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