So I went to my first real class. Actually, it was probably my 10th class or so, but my first since I've decided I wanted to try out BJJ.
There were about 14 people in this class, and the instructor was a 3 stripe black belt, but there were white belts, blue belts, majority purple, and one brown belt. There was one female who was there just trying her first class, she looked young.
I was paired up with the bigger guys, a blue belt and a purple belt. All of us were around 6 ft, the blue belt was around 180 lbs and fairly muscular in his 30's, the purple belt was in his 20's maybe weighed 260 with a big gut and was really skilled. He was the leader for our group. Going through all the motions he was patient and showed me much. I enjoyed the class since he was very nice and showed me the techniques slowly and let me do it on him. Most of our work was taking the back and working on chokes from the back. I had to tap out several times just during the practice sessions. We worked on a side collar choke, a triangle choke, and on the spider position to get in position for a choke. One thing I like about GB is they have a really structured curriculum so you get the same training everywhere, of course it turns out different since you have different teachers/students, etc.
I was thankful we had some controlled sparring. So my blue belt opponent was on my back, and I had to prevent him from getting the choke on me. He tapped me quickly the first time, but I was able to protect my neck and prevent him from tapping the 2nd time. It was a decent workout. The whole class only goes one hour, and then there's an hour or so of sparring which I'm not allowed to do as a beginner.
The instructor said it takes at least 4 months to get 3 stripes on the white belt, then you can attend the advanced classes and also spar. I was hoping it would be a better workout, but it was just enough for me to get sweaty. I remember sparring and thinking it was like being in a boxing match in terms of intensity, but without the free sparring it's really not too intense of a workout and people of any age can participate. I think I will have to find some other form of cardio, which isn't a problem since I'm still going to the boxing gym at least once or twice/week. I wish I was able to go to BJJ at least 5x/week to learn more, but it's just not feasible given my schedule/distance, blah blah, etc.
I was surprised at the types of bodies in that gym. Some purple belts looked out of shape, some of them were really skinny, and others had big guts. I noticed that simply doing BJJ or being skilled in BJJ doesn't mean that one will get in shape, though it is a good workout, so this is a huge difference from boxing. (Ex. The large purple belt is excellent, and I've seen him roll. He doesn't seem to have great cardio but really efficient movements.) I can't imagine someone investing 4-6 yrs (purple belt level) in boxing going 3x/week and not being in incredible shape. I guess one learns how to conserve energy and in this way, BJJ really is for everyone - every type of shape and age vs. boxing which is really a young man's game. One does need to be flexible, so I'll work on that. I like that about BJJ, there are lots of different people with different body types.
I'm not sure how often I'll post or what I'll post about. Right now, it's just a way to keep a record of what I've been doing.
There were about 14 people in this class, and the instructor was a 3 stripe black belt, but there were white belts, blue belts, majority purple, and one brown belt. There was one female who was there just trying her first class, she looked young.
I was paired up with the bigger guys, a blue belt and a purple belt. All of us were around 6 ft, the blue belt was around 180 lbs and fairly muscular in his 30's, the purple belt was in his 20's maybe weighed 260 with a big gut and was really skilled. He was the leader for our group. Going through all the motions he was patient and showed me much. I enjoyed the class since he was very nice and showed me the techniques slowly and let me do it on him. Most of our work was taking the back and working on chokes from the back. I had to tap out several times just during the practice sessions. We worked on a side collar choke, a triangle choke, and on the spider position to get in position for a choke. One thing I like about GB is they have a really structured curriculum so you get the same training everywhere, of course it turns out different since you have different teachers/students, etc.
I was thankful we had some controlled sparring. So my blue belt opponent was on my back, and I had to prevent him from getting the choke on me. He tapped me quickly the first time, but I was able to protect my neck and prevent him from tapping the 2nd time. It was a decent workout. The whole class only goes one hour, and then there's an hour or so of sparring which I'm not allowed to do as a beginner.
The instructor said it takes at least 4 months to get 3 stripes on the white belt, then you can attend the advanced classes and also spar. I was hoping it would be a better workout, but it was just enough for me to get sweaty. I remember sparring and thinking it was like being in a boxing match in terms of intensity, but without the free sparring it's really not too intense of a workout and people of any age can participate. I think I will have to find some other form of cardio, which isn't a problem since I'm still going to the boxing gym at least once or twice/week. I wish I was able to go to BJJ at least 5x/week to learn more, but it's just not feasible given my schedule/distance, blah blah, etc.
I was surprised at the types of bodies in that gym. Some purple belts looked out of shape, some of them were really skinny, and others had big guts. I noticed that simply doing BJJ or being skilled in BJJ doesn't mean that one will get in shape, though it is a good workout, so this is a huge difference from boxing. (Ex. The large purple belt is excellent, and I've seen him roll. He doesn't seem to have great cardio but really efficient movements.) I can't imagine someone investing 4-6 yrs (purple belt level) in boxing going 3x/week and not being in incredible shape. I guess one learns how to conserve energy and in this way, BJJ really is for everyone - every type of shape and age vs. boxing which is really a young man's game. One does need to be flexible, so I'll work on that. I like that about BJJ, there are lots of different people with different body types.
I'm not sure how often I'll post or what I'll post about. Right now, it's just a way to keep a record of what I've been doing.
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