Hi all, I'm from Los Angeles, and I've been doing MA since I was a teen in the early 80's. (Yeah, I'm a geezer) Being a fan of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, and all the other stuff on Kung Fu theater on saturday afternoons, as a pre-teen I badly wanted to study MA. My parents weren't too keen on the idea, and they were also cheap, so it was hard to get them put me in a class. Turns out there was a non-profit Aikido dojo a few blocks from our house, and the dues were super cheap, so I managed to get them to sign me up. Back then, (around 1984) I knew Aikido wasn't known as a hardcore art for streetfighting, but the thinking back then was if you were good at ANY MA, you'd kick ass. I trained there for about 18 months or so, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but didn't feel like it was really what I needed for defensive purposes. A few neighborhood scuffles didn't go my way, and I just wasn't able to put anything I learned to use. I think Aikido is a wonderful art, but it requires a very high level of proficiency to pull off. One also would need to attend a school that gears training toward that end. Our dojo was fairly traditional, we started class with a little meditation, warm up exercises, and then worked on a few techniques. One technique I learned, that I actually have been able to pull off in some sparring was a kote-gaeshi wristlock. We also did kata with the jo, bo, and bokken. It was fun, and the best thing I took was learning to fall properly. A few years later, my best friend (who incidentally trained at the Aikido school with me) had an older brother who had a friend who had a reputation as a tough guy street fighter. He trained in Kung Fu San Soo. He agreed to teach us in the back yard a few times a week for a few bucks for beer money. He taught us the basic stances, the windmill blocks, punches, kicks, etc. We also worked on various combinations that were actual lessons from his notebook. We thought it was awesome, and continued on at an actual school. I trained in that art for about 3 1/2 years, making it to green belt- just a hair away from brown. Again, I felt a little disillusioned about kung fu after getting in a few more fights that didn't go my way. It seemed that the kinds of training we were doing just didn't lend itself to real self defense. Around 1989, I saw an article in playboy magazine (yes, I read the articles too) that featured Rorion Gracie talking about his family style of Jiu Jitsu. He claimed that his style was the ultimate martial art, and that he would fight anyone to prove it. I had seen ads for his jiu jitsu videos in MA magazines, but didn't know much else. A while later, while at the MA supply store, I noticed that they had videos for rent. They had the Gracie in Action video, and I rented it. I watched it with my kung fu buddy, and we of course didn't totally buy into it, because we thought we had the deadly kung fu counters to all their grappling techniques. At the time, we just didn't know any better. But, I still wanted to learn all I could, so I actually called information (this was 1989, no internet) and asked for Rorion Gracie's phone number. I called him, and told him I read his article in playboy, and saw his video, and wanted to know if they had a school. He told me they taught private lessons in their garage, and invited me to take a few free lessons. I accepted, and drove down to their home in Torrance CA, about 25 miles from me. When I got there, Rorion introduced me to his brother, Royce, who would be giving the lesson. He was a polite, soft spoken guy in his early 20's. I used the Gi I had from my Aikido class, which was a Judogi. We did a mount escape, headlock escape, choke escape, and a few other things. I thought the techniques were good, but I wondered why no striking. I still had my kung fu glasses on, and that colored the way I saw everything. I came back the following week for another lesson, and we did a short review of the previous material, and then a few new moves. I thought it was good, but I was concerned about the lack of striking, and all the other common things that people who don't understand grappling tend to worry about. I thanked them for the lessons, but I wouldn't be able to continue. At the time, I didnt' make much money, so for me, the $65 per month for unlimited classes I paid for kung fu made more sense than paying $20 a half hour for private lessons, plus the 25 mile drive. I feel like an idiot now, but I just didn't know any better back then. By chance, I met a guy who taught Wing Chun and Tai Mantis who claimed he trained at one of Bruce Lee's Jun fan schools back in the 70's. He was an older guy, and was very nice, and didn't seem pretentious about it, and actually even taught me for free. He had a small group of people that met on sundays at a park and we learned the first 2 forms, and worked the techniques slightly modified. Basically, it was WC hand techniques with more boxing style footwork. Again, I enjoyed it, but still didn't feel it was for me. In college, around 1992, I needed to take something for my P.E. credit, and I had a choice of Karate (don't remember the actual Ryu) TKD, and Judo. I thought Judo would be good for me, so I enrolled. The class was taught by one of the gymnastics coaches who was a shodan in Judo. The class was great! I had a head start on most of the students because I already knew how to fall from Aikido, and some of the movements were similar. Since it was a basic class, we worked on breakfalls, several basic throws, and footsweeps and pins. There were no armlocks or chokes covered. We even had randori. I did well in the class, and did well in the shiai at the end of the unit. The coach suggested I keep training, and told me about a good school nearby that was also an olympic training center. I trained at the Judo school and really enjoyed it. What sold me on grappling as an effective martial art was that only after about 6 months of Judo, I was able to actually throw a guy in a real fight. Years of training in other arts didn't turn out so hot, but this was great! I kept training in Judo to brown belt (San Kyu) In 1994, I got a postcard from the Gracie's advertising the "Ultimate Fighting Championship". (I was on their mailing list and got things from time to time) You all know what it is, so I don't need to describe it. I ordered it, and was amazed that they guy I took lessons from a few years ago ended up being the champ! That, along with my judo experience really sold me on a new way of thinking. When I started making more money, in 1995, I started BJJ at the Rickson Gracie academy in Los Angeles. It was great! I enjoyed it immensely, and loved the fact that I could test what I was doing, and that it worked. I trained there for about 9 months, until financial hardship. A while later, I also trained at the Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu club. It was a good school, and there were a bunch of good guys training there as well. I trained there for about 9 months as well. A few years later, I started training at yet another school, which was mostly BJJ but with a more MMA flavor to it. The instructor is a BJJ BB, along with a Judo BB, and freestyle and greco wrestling and western boxing experience. I liked being able to integrate striking and wrestling along with the BJJ and Judo I already knew. This training really brought my level of competence in defending myself to where I felt was necessary. Along with training with firearms and knives (I'm also an NRA certified firearms instructor) I feel like I'm on the right track. Mostly, I do MA for fun and exercise, but I want to know that what I'm training in will help me if I need it. I've also put in a lot of work in learning the proper mindset and attitude, and for me, that is what makes the difference between just being a martial artist for the "art" or for show, and being an effective fighter with self preservation in mind. I also started Muay Thai recently, and have put about 6 months into that. MT is a great art for standup fighting, and is a perfect addition to grappling skills. It also is the most grueling workout I've done yet. If that won't whip me into shape, nothing will! Anyway, I know it was long, but I just thought you guys should have an idea of my experience and where I'm coming from. When it comes to forums, I tend to read more than post, but if you see me post something, you can be sure I have some idea what I'm talking about, and I don't just pull things out of my you know what. I've spent a lot of time studying and researching and training. Hope I didn't bore you to death, and see ya!
