Walk the dogs first before leaving so our mini-spitz doesn’t pee on the carpet.
The gi should be hanging on the rack in the bedroom. Hopefully I washed the gi’s yesterday or I will have to get up early to wash them and also put them in the dryer and they will shrink and feel like cardboard.
Have a shower and brush teeth and use mouth wash because my rolling partners will thank me. Trim my nails if they need it and also file them after cutting because they could still be a bit sharp.
Put deodorant on before putting my rash guard on because it’s a pain to get that thing off once it’s on, especially if I’m sweating.
Tie gi pants several times because they still have draw strings from when they were first invented. They always come loose when rolling.
Pack my wallet, cell phone, kimono top, white belt with two stripes, mouth guard even though I don’t like wearing it, some medical tape just in case, and fancy water bottle from Starbucks.
Before leaving make sure to queue up the most recent podcast episode of My White Belt by Jim Trick on my iPhone so I can listen to it in the car on the way to class. Or a JRE podcast episode about UFOs and aliens.
Leave apartment unit and enter elevator. Check myself out in the mirror in the elevator and see how cool I look with my rash guard, gi pants, flip flops, fanny pack, and gym bag. Maybe take a selfie and share it on Twitter.
Drive to bjj gym while wondering what we’re learning today. Will it be a sweep? Or takedown? Or choke? Hopefully all three.
Get to gym and park in the same spot I always park in. Not too far and not too close.
Walk into bjj gym and sign in on the iPad. My name was entered twice when I first joined the gym. One correct and one incorrectly (my last name and first name are switched). I always sign in with the incorrect one. When I got my two stripes they called out my last name first and I wasn’t sure if they meant me or not.
After signing in take my flip flops off and put them to the side with everyone else’s in a messy pile near the door. Walk around in bare feet.
Since I have my gi pants and rash guard on already I don’t get changed in the change room. I just get my gi top and belt out of my bag and slap them on right in the waiting area. I’m usually one of the first people there. Punctuality is dope.
Fill up my water bottle at the fountain because I almost always forget to fill it up at home.
Say hi to all the white belts because the higher belts don’t come until later and are so mysterious.
Wait for the kids class to finish their last game and then they line up and come off the mats. The waiting area gets packed and stuffed.
Walk onto the mat and don’t bow because we don’t have to at our Gracie Barra because our instructors are chill and easy going.
Line up by belt rank. One time at a fundamentals class I was the highest ranking belt so I was at the top of the line. A cool feeling. Then a blue belt showed up late and that was the end of that.
While waiting for the head instructor to start class I might stretch but probably not.
We all bow in unison to the head instructor and start the funny warm ups of running back and forth, running backwards, side shuffle, criss cross, knees up, heels back, row your boat forward then backward, lunges or rolls, and then we all stretch together. Make sure to stretch near a partner you want to practice with so you can ask them first before someone else does.
And that’s basically it. Three to seven times a week. I highly recommend you join a free trial class because the world would be a safer place if everyone knew jiu jitsu.
See you on the mats!
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