Starting First BJJ Class....

[NightOwl]

....tomorrow! Anything that I should expect?

[ps1]

A very relaxed environment, lots of sweat and store your ego in a trunk at home. You'll be amazed how little you can do against some of the more advanced people.

What academy are you training in? Who's the instructor?

[bushido_man96]

You lucky devil!!! I wish there was one nearby me. I would love to train it.

[NightOwl]

A very relaxed environment, lots of sweat and store your ego in a trunk at home. You'll be amazed how little you can do against some of the more advanced people.

What academy are you training in? Who's the instructor?

Straight Blast Gym (although I belive they go by Impact Jujitsu now...). The head coaches are Michael Chapman and Tom Oberhue (there are a bunch of others though... Eric Hemphill trains the beginer's BJJ). Supposedly it is the highest concentration of BJJ black belts in the State, and I feel very fortunate to have access to it!

[Havoc88]

Sounds very nice. You are very fortunate to be able to train there!

Keep up the hard work.

Tom

[ps1]

Wow!! That's great. Unless you're in certain areas it's hard to have access to any BJJ black belts let alone as many as you have. Good luck.

How did your first class go? Was it what you expected?

[NightOwl]

Wow!! That's great. Unless you're in certain areas it's hard to have access to any BJJ black belts let alone as many as you have. Good luck.

How did your first class go? Was it what you expected?

Pretty much, yeah! The guy just showed and went over some basics with me (he told me that he didn't expect that I'd remember everything at first...which I don't ), and I got to practice a little bit with changing positions from the guard and a simple submission. I don't officially start until january, but I got the Gi (it's heavy eh?) and stuff so I'm good to go after Christmas. Of course, I did not expect to get used to it on my first go around, but hopefully I'll get to fix that in the upcoming months!

[bushido_man96]

Have fun with that, NightOwl!

[Ottman]

Oh how I wish I was a BJJ beginner again.

What an exciting time.

(Actually, after 2 and a half years, I wouldn't consider myself much beyond beginner, but anyway . . .)

Get ready to change the whole way you think about martial arts. When I started BJJ, and got more into 'grappling' arts like AikiJuJitsu, and Hapkido, my strategy, even for TKD sparring completely changed. I became a much more relaxed and laid back fighter. It taught me a lot about taking my time, getting proper positioning, conserving energy, and I especially gained a lot of confidence in fighting bigger, stronger, and faster opponents. BJJ training really lead me to understand that timing, patience, and perfect technique (or as perfect as possible) can beat purely physical dominance in most cases.

Have fun!!

[ps1]

Get ready to change the whole way you think about martial arts. When I started BJJ, and got more into 'grappling' arts like AikiJuJitsu, and Hapkido, my strategy, even for TKD sparring completely changed. I became a much more relaxed and laid back fighter. It taught me a lot about taking my time, getting proper positioning, conserving energy, and I especially gained a lot of confidence in fighting bigger, stronger, and faster opponents. BJJ training really lead me to understand that timing, patience, and perfect technique (or as perfect as possible) can beat purely physical dominance in most cases.

You really hit the nail on the head with this comment. When I spar now, boxing, karate, or otherwise, I take alot more time to set up my techniques. I think age has helped alittle as well. But the patients and angles BJJ helps you to learn is amazing. My stand sparring ability has gone way up due to my BJJ practice.