Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo

Chuckman said:
Yeah, the belt thing is random. I think belt promotion and stripes are up to the discretion of the instructor. My son and I have been going just shy of 3 months, we just got our first stripe. And the stripe? Medical tape lol.
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This is normal for someone who shows up to class regularly and is using technique that is taught. Some students will stay at white belt for years!
 
Tonight at judo we had a guest instructor, the national sumo champion. It was lower body intensive, we did a million sumo squats. I was impressed, combination of judo, wrestling, and grappling. That was as tough as anything I've done.
 
Chuckman said:
Today's MMA class:
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What, no shin guards?!?! I still put them on every time, the thought of a shin on shin encounter gives me the heebie jeebies more than being made fun of by everyone else.

I'm now on month 3 of BJJ? I've been doing the light sparring class one day a week and BJJ one day a week and that's enough. While I still have no real ground game, I was sparing against a much better opponent and at one point he bounced me off the wall and pulled me down onto the mat. instead of freaking out I just switched to BJJ and managed to hold him off for a good 30 seconds before he arm bar'ed my ass. Was cool to see the integration of things from stand up punching and kicking to ground work and submissions. Also cool the general lack of freaking out, I at least recognized that I could do "something" other than scramble around. It is hard to do BJJ with 14oz gloves on though.
 
Jayne said:
What, no shin guards?!?! I still put them on every time, the thought of a shin on shin encounter gives me the heebie jeebies more than being made fun of by everyone else.

I'm now on month 3 of BJJ? I've been doing the light sparring class one day a week and BJJ one day a week and that's enough. While I still have no real ground game, I was sparing against a much better opponent and at one point he bounced me off the wall and pulled me down onto the mat. instead of freaking out I just switched to BJJ and managed to hold him off for a good 30 seconds before he arm bar'ed my ass. Was cool to see the integration of things from stand up punching and kicking to ground work and submissions. Also cool the general lack of freaking out, I at least recognized that I could do "something" other than scramble around. It is hard to do BJJ with 14oz gloves on though.
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Rolling hard is hard as hell with gloves. Couldn't believe what a different dynamic that was. Because I've been doing jujitsu so much longer, I was much more comfortable rolling.

No, no shin guards, this was a kick free spar.
 
Chuckman said:
Rolling hard is hard as hell with gloves. Couldn't believe what a different dynamic that was.
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no grabbing, and they get caught on everything from what my little exposure has shown.

Chuckman said:
No, no shin guards, this was a kick free spar.
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my annoying inside leg kicks are my signature move. without that, I'm just a short armed boxer.

some day we should have some sort of CFF open mat event.
 
Chuckman said:
Yeah, the belt thing is random. I think belt promotion and stripes are up to the discretion of the instructor. My son and I have been going just shy of 3 months, we just got our first stripe. And the stripe? Medical tape lol.
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Lol. Our's was black electrical tape at both schools.
 
Chuckman said:
Rolling hard is hard as hell with gloves. Couldn't believe what a different dynamic that was. Because I've been doing jujitsu so much longer, I was much more comfortable rolling.

No, no shin guards, this was a kick free spar.
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Get you some UFC type finger less gloves, and start rolling/sparring with those to get use to it. Then you can start sparring with those from stand up to ground, and still be able to use your hands. We sparred a lot with those gloves, doing Thai boxing, clinch work, to submission wrestling. You just have to have a lot of control with the boxing part of it with 4 ounce gloves though.

Jayne said:
no grabbing, and they get caught on everything from what my little exposure has shown.



my annoying inside leg kicks are my signature move. without that, I'm just a short armed boxer.

some day we should have some sort of CFF open mat event.
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Sounds like me. I'm only 5'7" tall, so I feel the pain, lol. I was brutal with inside leg kicks, and those came from both Thai and JKD. JKD has some awesome soft target leg kicks.
And count me in on a CFF open mat event. I know it's a haul for some, but I could probably work out a Sunday at our school in Harrisburg if anyone wanted to come down this way towards Charlotte.
 
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I visited @Chuckman at a couple of these classes only to find myself drenched in sweat, tired and sore all over the next day. Now keep in mind my buddy Charles has been working out regularly for a year or two now and attending these classes for a hot minute. The takeaway for me was the following. Damn I am fat, out of any form of physical fitness and the only way I will ever win another fight is to fight without any regard for morality.
 
Our mid-day gi instructor left and took 95% of the students with him, so that's awkward.

I'm switching up to the morning twice weekly 2 hour class, sparing first then no-gi the second hour. Got my ass worn out hour one, then started on hour two. By the time the end rolled around (ha ha) I couldn't very well lift my head off the mat.

I earned this breakfast.
 
Jayne said:
Our mid-day gi instructor left and took 95% of the students with him, so that's awkward.

I'm switching up to the morning twice weekly 2 hour class, sparing first then no-gi the second hour. Got my ass worn out hour one, then started on hour two. By the time the end rolled around (ha ha) I couldn't very well lift my head off the mat.

I earned this breakfast.
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'Like" for the 2-hour class, not the group dynamic shift with the instructor leaving. We have 5 black belts who teach at various times, I don't know that I have a favorite I would follow.
 
Chuckman said:
not the group dynamic shift with the instructor leaving.
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It was extra weird because I wasn't there when it happened. i got injured (shoulder got popped when I got taken down in sparing and landed on the guy's knee) and was out for a few weeks and when I got back... the class was empty.

The wife really doesn't see the value in my training, and I gotta say I'm starting to question my own sanity. :)
 
Jayne said:
It was extra weird because I wasn't there when it happened. i got injured (shoulder got popped when I got taken down in sparing and landed on the guy's knee) and was out for a few weeks and when I got back... the class was empty.

The wife really doesn't see the value in my training, and I gotta say I'm starting to question my own sanity. :)
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Yeah, nor does my wife....
 
Jayne said:
are they smarter than us? I feel like they may be smarter than us.

now excuse me while I try to figure out how to get out of this chair without using my legs, or back.
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LOLOL.... Yes, yes they are.

I have cut back just so I can preserve some level of pain-free movement. Trying to find that sweet spot.
 
Jayne said:
Chuckman said:
Yeah, nor does my wife....
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Jayne said:
The wife really doesn't see the value in my training, and I gotta say I'm starting to question my own sanity. :)
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Lol, they never do unless they train also. It's one of those things that you are either passionate about, or not. I'm a small dude, and I wanted to be able to take care of business without only having a gun/edged weapon to rely on. But once I started training, the obsession set in, and being my instructor was so good in many different arts, I went all in.

Then we became good friends, and I trained even more. At one time, I was in the dojo 5-6 days a week for almost two years. I went through a bad breakup, and that was my healing, even though I was beat up all the time, lol. Statistics show most that join a dojo, quit within 6 months. Keep at it, and it will get better. When you start really "getting" the grappling arts, it will start to be more fun than pain 😁. All you guys have my utmost respect for doing what you're doing.
 
Stick Man said:
I'm a small dude, and I wanted to be able to take care of business without only having a gun/edged weapon to rely on.
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That's my motivation as well. It seems to easy to get overwhelmed by an ambush because all the cards are stacked in favor of the bad guys; we don't get to preemptively strike regardless of how badly they deserve it. "just shoot 'em!" is a plan, but not a very comprehensive one.
 
Stick Man said:
Lol, they never do unless they train also. It's one of those things that you are either passionate about, or not. I'm a small dude, and I wanted to be able to take care of business without only having a gun/edged weapon to rely on. But once I started training, the obsession set in, and being my instructor was so good in many different arts, I went all in.

Then we became good friends, and I trained even more. At one time, I was in the dojo 5-6 days a week for almost two years. I went through a bad breakup, and that was my healing, even though I was beat up all the time, lol. Statistics show most that join a dojo, quit within 6 months. Keep at it, and it will get better. When you start really "getting" the grappling arts, it will start to be more fun than pain 😁. All you guys have my utmost respect for doing what you're doing.
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I wrestled in HS a million years ago, and BJJ is definitely blowing the dust off the neurons with regard to grappling. What is fascinating and at the same time frustrating is no two days are alike; you can be good one day, and suck the next. At almost 8 months in, I enjoy it for sure.

Jayne said:
That's my motivation as well. It seems to easy to get overwhelmed by an ambush because all the cards are stacked in favor of the bad guys; we don't get to preemptively strike regardless of how badly they deserve it. "just shoot 'em!" is a plan, but not a very comprehensive one.
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I boxed in the early 90s, non-competitively, and now do MMA with BJJ and judo. I am trying to achieve a foundation of proficiency so that if I have to fight, I can, and if I can prevent going to the ground, I can.
 
Chuckman said:
I boxed in the early 90s, non-competitively, and now do MMA with BJJ and judo. I am trying to achieve a foundation of proficiency so that if I have to fight, I can, and if I can prevent going to the ground, I can.
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Today was the first day of no-gi for me where they pointed out that striking was OK. I mean not while we're practicing but in the more traditional gi class no one cared about how 'open' you were to getting punched or elbowed in the face. Now that's all back on the table.

My goals for this are to keep from getting taken down, and if so being able to dominate enough to get back up. Also having real 'hard hands' options between a sissy pushing match and OC or above.
 
Jayne said:
Today was the first day of no-gi for me where they pointed out that striking was OK. I mean not while we're practicing but in the more traditional gi class no one cared about how 'open' you were to getting punched or elbowed in the face. Now that's all back on the table.

My goals for this are to keep from getting taken down, and if so being able to dominate enough to get back up. Also having real 'hard hands' options between a sissy pushing match and OC or above.
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I like no gi. It makes me think faster. "Well, shit, I can't grab the lapel or collar...what CAN I grab?" We don't strike in no gi as it's very competition forward, but in MMA we always start standing and striking then go to ground.
 
Turns out the "performance physical therapy" guy that the wife and I are going to for golf stuff can also fix up my random BJJ injuries.

After that little take-down mishap last month, I'm back to about 80% of full range of motion on my left shoulder, and only in pain some days sometimes. Woo. Progress.

I'm still a few weeks out from rolling again, but he cleared me to use my left arm again in sparing (very gently). I've been going 'one handed' for the last few weeks just keeping my left up but without a glove to remind me it's not to be used. Obviously people have been going easy on me because I can't do anything on the left side, but at least I got out there and moved around.
 
Chuckman said:
Picked up another stripe on the BJJ white belt, should get blue belt in the spring. Now orange belt in judo. Reffing another judo tourney next month. Really enjoying this journey.
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That's awesome man. Glad to see you sticking with it.
 
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