this and work. Till next time.
I was looking through Amazon the other day for a variety of things when I came across a DVD set. It was called, “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt Requirements: Fundamentals for All.” It looked really cool and had great ratings. I almost got it. Then, I decided to check out YouTube to see if there were any excerpts from the DVD set. I didn’t see any, but I did find a few awesome BJJ videos. I thought you might want to see them.
Check out the beginning of this video. There is an interesting interview. Of course you should watch the rest of it too.
