Workout 188: 4 stripes

This blog is now becoming a place where I post only when I get promoted. Today I got my 4th stripe on my white belt. I really liked the format of Couchjitsu's post "Blue Belt" so I will simply copy the structure of his posts.

I started BJJ sometime in November 2013. I went to an EXPO while I was traveling and got my first BJJ lesson from Caio Terra in a seminar. I had no clue what I was doing. I then visited a few gyms for the next month, so my first month I went to about 10 classes at about 4 different BJJ gyms. I didn't learn so much as just get used to the whole thing. Starting December 2013, I enrolled at my 1st BJJ gym. Along the way I pulled my rib, had to move to another state, and basically take several weeks off at a time. Some months I averaged 18 classes, other times I averaged only 8. One time I think I went to 20 classes in one month.

Today was promotion day for our gym, and I've been attending this gym for 4 months. I came in with 3 stripes and I finally got my 4th stripe. Our gym does not have any formal testing, the instructor just rolls with you and determines if you are ready. One lady started jiujitsu in March, and got promoted to blue belt. Another guy started in June and has 4 stripes. I'm the slowest promoted, but that may also be b/c I moved gyms and my instructor wants to see me coming more to his gym. (There are two guys in my gym who have both been training about 7 years. I would say they are pretty close in dedication, roughly 3-5x week. The first guy is in the military and has moved around a lot. This is his 4th gym in 7 years. He just got his 3rd stripe on his purple belt. The 2nd guy has stayed in this one gym for 7 years straight, and he got his 3rd stripe on his brown belt. They seem pretty equal to me in terms of ability, but who knows I'm just a white belt.)

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed as a few upper belts said that I'll get my blue this time and also that I was the hardest white to submit/best white belt at our gym, etc. Either way, I feel kind of childish admitting that I was disappointed when I'm clearly not in this thing to get promoted. The fact of the matter is that some guys, like Couchjitsu, have taken a lot longer to get promoted to blue and I'm pretty sure he is better than I am so I have nothing to complain about. (Just the rants of a middle aged guy. Heh.)

So here's what I've done so far (all in the Gi):

Classes + Sparring: 188

Hours: 235 hours (I split time between 1 and 1.5 hour classes with sparring a part of every class and/or free rolling afterwards. My guess is that it's about 1.25 hrs average per class)

If I compare this with Couchjitsu who did 526 hours, that's more than 2x as much as I did and he just got his blue belt. At our gym, he'd probably be a 2 stripe blue since most of the guys who have been doing this 2 - 2.5 years are 2-3 stripe blue belts. I noticed that different associations have different average times. For the IBJFF a blue belt seems to average around 1 year, and other organizations like the the USBJJF recommends 96 classes and roughly 1 yr 8 months.

I really like what Couchjitsu has to say on this, that promotions have so much to do with one's training schedule and in my opinion one's ability/instructor whims, etc.

As for technique I'm mostly changing from a submissions/defense based focus to a positional/sweep based one. I know that it's position before submission, but I still kept on thinking of submissions the entire time. From now on, I'll work on sweeps and passing guards/good positions. I'm still a white belt.

A blue belt friend and I talk about class a lot, and we both admit that even though we're both middle aged we're a bit childish on this topic and that it bothers us that we're not better than we had hoped. The journey has been fun, and definitely more important for me than the destination.

3 stripes

I've had to travel so much that my schedule got kind of mixed up. I should have gotten the 3 stripes a while ago, but anyways the instructor gave it to me today. Frankly there isn't much difference between what I was before, since I stayed at two stripes a long time since I was training at two different gyms. At my gym, attendance is pretty important. I've been working on a number of things. Mainly, I try to focus more on sparring. Mostly I have to work on defense since I spar upper belts, so I'm more careful in what I do. Today a purple belt that I normally spar told me he could tell I got a lot better, since he didn't submit me today. I have a few priorities: 

1. Focus on just two submissions and variants from back, mount, half mount, side mount, and guard. (Haven't worked on turtle.) 

- Back: rear naked choke + bow and arrow choke with leg over

- Mount: americana/americana variant + choke/arm bar alternate

- Half mount: americana/americana variant + kimura omoplata 

- Side mount: shoulder over head submission + mount

- Guard: kimura + collar choke + scissor sweep

2. Defense

- Back: scoop + leg over/single leg trap

- Mount: straight leg/elbow in + trap and roll

- Half mount: leg over to guard

- Side mount: leg in arm/spider guard + hand on hip/throat push away + elbow shoulder hold

- In guard: leg up push knee down w/back + leg up/pull go/knee over thigh to half guard

If I can simply get a good handle on the above, that's quite a bit. I can do all of the above, but not all of them very well. I've purposely omitted turtle, knee on belly, and north south defense and sweeps. I have some general ideas, but I'm so rarely in those positions I want to focus on this for now. I am slowly working on those positions, since a blue belt would know two submissions/defenses for all those positions. 

Workout 70: Been a long time

I haven't posted in a long time. Some recent comments/thoughts:

1. I had to take the entire month of April off due to a rib injury. I couldn't even jog. I ate a lot less so I wouldn't gain weight, but did nothing.

2. I started in early May, but have been training 5x/week. I started with a few others, but they are all 3 stripe white belts now. I'm still a 2 stripe but this is not so important anymore to me.

3. The large purple belt said I got better since we last sparred, so from Mar 10 to about May 5, I didn't see him since I was out of town for work. He said I got better, even though I didn't do anything except enter that tournament. I think i just became more aware. I still suck.

4. My base is terrible. I'm too top heavy as a longer torso guy. So here are the things I'm working on:

- Passing guard by holding down the pant legs.
- In guard, look for Kimura and front choke.
- Hold base when I'm on top even if I can't mount.
- When I'm mounted, avoid arm bars in particular by keeping my elbows in/not extending.

Next step goals:

- Hold off on being mounted when sparring. Hold legs until he can't pass.
- Elbows in, arm not extended.
- Try to work in half guard at least. 

First tournament

Today I was in my first tournament. There were 7 people total in my bracket, and I lost my first match  via submission after 4:30 so I didn't get a second match. I was down 8-2 anyways. I lost to the eventual winner of my bracket. He submitted the next guy, who won his first match, in only 1:30, and then the last guy he won by like 10-0 or something. Too bad I only had one match and lost to the eventual winner of the bracket. He was definitely the best guy in our bracket by far. I think the rest of us were fairly close in ability.

My strategy was to take him down, but he got the takedown when my reverse hip throw didn't work. I should have dropped my hips and pushed him away, but he pushed me over and when I tried to throw him, he was able to push me back and get side mount, then mount. He tried an Americana but I was able to defend fairly easily. I went for a sweep, and had him half turned when he put a scissor lock on my head. He squeezed hard, but didn't tap me out and then I pulled out and tried to get side mount be he got me in guard. Immediately, he went for a triangle, but I was able to stack him and had him in a collar choke. He was still trying to triangle me but wasn't able to get my head down. I sank my choke deeper and thought he was going to tap, but he dropped the triangle and was able to push my hip away with his feet. We rolled around a little bit, and then he got me in an arm bar.

He was definitely better than me in skill and was in better shape too, he won the bracket so I knew he had a lot more experience than my 3 months. I was sick and pulled a muscle two weeks before, so I went to this tournament with only 3 practices in 2.5 weeks, but I probably wouldn't have beaten him. I was pretty close with that collar choke. I think if I had spread my legs out while stacking, I might have been able to submit him. I was so busy thinking of the choke that I didn't think about my leg positioning. I saw his face turn red, so I knew he would have tapped soon but he was able to get out of it by pulling his legs out and pushing me away on my hips. I give him credit, he was good - definitely better than any of the 8 white belts I've sparred so far.

Looking back I should have:

1. Been more aggressive on the takedown. If I dropped my hips and not tried for the throw, I may have been able to get in the open more.
2. Once I had him stacked, I should have had a stronger base by not having my legs together but in a tripod formation to sink that collar choke in. I should have twisted my hands more to get it in deeper. It would have been an upset for sure if I tapped him since he was a lot better than me and was up by a lot of points.

I only wish I didn't have him first since he was the best guy in the bracket. It was a good experience. It would be good to enter another tournament as a white belt, since I'm only on my 3rd month. As they say at Gracie Barra, you win or you learn. I lost, but I did learn quite a bit in my first tournament.

Workout #50: Sucking less

Today I definitely sucked less. I sparred the same large purple belt I usually spar, the only one in the gym probably stronger than me so I have no advantage in size, strength, and obviously none in skill. He's been telling me to keep a stronger base. He's been able to scissor sweep me at will, but today finally for the first time he tried and he wasn't able to. He still tapped me out a bunch, but he wasn't able to get his usual Americanas and arm bars with me. I guess that's good. I also noticed when he did mount me he wasn't able to submit me as easily, I was able to go down and grab his hips and try and throw him off balance. It was hard since he has at least 50 pounds on me, still I noticed progress.

I sparred another white belt, a tall thin guy so it totally wasn't fair even though he was a 4 striper. He had me in mount after passing my guard, but I was able to sweep him, and get him in a kimura and tap him out. He tried to get me in a triangle but I was too strong, and he wasn't able to get my arm over so I flipped him over, and go his head between my legs and got a kimura. Again, not fair b/c he's so much lighter than me and still a white belt. He even tells me what to do during our sparring match which is helpful.

Workout #44: A wrestler white belt

I'm a former wrestler, though that was more than 20 years ago in high school. Since I have grappled since, I figured I would have totally forgot but almost everyone I roll with asks if I wrestled before. I'd say at least 60% of all the new people I roll with, I spar 3-4 times per week with multiple partners, ask if I wrestled before whether they're blue, purple, or brown. (I've never rolled with a black belt.)

At our gym we're usually paired up by size, but sometimes the classes are small so we roll with people of different sizes. As a 3 month white belt, I pretty much get tapped by everyone of all sizes. If the upper belt is bigger than me, then he can tap me fairly easily though now I've been working on defense. However, if the upper belt is smaller than me it's not always easy for him to tap. If it's a purple belt, it's still pretty easy for him even if I'm 40 pounds heavier. The blue belts however, size does make a difference.

For example, today I sparred a 4 stripe blue belt who was about 5'10 150 pounds (I'm 6 ft 205 pounds), and so he pulled guard on me knowing I was bigger. I was able to grab his arm, and get him in a headlock and put all my weight on his head with his own arm over his neck. He didn't tap since I couldn't really submit him, but he couldn't get out and I unsuccessfully tried for an Americana but couldn't since he had me in half guard. I couldn't break his half guard, though I had his arm over his head. Afterwards, he asked me if I was a wrestler and said he could tell by my head control and desire to be on top. I still couldn't submit him, his legs were really strong for a skinny guy and he had a great half guard.

So if you spar with a heavier white belt former high school wrestler you can probably expect:

1. They will probably take you down pretty easily if you're standing up, unless you have lots of experience in standup BJJ.
2. They feel much stronger and heavier than they look, wrestlers know how to apply pressure especially on the head/chest area and can sprawl back.
3. They will probably panic a bit on the bottom, and will most likely use their arms to push off. At least I tend to do this, and I get arm barred very frequently by almost all my purple belt opponents who see it from a mile away.
4. They have strong headlocks and can clamp down and put all their weight on you with their legs sprawled.

I try hard not to act like a wrestler but I can't help it, it just comes out. I'm here to learn BJJ, not to be a wrestler, but I still tend to go on top and try to put top pressure down. It's not a bad strategy for a beginner white belt, but that seems to be just what I do naturally. I need to work on passing guard and other things, but I generally end up trying to go for some kind of side mount when I should probably be working on my defense and hip control.

The only reason I'm even able to spar with some of these purple belts is if 1) if I'm bigger, and 2) if I get lucky and end up on top. If the purple belt is bigger than me, he will throw me around like a rag doll. Most blue belts can submit me fairly easily if they're remotely my size, but even then if I get side mount/top control I can apply head pressure and they're not quite as skilled as the purple belts.

Sometimes you just end up lucky. I have had only one submission out of the 100+ times I've had to tap out, and that was to a purple belt and that was b/c I was lucky when he tried to arm bar me, I was able to somehow flip him over, get on top, and his own arm was over his neck when I applied top pressure in a side mount/head lock of sorts. Either way, I feel wrestling is an big advantage on top, but it can be a disadvantage on bottom at least as a white belt. I'm sure as I get better it won't matter either way. 

Boxing vs. BJJ

I have a unique perspective at this juncture of my training. I trained as a boxer for several years, but only for about 4 months very seriously in preparing for my first amateur bout as a 40 year old. I'm not 41 and training for my very first jiu jitsu tournament as a white belt, I'll have 4 months of training when my tournament starts. I wanted to do a comparison of what it's like as a beginner middle aged guy. This is of course only my perspective.

Boxing

• At the beginning levels it's not very complicated at all. Typically you're a more offensive or a more defensive style boxer. I was more a defensive style boxer. 
• Most beginner amateur boxers use their jab about 80% of the time, so it's much more about timing and accuracy than power. Knockouts are rare in amateur boxing, so it's mostly about points. Accuracy is important since you get the same points for a hard hit vs. a well placed hit that doesn't hurt very much. 
• There are no chubby boxers. At least not after a year of training. I was by far the most overweight boxer in my gym, and at that time I was 6 ft and 210 lbs or so. 
• Boxing is truly primal. There's really no feeling like getting hit in the face for the very first time, or getting hit with a 3 hit combo. It's very hard not to control the emotions. It truly feels like a fight b/c of the speed. 
• The training routine is boring, even Mike Tyson said so, one does the same things ten thousand times - jumping rope, footwork, speed bag, heavy bag, double bag, sparring, shadow boxing, and that's about it. Of course one's instructor works with you but still, there are really only 6 punches and the amateur boxer spends most of his time on the jab. 
• One's journey is alone. I've seen guys at our gym who are there totally focused, don't do anything but workout, spar, and don't say a single word to anyone. 
• The average amateur boxer, can definitely handle himself in a fight. Mostly b/c he's used to the speed of a fight. He can move, hit, and the like.
• However, it's a young man's game. I was one of the oldest guys in my gym and the majority of the guys were in their 20's. My gym was a boxing gym, and everyone is there just for boxing. No classes, just trainers and boxers. 

I still go to a boxing gym once a week or so, but I no longer spar and will not compete anymore. Reaction time is key, and as a 40+ year old amateur I found that I couldn't spar very well with the young guys. After getting hit in the head, even at 50% speed, I felt my head ringing and wanted to find a new sport. I do it mostly just to keep up my basic skills. 

BJJ

• There are all ages, all shapes, all sorts of people in BJJ. Some are there for the competition, others are there just to stay in shape, and still others like the camaraderie. My gym only does BJJ, and the age range for the adult classes are 16 - 59. 
• The belt system for the most part does level the field. Although I did submit that purple belt once (pure luck), and have come close to submitting blue belts (still luck), for the most part I can only do that b/c of my wrestling background and strength. Overall, a 150 pound purple belt will submit me 95-99% of the time even with my 50 pound size and strength advantage. I'm known as the 'strong' guy in the gym, probably the 2nd strongest guy there after the 280 pound purple. 
• Strength, and to some extent speed are not as important vs. skill. They matter when the skills are similar however. There is a purple belt in our gym who is only 23, been doing BJJ since he was only 20, but comes 6x/week. He won an all Asian open tournament, beating several brown belts when he was a recently promoted purple belt. He's flexible, extremely strong, has no fat on him, and is very lanky and fast. He seems to have the perfect BJJ body and at 23 is really in incredible shape. I've seen him spar 10 times straight, and he looked like he could go another 10. So strength and speed do matter, but skill is even more important. We have an excellent 4 stripe blue belt female who has won a bunch of tournaments, she routinely spars this 4 stripe white belt - they're both about 5'4 and weigh about 120 lbs. He submits her regularly, maybe 9 out of 10 times even though she is more skilled. So it does matter, but skill is definitely more important given everything else. This is why BJJ is cool. 
• Sparring is relatively safe. There are injuries of course, shoulder, ankle, bruises, kick to the face accidentally, dislocated elbow, torn ACL, etc. However, it's not like boxing where you get brain damage. I would say overall there's more injuries in BJJ, but they are much much less severe. In boxing, one cannot spar every day. In BJJ, many of the guys spar every time they go to class and some of the young guys spar daily. 
• I would not call a BJJ match a fight. Although the terminology is used in tournaments, I don't think it's anything like a fight. It doesn't feel like one. I've been in fights, and as a former wrestler I prefer to go to the ground anyways, but the intensity is not like a fight. There are too many ways to score points. It's a combat sport for sure, but it's not MMA nor is it like a boxing match. This doesn't mean someone trained in BJJ cannot be good in a fight, but the sparring matches do not feel like a fight vs. a boxing sparring match. I've never been in a tournament so we'll see, but in my amateur boxing match it really did feel like a fight with blood on both sides, head spinning, etc. 
• I've seen overweight black belts who are excellent. In particular, I'm surprised at how flexible some overweight BJJ folks can be and how excellent their skills. In my gym, we have a black belt that's about 5'8 and 230 pounds, with a big belly. He's one of the best. He's fairly strong, but has excellent balance and can do the splits easily. He's been doing BJJ for about 10 years. I can't imagine a boxer looking like that even after a year. The training would be too intense. 

Overall, I still think I enjoy the primal feeling of boxing but BJJ is growing on me. I'm sure the better I get the more I'll feel drawn to BJJ. I'm just so lacking as a white belt that I'm not always sure what to do. I would say right now, boxing is a great memory but I want to make new memories with BJJ. I feel like I can do this for a long time, do it slowly, and just learn. I don't really care about tournaments or self defense, the art itself is interesting enough. 

Workout #42: Sparring another white belt

I've been very sore from sparring daily. I don't think I can keep up this pace. I think I'll try not to spar every day, or just spar every other session. Or only spar just once. I want to spar more to learn more, but my body aches too much. 

This past week, I finally got to spar with another white belt. He's a 4 stripe white belt, has been doing BJJ for about 2 years but coming just once or twice per week. He'd be a blue belt easily if he came more often, but sometimes he says he only comes 2x/month depending on how busy he is. We're about the same height, but I have at least 40 pounds on him. He's significantly better than me. I've been trying to learn how to spar lightly or to use less strength, since he's thinner than me and about my skill. (Actually, he's much much better.) 

When I'm in his guard, it's hard for him to pass. I can't always break his guard, so I end up using an old wrestling move. I learn forward with him in my guard, and grab his head, and then get on both feet, then I pull his legs up. He's passed me a few times, but it's kind of unfair. Once I'm on top, if I'm in half guard I can get an Americana on him simply b/c of my strength and weight. Again, wrestlers are pretty good at head/top pressure, but I haven't wrestled competitively in 20 years and only in high school. Once he's in my guard however, I feel like I have the advantage. He's too light to do much. When he tries to break my guard by putting his elbow down, he often doesn't have much leverage. I'm strong enough to pull him down by the collar, and I put him in a triangle though I wasn't able to submit him. So I got him in an arm bar from the triangle, but still didn't have the angle right. He showed me how I needed to turn my body. 

It was a great session. I can tell this guy would be excellent at BJJ if he had more time. He watches people and copies their moves, and he can explain each move step by step. I just go by instinct. I need to change this if I want to get better. 

The strong 4 stripe blue belt that I spar with regularly, we rolled for 5 minutes. Everytime I roll with him, he submits me less. I found that I can get a lot of pressure on his head if I push forward and pin him down, of course I usually make a mistake and he submits me, but twice he tried an arm bar and I was able to get out by gripping my hands together and doing the walk around. 

I suck at sparring, but I enjoy it. Most of the guys I spar with are upper belts, but I feel they're not taking it easy on me b/c I have a hard time relaxing so I don't go light + I'm usually bigger or stronger than them so my top pressure is strong, so they react and submit me. I have so much to learn. At least I know what I am, a middle aged fairly strong but inflexible white belt who has been training for almost 3 months. Every workout, BJJ intrigues me more. I'm still no obsessed about it like my friend, but I find myself liking the camaraderie and the workout. Most of all, I actually feel like I'm improving and enjoy thinking about the times I used to wrestle. It's not wrestling, but the feeling is like back when I was in high school. We'll see how far I go with this BJJ thing, for sure it's a sport I can do for a very very long time. 

Workout #38: Big guy disadvantages for beginners

There are significant disadvantages in BJJ for a big man. You don't even have to be that big, as long as you are bigger than your training partners. For example, I'm 6ft tall weigh 205 and although I'm pretty strong and have decent muscle for a 41 year old I was a lot stronger and had more muscle as a 20 year old at the same height. I'm not particularly large, but in my gym I'm one of the larger guys.

I find that as a big guy beginner (especially one with a wrestling background), I end up using my strength and weight. This doesn't really help me learn BJJ, or it does but not against guys my own weight/size/strength.

Today, I rolled with the smallest guy I've sparred with so far. He was a young guy, purple belt, maybe early 30's. He's about 5'7 and weighs maybe 150 or so. I'm significantly stronger than him, but he is one of our tournament winning guys (i.e. he enters lots of tournaments and ends up winning/placing in the top 3 in most of them, etc.) He has an amazing berimbolo and is so flexible that I've seen him completely stacked and still have a smile on his face and roll out of there.

So the first time, I was able to get side control. Actually he had me in guard, but didn't close his legs quick enough so I turned and got him in this headlock, and he ended up having just a half guard. I had his head quite tight, and kept on using one hand to get his legs off of me so I could get full side mount. After a while, my strength become no use. I got too tired holding him for a minute while he slowly, kept pushing my arm, shrimping, and then moving his foot. Finally, after a few minutes he got me in an arm bar. It was so lightning fast. I probably could have held out, but I decided to just stop since I didn't want to mess up my shoulder like last time when I fought off an arm bar but hurt myself in the process.

The 2nd time we went at it, he got me in guard, and when I tried to break his leg/pass guard, he took my back really quickly. He got me in a rear naked choke, but my left arm was strong enough to pull his arm down. Here's where my strength helped out. I was strong enough to tuck my chin in so his arm wasn't fully on my neck, and was strong enough to pull his forearm down so he couldn't choke me even though he had me really good. The problem was that I knew I couldn't keep it up that much longer, I was getting tired, but he could hold on all day. So I tried the move that the purple belt did on me last week, with one arm I started pulling up on his foot to see if he'd pay attention, and I noticed he let go of the RNC and then I turned to stack him, and he flipped over and got me in another arm lock. Darn, he was so fast.

Our 3rd time I was in his guard, and everytime I was able to break it he was able to pull me forward so I had to brace myself at which point he put me back in his guard. So I decided to stack him even though he's extremely flexible, I slowly got on my knees and then pushed up so I had him up in the air in my guard and then leaned over to stack both his legs and try to break free, but I wasn't quick enough getting my right arm to push down his leg so he was about to get a triangle, but then time ran out. I doubt he could have put a triangle on me, he didn't have my arm in enough and I was much stronger, so I could have pulled my arm back.

I mostly have to roll with purple belts, kind of gym policy, and these guys are so much better than me that as one of the bigger guys I inevitably use my size/strength instead of rolling light. I would learn much more if I rolled like a 150 pounder instead of a 205 pounder. Even though he could get out of it, when I stack or get head control I can hold them there but I'm still not skilled as to what to do.

During positional sparring, another big guy, a 4 stripe blue belt who is about 5'10 and 180lbs of pure muscle, and really strong. He usually submits me fairly easily when we spar, but during positional sparring I got head control and he couldn't get out of it. He said over and over that my head control is excellent. I told him it's my old wrestling background. Usually, during side mount one would sick one's leg by the elbow of the side you're on to prevent him from using that to roll you. I end up having them in a head lock of sorts, with my legs sprawled back. I have a long torso with shorter limbs, so I can put a lot of pressure on the head. I have to figure out what moves I can do from there, since that seems to be my strongest move. Even the big 280 pound purple belt said I have excellent head control, but that I can't just control the head.

As a beginner, I need other big guys or just other people to roll light with me so I can focus on technique. I wish I could spar with women and go about 50% only, but our instructor matches up people based on skill and size. We only have 2 women that I've seen at our gym, I heard there are more but they don't come when I do, and both of them are quite small (5'1, 5'2 and 120 pounds or less), so I never roll with them. I'll be traveling soon and hope I can visit some gyms and roll with either taller skinny guys or women so that I can go lighter. I can't help but panic and when an upper belt gets me in some move, I use my strength to get out. This is NOT helping me progress at all. I already have a reputation in my gym for being a strong guy, even though any of the upper belts can tap me out, a few of them have been gripped by me, so they mention I'm a strong guy. I totally lack technique and that strength is useless unless I get some good technique.

I have a terrible base. I need a stronger base so that I can work on my defense. Oh well, that's for the future. I just want to spar another white belt that's my level, so I can see where I'm at. I guess we'll see at the tournament. A few months ago, I visited this other gym and these small 4 stripe white belts with a year of training or 9 months of training would submit me easily with an arm bar or triangle even though I was much stronger and bigger. I'm more used to rolling now and at least have a basic strategy.

I think BJJ is fun b/c I'm not so intensely into it. I have fun when I get there, but when I leave I kind of forget about it. This blog is mainly a way for me to keep mental notes of my progress as a middle aged white belt. 

Workout #37: First real bjj injury

So I have my first major injury since starting BJJ. We were doing positional sparring on taking the back. So we'd have one person get the back with hands on the lapels of the gi with hooks in, and the other person try to defend or get out. I usually get paired with these two purple belts from Brazil, mostly b/c we're the 3 heavier guys in the gym. Also, they usually put us white belts with at least one purple belt or higher if possible during these drills.

I'm 6 ft 205 lbs, F is a purple belt and 5'10 280lbs but extremely flexible and quite strong even though he has a big gut, and A is about 5'10 and 180 lbs of fairly lean muscle. A said he hadn't trained in a long time, so he's been coming nearly every day. F comes 6-7 days week, has been coming for 3 yrs straight with no injuries or sick days either. 

I had A's back, and I couldn't get any chokes in but I was strong enough to hold him. Finally, I got my left arm in for a rear backed choke and was holding my bicep, I pulled as hard as I could but he didn't tap. He started grabbing my foot and twisting it and then the timer went off so we stopped. On the way home I felt ok, but that night my right knee and ankle really hurt. I woke up the next day and couldn't walk. I think he held off on my RNC just long enough to get me in a foot lock of some sort, but next time I'll pull up higher or pull my feet down once I have the RNC in. I didn't even notice his other hand, which is why I'm a white belt and he's a purple belt. That was Thursday. It's Saturday and my ankle feels better. I probably could have gone to class if I taped up my ankle, but I'll rest until Monday just to be sure. It feels a bit tender still, so I'm wrapping it and elevating it and resting as much as possible trying not to walk much. 

My knee feels OK too. I think I should have gotten closer on the RNC, I remember I was trying to strain to get my hand on my bicep but had I put my body closer to him I could have choked him more easily. He had one arm on my arm pulling it down and the other on my leg which could have been hooked lower. I know I'm stronger than him, but he could think two moves at a time or defend and try to submit me with a leg lock while I was so side tracked. In hindsight, I could have pulled up since I had head/neck control from the back and straightened out his body, and then leaned in more. 

Actually, this injury and what he did really taught me what to do if I ever did get someone's back and was close to a rear naked choke. I have to be mindful of my foot. Unlikely another white belt would do this, they'd focus just on the choke, but A is an advanced purple belt. I think that's really cool. I told him I was really impressed he could do two things at once, and he said he was hoping I'd tap out b/c I was pretty close to choking him and having him tap out. I'm glad it ended the way it did, b/c I had a lot of adrenaline and didn't feel him cranking my leg since I was squeezing the RNC. My technique was pretty horrible. My chest wasn't close to his back, I didn't squeeze with my shoulders but used just my arms. And I didn't get my hand deep enough, though I was able to push his shoulders in so my hand grabbed my other bicep. 

So I learned my lesson. Always be mindful of neck, hands, and feet. Actually be mindful of everything, but when working on top give some thought to your bottom part of the body and vice versa. Maybe it'll come naturally as I get better, but not now. 

I have a tournament in less than 2 months. There are 4 guys in my division, Masters 2 - ages 35-45, heavyweight, and I'm right in the middle in terms of age. Some of these guys could be way better than me. We'll see. I'd be entering my first tournament after 4 months of training 3-4x/week. 

Workout #33: First submission

Now that I'm sparring regularly, I feel like I can only do a few things as a white belt. There's only one guy bigger and stronger than me in that gym. He's a purple belt and can throw me around like a rag doll, b/c my strength is no use at all. However, all the others though I have almost no technique my strength does give me some advantage - though not by much. They could still fling me around, esp purple belts and higher. 

My 2nd sparring match, I went against a purple belt who admitted he had not been at the gym in months and was out of shape. He was a few inches shorter and about 30 pounds lighter. He was able to pass me easily, and got me in arm bars and a number of leg locks/chokes and I had to tap out. One time however, he tried an arm bar but didn't secure his left leg enough which gave me just enough space to turn in towards him. He tried to flip me, but I got his arm and ended up getting side control. I immediately went for his head, and had my arm around his neck with my legs sprawled back. (An old wrestling move.) I had him in this head lock of sorts, and pulled his arm up and put all my weight on his neck and he had to tap b/c he couldn't breathe. Now, I'm not sure that's a legal move. If so, it's a decent go to move for a former wrestler so long as we get side control. 

Anyways, I got my first submission. Probably won't happen again for a while. I also want to roll lighter, so I can work on technique instead of strength and power which I can't help but use at that time. Actually, I got a number of submissions working with this 4 stripe white belt but we were mostly just going light and talking about technique, I was able to get him in a number of arm locks. Maybe that's something I should be working on as well. My 41 year old body is quite sore today. 

Workout #32: First Advanced Class

Generally at GB schools, 3 stripe white belts are allowed to spar and attend the advanced classes (vs. the fundamentals class that everyone can attend.) There's also a weekly black belt class where you have to be a blue belt minimally to attend, and they do a variety of things including MMA and the like. It's only once a week and I don't know how many attend. As a 2 stripe white belt, I'm sure I'd be the lowest ranked person to attend the Advanced classes. It's helpful in terms of the schedule, I have more flexibility and can go every day if I want to - or if my schedule permits.

Compared to the fundamentals class, the advanced class is definitely geared towards competition. The fundamentals have that too, but the 1st move in every fundamentals class is geared towards self defense. Since I don't care much for the self defense aspect of BJJ (I was a former boxer/wrestler, I'm in this for the exercise), the class was interesting. I may not even ever compete, so I don't care all that much for the competition side as well especially as a white belt. Still, it felt different because the class was geared towards competition and so there was much more talk about - if your opponent counters, here's a reverse counter, etc. In the fundamentals course we go over the basics. I know I need the fundamentals course more, but for me the self defense portion is a bit of a waste of time even though it does involve ground fighting and the like.

As a 41 year old guy, even though I'm getting fairly fit, I want to limit my sparring to only 2-3x week. The young guys spar every day, and the average seems to be that people spar when they come. I'm one of the few, mostly b/c of my schedule, who attends classes (about 1 hour long) without actually sparring. I'll try sparring 2x/week or maybe 3x/week. Since I'm one of the larger guys in my gym, I usually only spar twice anyways. Since I'm a low ranked belt who is pretty clueless, I'm usually paired against an upper belt who just blocks me and puts me in his guard and tells me to escape, etc.

I'm seeing that I'm definitely a top player. My guard is terrible, mostly b/c I was a former wrestler. I do have some skill left in putting my weight on top of a guy/sprawling, so during the sparring matches I'd try to get side mount and my opponent always pulled guard. They were much better. I got tapped out several times. My first opponent, got me in this triangle but wasn't able to pull my arm that far out so while he had me he wasn't submitting me, I was stronger than him/outweighed him though he was my height, so again strength does make a difference. I mean it wasn't a contest, this guy could easily tap me probably 90% of the time, but I was strong enough to push his leg away just a bit on the triangle and from that point was strong enough to resist, pull his leg so it wouldn't choke me. He spent the last 3 minutes (5 minute sparring rounds) trying to choke me but couldn't.

I know I have a strategy now for sparring.

1. Get top control or side mount
2. If in guard, then get side mount or mount.
3. From side mount or mount go for:
Americana, other arm locks, collar choke

Of course I have to be able to defend as well and I'm not a good defender. So much to learn. Still, I enjoy going to class b/c it's learning something new. I don't look at youtube videos or think about BJJ outside of the class, so going to the class can be fun. There are many who go 6x/week and are totally obsessed, even people in their 40's who discovered it for the first time. Hopefully they don't get injured, but for me I may end up doing this a long time b/c I just go to enjoy myself. It's not too serious for me, it's an OK workout if I go to a regular class, and a really great workout if I spar. 

Workout #31

Today I received my 2nd stripe. I have no idea the metrics used by the instructor to award the stripes. Normally GB allows you to spar only on the 3rd stripe and go to the advanced class on the 3rd stripe, but the instructor said I could spar and start attending the advanced class.

I still need so much of the fundamentals. I'm not sure how much benefit I'd get from the advanced class, but I'll attend simply b/c it gives me more people to spar with.

So during my official first GB sparring session, I've sparred before at other gyms, I was just trying to survive. I was paired up with a tall purple belt who tried to triangle me and choke me. He was a lot more skilled of course, but I got my arm in just enough to fend him off via strength. Of course that's not BJJ. I'm using way too much strength.

The other match, I went with my usual partner a large young fella who is at least 50 pounds heavier than me. He's a purple belt and is quite good for how large he is. He's very flexible and has a really great Americana and arm locks. He said to me that my balance is quite bad, and that I need to work on my base. He said that he could throw me off easily. Now, he's younger, heavier, and stronger than me so he would be better even if we were equally skilled. He's been such a great help.

He's come every day for 3 years, and is a 2 stripe purple belt. That's quite fast. He's one of the most skilled and is basically my instructor since we're paired up daily.

I have so much to learn. There is a big tournament this Sunday, and most of my gym is entering. Of course I'm not ready yet. Maybe in a few months I can enter as a white belt. I just need to work on these for now:

- Breaking the guard
- Passing, in particular the side pass
- From the mount work on the arm bar, Americana/arm locks, and collar chokes

I will most likely not pull guard so I'll work mostly on my top game for now. It's just exercise for me and I may never enter a tournament, but it is nice to get exercise and feel better at my age. I have no idea how long I'll go...we'll go for a ride and see how it goes. 

Workout #25

I realize that one has to play to body type. Although most people prefer the full mount, it's not a good position for me. I'm very top heavy, long torso, and short legs. I tend to get rolled or put off easily. Of course it could be because I'm a white belt, still using strength vs. technique. Perhaps in time things will change.

I have a long business trip coming up in a few months, so I'll have to train at another gym while I'm out of town. I don't like it that it disturbs my rhythm but I'll have to go with the flow.

BJJ is exceeding frustrating for the beginner. I can't tell that I'm getting better. In most anything else, after 3 months one can feel the improvement but I can hardly tell that I'm better now. I just know now that I can't really submit anyone and can be submitted very easily. Frustration. Ugh. Even in positional sparring, I end up using so much strength. If my partner is a white belt or lower blue belt, generally I can overcome with my strength but once he's a higher belt even if he's 50 lbs lighter than my 205 lbs, I can't do anything. Technique is really important and I feel like I have none of it.

Today was a really frustrating day. I had two almost guard passes, and both times the much smaller 3 stripe blue belt recovered in time. When I'm top I can kind of hold him in place, mostly b/c I'm so much stronger and bigger, but once I'm in mount or in his guard, I can't do much. it's only in the side mount that I can do anything.

There's so much to learn, and at the age of 41 I said I was going to treat this just like exercise. Even then, it's frustrating exercise. People are asking me to enter tournaments, and I said I have no interest in them now. At least not as a white belt, maybe later. Others enter tournaments their first month and live for them. Again, it's just exercise for me and I enjoy the mental aspects but today it was just sheer frustration mentally. I totally suck. (Still good exercise so I guess I met my goal but in a frustrating way.) Any other white belts feel this way? Especially if you're an older beginner? 

Workout #17

Today I met two guys in the gym that were quite interesting both my age or older.

There was a 49 year old purple belt. He's been doing BJJ for almost 7 years, so he started around 43. He said he had no background in sports and just saw diet in front of the gym, so went inside and has been doing this since. He's an advanced purple belt. He's obviously not the best at rolling, but he still enters tournaments even given his age. He said he likes tournaments b/c he gets to compete with guys his age and weight. So he would be a contrast vs. the really skilled 21 year old purple belt who has been doing BJJ for just 3 years. The former comes 2x/week, and the latter comes 5-6 times week and he's really athletic and young so can recover quickly. He said that our gym has a lot of blue belts, and said that most people stay at blue for a long time 2-3 years or so. He said getting to blue belt is typically just one year or so if someone is dedicated and most people are, but then at blue belt people kind of fizzle out.

There was also a 41 year old black belt who has been doing this for 10 years. He said that when he first started in his early 30's, he would 3-4 times/week or sometimes 5. Now, he says he comes maybe 2x/week for maintenance and doesn't compete. I had a mini sparring session with him, and I outweighed him by at least 50 lbs. So I had side mount and the goal was just to prevent him from reversing me or getting out. The first few times he got reversed me quickly, but the last few times I held on tight. One time, I got him in a good wrestling move, I had my legs spread out sideways, and had one of his arms in a pinned lock. Of course I couldn't do anything, but he was still able to get his legs over and one of his other arms under my neck to push himself away and reverse me. He was awesome. He was so calm too. He said I was extremely strong, and that he couldn't do what he normally does. Still, he was able to get me off of him.

There is a tournament coming up soon that everyone is talking about. I'm not going to enter, I can't enter that day though I would like to. I only know a few submissions and I tend not to have good balance since I'm still using way too much strength.

I'm traveling so will be going to another BJJ gym for the weekend. Since it's not a GB gym, they let white belts spar so I'll get to do some live sparring this weekend. We'll see what it's like. 

Workout #14

So here it is. My first stripe. It's kind of strange. I'm not sure the point of this thing. I've been doing BJJ for about two months now, only one at this particular gym. I'll be going out of town and will train at another gym this week, where I will spar. I've sparred before, and I'm not very good, but I learn a lot from sparring. You need 3 stripes to spar, that's on average 4 months at this gym since it's a Gracie Barra Gym.

I'm not sure if the main professor gave it to me simply b/c I've been attending, or if it's b/c he's seen some skills in me. I told him I'd like to spar and said I spar elsewhere, and so he said I could spar at my 2nd stripe. That's a big deal. I want to be tapped out, I want to learn, and mostly I want to roll. I think that will change my focus entirely on my BJJ. I'm still not sure about a tournament.

I've come to think it's not so bad to give stripes and belts for length/mat time. Of course there is a great variance in the level of abilities. For example. In my gym, there are two purple belts who received them in just 3 years. Others took 5-6 years. There is a brown belt who got his brown belt in 6 years, and others who took nearly 10. For the most part when I ask them, it's a matter of how much they come - mat time. There's age, ability, all of that for tournaments and the like but for those who are older the belts are a matter of showing skill. We have a purple belt that has been training for 3 years, 23 years old in our gym, who took top place at a big tournament - open class including brown belts. He could roll with most older black belts and submit them easily. He's incredible fast, flexible, strong, not a single ounce of fat, and very long limbed. He's also a gym rat and comes 6x/week and spars hard every time. He's only 23 so he recovers fast. We also have another guy, a brown belt who has been doing this for nearly 9 years. He's 50 years old, so started at my age. He said he came more, but now he comes 1 or 2x per week. That's not a lot. Yet he's a brown belt. The purple belt could submit the brown belt in a second, I know lots of blue belts that could submit this older brown belt. The point is this brown belt however, knows a lot about BJJ and has been training, that's why he's a brown belt.

So whether it's just mat time or whether it's skills, for beginners like me it's useful to have some kind of marker. My friend that's really skilled was in this gym for 6 months, won a tournament, and then got a blue belt. However, she had no idea what level she was at. She may be at blue belt for another 3 years, who knows. I like the GB system this way, there is a level you attain once you get enough mat time.

We all have different goals with BJJ. Some fitness, some tournaments, and others some other reasons. I'd like to enter a tournament mostly for the preparation, try to get in a lower weight class. The tournament itself is just icing, and once I've gone past the winning/losing stage (of course we want to win), then it's just a giant learning experience.

The brown belt, the 50 year old, asked me how long I've been doing BJJ and I said about one month here, and a month elsewhere. He was really surprised since I rolled with him and this other blue belt. I said I used to be a high school wrestler, and he said ah, that does make a difference. I'm still not 100% sure how it does, but it does seem to make a difference. Now I want to hit every class and do as much as I can so that I start sparring. I care less what belt I am vs. learning how to spar, and learning how to tap or not be tapped by higher belts just survive. I feel like that's the best way to learn, kind of like sparring in boxing. It's hard to learn how to box without real live spar, and I'm antsy for the same reason for BJJ. 

Two best BJJ sites for beginners

These are the two best site for beginners. If you are a beginner, I recommend you read through the entire sites. I did. I learned so much about BJJ, and just how one goes about it. Both emphasize the journey and are brutally honest. I still read them and they've inspired me to keep on keeping on even at the age of 41! Check it out: 

http://couchjitsu.com

http://jiujiubjj.com