Hi everyone! I'm just starting my second week of BJJ training at the Gracie Barra school here in Vancouver, Canada. My previous experience is all stand-up style, so I'm having a blast starting something totally new. I find myself looking forward to every class with an enthusiasm I haven't had in a long time
Portsmouth and Sholing, at least twice a week. I think I know you - you had that weird stomach pain problem, right? I'm the guy you partner with sometimes, in the black gi with long hair.
yeah, when you stood up that looked bad! has it recovered ok? i managed to bash my thumb last month and it's still not right, heh
Just poking my head in to say hey... Student of Julius Park (Lloyd Irvin affiliate) here. Been doing BJJ for about 6 months now, but have a mild background in other grappling arts (Larry Hartsell's Jun Fan/JKD Grappling Assoc. for several years in the early/mid 90s and JJJ)
Hey, im in upstate new york, been doing BJJ for about 7/8 months now at a great school, Empire Karate. I train with a lot of State Troopers, Army MMA guys etc. It's a great style and I am really enjoying myself!
BJJ is the ultimate addiction! I've been playing for a little over 5 years now. I have yet to medal in the Mundials. I'm still trying though. I took bronze medal at my last tournament in December. It was my first tournament as a purple belt.
Hey all. I'm in Ottawa, Canada - and I took about 3-4 months at the Renzo Gracie associated school here (Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts). I stopped because of financial reasons, and I just didn't have enough time...I was at one stripe on my white belt. I hope to get back into it next year when I get my shodan in karate.
Ive been studying BJJ for about 10 years now. The first 4 years were when BJJ just started to get popular and the training wasn't that great. The past 6 years I've trained at an accredited school. I have my purple belt from Professor Pedro Sauer, who is a 7th degree black belt under Rickson Gracie. It is a great style and I still learn new things all the time. To all who are just starting out, believe me, it gets better with time.
Hi, BJJ n00b here Had my first class last night the teacher is a brown belt under Braulio Estima, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even got to roll for the last ten mins. I was shocked at just how technical the art is, very good though.
Glad you enjoyed it. I recommend you get a copy of Saulo Robeiro's " Jiu-jitsu University" book. Excellent text but more importantly gives you a structure for you to begin learn and progress.
Id second that and also suggest a look through here: http://aliveness101.blogspot.com/ especially this bit: ''White to Blue: The journey of white belt to blue belt in BJJ is one of familiarization. Using the map analogy, its where you learn to read the map, this is north, south, east, west, etc. And also, where you learn what the major areas of the map are (neighborhoods). The combination of the two in BJJ terms is that you need to learn what and where all the major positions are (neighborhoods), and what the major routes are that connect those positions/neighborhoods, those major roads are the fundamental objectives. As an example, the five point passing game that we teach covers the basic objectives you are looking to accomplish as you try and pass the guard. In short the journey from white to blue is where the athlete learns to basic rules of the road, learns to play the game. What to work on: As a teacher your major focus is best spent on the basic positions, principles, and objectives of BJJ. You want the athlete to first be able to recognize what the major positions are, and secondly to understand what their major objectives are when they find themselves in these positions. The sooner the student learns these two things the sooner they can begin to play the game, ie: explore the map. So a good teacher will keep it basic, clear, and concise, and create an environment where a newbie can start to roll on day one without feeling overwhelmed or confused by the tasks at hand. As a student at this level your major objectives are simple, familiarize yourself with the major positions and fundamental movements. And secondly, relax. Keeping it very simple and staying very relaxed will accelerate your game faster then any piece of advise I could offer a white belt. Who taps you out or doesn’t tap you out is completely irrelevant at this level. What’s important is that you enjoy yourself, and allow your body the time to familiarize itself with the mechanics of a roll. Things to avoid: As a Coach the major errors at this stage involve two things. The first is straying too far from solid fundamental movements/ positions. Teaching lock flows, elaborate submission set ups, or too many techniques in a single class will only confuse and slow down the progress of most white belts. The second is straying too far from solid Coaching methods, the ‘here is a few new techniques, now lets roll method’. . .or the ’lets do 500 dead repetitions of this move’, are sure fire ways to slow down the learning curve of any new athlete. These mistakes remain a constant throughout the athlete’s progress, and solid fundamentals combined with good ‘I’ method classes are a must throughout the athlete’s career. But they are an absolute deal breaker at the white belt level. Intermediate or advance BJJ athletes can still learn and grow even from poor Coaches who don’t really know how to run a proper class, or workout. But beginners will find themselves completely lost, and may eventually become turned off to the entire activity in that kind of environment. As an athlete the thing to watch out for at this level is frustration. Because you may often find yourself in an unfamiliar position when rolling, and be unsure of exactly what you should even be trying to do, frustration can often get the best of you. The single best piece of advice I can offer at this level is this. . . .just relax. BJJ takes time, so just enjoy yourself as much as possible. It’s not a race.''
Hi, My name`s Alexandre and I live in Brazil. I`m 15 years old and I`m having BJJ lessons for about 1 month in the Gracie academy of Belo Horizonte.
I'm Katie, and have been studying BJJ since September of this year. I've been doing gi training exclusively thus far, although I do want to start in on no-gi soon.
Been training BJJ at Linx Academy of MA Virginia Beach Va for about 3 months now.A few years ago trained in CSW for about a year.I love BJJ hoping to win the lottery one day so i can train 24/7 lol.As it is now 3 days a week is the best i can do,but my game has came a long way in just 3 months,hope to step it up even more in the next 3