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Thursday, November 5, 2015

Workout #311: First class as a Blue Belt

So today was my first class as a blue belt. Since the majority of the folks at the gym are white belt, it's a fairly new gym, everyone congratulated me again but I knew people were going to come at me hard. Real hard, since most of the gym is in their early 20's. There are only two working professionals at the gym, including myself. The majority are college students and there are a few amateur MMA fighters who are hoping to go pro that are training there. While their skill in the Gi isn't that high, they are super duper fast and very strong. So they're tough.

We have a tall college student who is a Division 1 scholarship student as a track runner. He's long and lean, and incredibly strong. He only weighs about 170 to my 200, but he is so strong. He's been doing BJJ for only 4 months and always asks me for help and is a good young man, but he is so athletic and strong. When we spar, I feel like all I can do is wait for him to tire out. So I typically get him into guard or half guard, and try to work a sweep that feels like it takes at least 4 minutes. Then towards the end of the roll, I'm usually able to sweep him and submit him. By the time we roll a 2nd time, he's pretty tired from using up all his energy trying to submit me so it's much easier and on avg I sub him about two times. However, today I was pretty tired and he was very energetic and he passed my guard and got into side mount for the first time. The professor saw that and said to me that I can't be like that as a blue belt. This young man will continue to get better, and I have no doubt he will be much better than me very soon since he's so strong, athletic, and is a very eager learner.

The professor then decided to give me a half private right there. He said that I'm much too slow, so that when I'm sparring from my knees that I should be sure not to pull the guy on top of me but stay upright when I'm on my butt and focus on moving to the side. It's like butterfly guard, but with movement. He also said my biggest weakness is that once I make contact that I go straight in, but that I need to go in and out in and out. For example, if I'm doing a knee slice pass and I don't feel it's going well then push back and start over. If I'm in butterfly guard or just sitting on my butt, and the other guy is standing up then I too need to move my hips back so I can get out of any sticky situation or have the potential to get out. However, if I pull him on top of me then I can't do that.

I'm not sure why he thought it was best I do that, but I will drill this every night. I will practice just this move. So here are things I should be working on the next few months:

1. Stay upright when I'm seated in guard so the other guy doesn't pass my guard. 

2. Look for opportunities to move in and out, whether on top or bottom. On bottom using my hips to push out and start over, and when on top to kick back or just step back and go right back to pass guard.

3. Guard pass drill we do in class. 

4. Work on the Americana/Kimura/Arm lock trap.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Workout 310: Faixa Azul

After 21 months of training and 310 workouts total (including classes, seminars, and open mats), I've finally received a blue belt.

Some data:
  • 22 months
  • 400+ hours
  • 4 gyms (I moved around b/c of work) 
I remember at one of my gyms, I had been there about a year. People who had started BJJ way after me got promoted to blue. One female got it at 9 months, another male at 12 months, another female at 12 months, and another male at 18 months.

I switched gyms to a competition school. I didn't want a competition school, but this gym was close to my house and the professor was a wonderful guy with a background in MMA which was also interesting. Anyways, it's a wonderful gym.

So the policy at this gym is that you cannot get a promotion (including stripes) until you enter a competition. So it takes 5 competitions to get your next belt. Some young guys get it in a year, but most of us working folk take 2+ years or some even longer. You don't have to get gold in the competition, though if you do then you automatically get a stripe, but you either have to place or the professor has to feel like you had a good showing. It's not enough just to enter, but he has to see visible evidence in a competition setting that you have the skills. This was the opposite of my other gym, where the professor just decided you were ready and promoted you anytime. (Though most people did get at least one promotion per year.) At my current gym attendance is not important. At my two previous gyms attendance was important, including whether you took 2 classes in one day or not. Those gyms were much bigger and part of a bigger association.

When I first started since I was a former high school wrestler, I felt like I had some advantage. However, I was a boxer for a while and that's a totally different skill set. I also started at age 41, which is probably the biggest reason why it took so long even though I was in decent shape. I heard some gyms take 2-3 years for a blue belt. A female friend I know took 11 months to get her blue, but she also was at a competition school and she placed 1st in the absolute division for female white belts in a big tournament so that may have been the reason. Generally, it seems females get promoted faster and I see why. It's not b/c it's easier, but b/c it's much harder to be a female in a BJJ gym - not just socially, but having to spar people who are much bigger and stronger than you, one has to rely on technique.

Either way, it's a relief but also new pressure. The professor said, I hope you get to brown by 50. That's a little over 6 years from now. I hope so too.