Trying it out

I've gone to about 10 trial sessions of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). This was mostly free trials at 4 different gyms, so I can't say that I really learned a whole lot since each gym was different. It would have been much better to have gone 10 days at one gym, but I did get to spend 4 sessions at one gym. I did get a sense of what it would be like, and it definitely is not boxing. The biggest difference between a sport like boxing and a sport like BJJ, even though both are combative sports, is that one can train alone in boxing but in BJJ you must have a partner. There are other obvious differences, but this is the one that sticks out the most in my mind.

Just a few general thoughts since I don't remember too many of the technical details:

• There is a lot to learn! The learning curve is so much higher than boxing. Even the athletic people who are naturals, still have a lot to learn since grappling and the thousands of moves in BJJ are out of the ordinary. Perhaps this is why it often takes 12-14 years of dedicated work to get a black belt. 
• It's hard to drill the same move over and over unless you have a partner who is willing to work with you for long periods of time. For the new person, each drill is new and I had maybe time to try it 3-4 times when I probably needed to try it at least 10-20 times to get a feel for it. 
• Sparring is fun! It's fun to spar when you can't/don't get hit in the face. Of course this makes you do odd things, like in BJJ you want to keep your elbows in and your arms in even when you're in the bottom position. This is so your opponent wouldn't be able to put an arm bar on you or something, but of course in a self defense situation someone may just punch you in the face if they're on top of you. So I'm not thinking of this as self defense, just as a sport for me to learn and get exercise. 

Sparring (at multiple gyms)

• The first guy I sparred in one of the gyms was about 5'9, maybe 280lbs of fat and muscle. He was a white belt but was pretty skilled. He got me in this arm bar and his entire weight pulled on my arm easily, I should have tapped earlier. We were practicing avoiding punches, and the moment I threw a punch the instructor (a champion BJJ black belt who still competes) asked me if I was a boxer? I said yes. He said he could tell right away. I guess that's good. Anyways, this big fella was definitely not easy to move around. Size definitely matters in sparring in most any combat sport, and BJJ is no exception. 
• The next guy I sparred was about 6'1 180, he was a pretty skilled blue belt. He worked with me on a few things, but I did have some size on him so some of the things he tried he had a harder time doing. I was able to get top position somehow, I guess back from my wrestling days more than 25 years ago, and after our sparring match he asked if I was a wrestler? I said yes, how could you tell. He said he could tell by my movements and b/c I tried to get top position. 
• I sparred another guy, about 6 ft 210 lbs almost my exact size. We went at it pretty hard, and he threw me down and got me in some good positions. I had to tap out several times, but on the very last time he tried to get me on a takedown, and I sprawled and pulled him down and was able to spin and get back control. I had my arm in for a rear naked choke but time was up. He also asked me if I was a wrestler, and said he could tell by my sprawling and body positioning. Both this fella and the other fella said wrestling actually is a big help, but I have to unlearn some habits. I didn't realize I had habits since I hadn't wrestled in 25 years but I guess there's still some muscle memory. 

In the next week or so I'm going to visit a BJJ gym and see if I can sign up for their course. This particular gym does not allow sparring until you're a 3 stripe white belt (Gracie Barra), which means I won't be able to spar for at least 3-4 months. That's too bad since I enjoy sparring.