There and Back

A journey. A return. Probably tired.

Month: February 2023

  • How to Sign Up for a Free Trial Jiu Jitsu Class AND What to Expect on Your First Day at a BJJ Gym

    After reading my last blog post, I have successfully convinced you, with my incredible hypnotic powers of persuasion, to join a free trial jiu jitsu class. Now you want to see what all the fuss is about. You want to know why everyone is having so much fun without you. Don’t worry, I got you.

    Here is how you sign up for a free trial jiu jitsu class…

    1. Go to Google Search and type in, “Jiu Jitsu in (your city)“
    2. Search the list of academies that come up in the results. Just pick any of them to start.
    3. Go to the webpage or Facebook page of the bjj academy. Read the posts, look at the pictures. See if it looks like a place you might enjoy going to. (If they do not have a webpage or Facebook page, try a different academy).
    4. Locate the ‘Contact’ page or section on their website or Facebook.
    5. FB Message, Email, or Call the academy and ask if they have free trial bjj classes. Say “Hi, my name is (your name) and I am interested in trying out a free trial bjj class. Do you have any coming up soon?” If they say “Yes” then get the time and date of the next free trial class and say, “Thanks! I’ll see you there.” and hang up. Nice and short and sweet. Same goes for a Facebook DM or Email.
    6. Go to the free trial BJJ class!

    Items you will need for the free trial Jiu Jitsu class…

    1. Active wear. Shorts and a t-shirt. It’s okay that you don’t have a Gi since it’s your first class. You may even have signed up for a No Gi class which would be great because most people wear similar attire like shorts and a tee (instead of a tee they call it a Rash Guard, it’s like a compression shirt for sports).
    2. Gym bag. Inside your gym bag should be a change of clothes, a water bottle, and flip flops/sandals. The flip flops/sandals are for when you are not on the mat and walking around the academy. It’s not a good idea to walk around when off the mats in bare feet as you could get bacteria on your feet and then bring it on the mat with you. You will take your flip flops/sandals off before going on to the mat.
    3. A good attitude! You made it all the way to the mat, you’re almost there.

    You have your tee and shorts on and you just took off your flip flops/sandals and walked on to the mat. Now what? I’ve only been to one BJJ gym since joining a year and a half ago. But from what I’ve heard, they are basically the same.

    Here’s what to expect at your first bjj class…

    1. As a brand new participant, you may notice people lining up against the wall. They are lining up in their respective belt ranks. Higher belts at one end, all the way down to the no-stripe white belts. It goes, Brown, Purple, Blue, White. I’ve never seen a black belt line up, even ones that were visiting our gym, not sure why but for the most part, the line up will be by rank. Since you don’t have a belt yet, you will go at the very end last spot. The gym might have a loner Gi with belt (I would recommend politely declining to wear the loner as I bet you’d feel more comfy in your own clothes), but you will still be at the very end of the line. Don’t let this dissuade you, it’s just the beginning. We’ve all been there.
    2. The head instructor will be standing in front of everyone in the middle of the mats. They will say their spiel, like welcoming everyone there and say what techniques everyone will be working on that day. Then everyone bows to the head instructor. Note: not every gym is as strict or by the book with how they incorporate the intricacies of addressing one another or doing everything by the book. But when in doubt, just call the head instructor “coach” and be polite and follow everyone else’s lead. If the head instructor demands that you call them “professor”, that is potentially a sign of a cult and I would not go back there.
    3. After you and everyone bows or after the head instructor says their spiel, now it’s time for a warm-up. In the gym I go to, which is a Gracie Barra (it’s quite chill, for example we don’t have to bow before going on or coming off the mats, people do bow but we aren’t required) for our warms-ups we run back and forth across the mats, jogging forwards, backwards, sideways, knees up, kicking legs back, then sliding on our butts back and forth, maybe some rolling forward and back wards but not always. It depends on your gym but if you can make it through the warm-ups, the rest of the class is a breeze.
    4. After warm-up, is some simple stretching. Usually focused on the body parts that you will be using most that day.
    5. After the stretching, the head instructor will demonstrate on an Uke, the techniques you will be learning that day. Everyone stands or sits or kneels and watches.
    6. Here comes the fun part: finding a partner. I get it, this can be hard for some people. But don’t think about it too much. Just look around for someone that is roughly the same weight as you, lock eyes with them and say, “You want to partner up?” In my experience 10/10 times the person will say Yes. Just go for it!
    7. Now the fun really begins! Now you will be working on the techniques on your partner. You’ll take turns trying the moves on each other.

    Tips for surviving your first day at a BJJ class…

    1. Have fun.
    2. Be polite.
    3. Talk to people. If you want, you can tell people this is your first class and your excited but nervous. That’s okay.
    4. Respect the Tap. There are a few ways you or your partner can tell each other that you submit to their technique because it is staring to hurt you. You can tap them a few times with one of your hands, you can stomp with your feet on the mat if your hands aren’t available, or you can verbally say the word “Tap” and they will let go. If your partner does any of those, you let go of them immediately. So you can both continue practicing the techniques safely.
    5. Ask questions. If you have a question, ask! Let your partner know you are new and ask if you are “doing it right.”
    6. Don’t give advice. Yes, you may have watched tons of MMA and you used to wrestled back in the day. But this isn’t the time to show off. By all means, if you remember what the head instructor said, word for word, when they were showing the technique, then go ahead. But I would always defer to telling your partner to ask the head instructor or a higher belt.
    7. Survive. Even if it’s your first day, it might be a class that has live rolling/sparring. Remember, you’re basically fighting a stranger. If it’s your first time it’s going to feel weird. Your body will go into Fight Or Flight mode. Your breathing will become erratic and you will panic. THIS IS NORMAL. Just stay with it, remember the little bit of training you have, and respect the tap and tap early and tap often. Try not to think of tapping as quitting or losing, think of it as a restart, you get to restart and try the techniques again.

    All these lists are a general guide to your first day at a BJJ class. It’ll probably be a bit different, but for the most part, it will have most of the elements from the lists above in one way or another.

    I think it’s great that you have decided to try a free trial jiu jitsu class and you should be proud of yourself, most people don’t do this!

    Also let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear about it!

  • I will convince you to go to a free trial jiu jitsu class

    Imagine yourself, walking around with confidence, your chest sticking out, your shoulders back, your head high, your stride strong. As you walk by other people, they notice the smirk on your face, a tiny grin that suggests you know something they don’t, an inside joke or a secret that they wish they knew. The people you walk by wish they had what you have, they wish they knew what you know.

    Imagine being part of a secret society or furtive fellowship, where you have created a better version of yourself and learned how to protect yourself if you ever needed to, by participating in fun physical activity that has put you in the best shape of your life. Your family and friends will ask “What’s your secret? And, can I join?!”

    Of course they can. So you go the BJJ gym together and discover what you’re all truly made of…by choking a complete stranger!

    Look, we all have fear and doubt and uncertainty. Fear of getting hurt. Doubting ourselves about what we can do. And uncertain if you’d ever be good at a martial art. Guess what, almost everyone that has ever joined a martial art started that way! Nobody was born a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But those that have achieved that prestigious belt, started right where you are, at the free trail jiu jitsu class.

    So what are you waiting for? It’s free! Join a free trial jiu jitsu class now in your city and let me know how it goes! But I already know how it will go, you’re going to love it!

  • 8 Match BJJ Competition Extravaganza AND Why Getting Your Ass Kicked is a Great Way to Test Yourself

    Ever since I competed in that eight match extravaganza (it was actually seven, but I’ll get into that later), I’ve been wanting to write about it but for some reason, I haven’t had the urge to write it. Wanting to write about it and not being able to find the words, sucks. Since re-purposing this blog into a JiuJitsu only blog, it has turned into one massive project of figuring out why I do jiujitsu in the first place. Let’s try and figure that out together.

    “I’ll be fine. It’s just the fear of the unknown that stands in my way.”

    I read that quote on a poster in the office at work. It’s a great quote to help someone reframe their in-action to do something hard. And most things in life that we could be afraid of, our worrying about it, is usually worse than the outcome. This is a fact of life that I have to constantly remind myself of.

    Perhaps, for me, competing in jiujitsu, or even showing up to my BJJ Academy and training each week, is one giant test. I’m testing myself, but for what? Are aliens going to come down and invade earth but the only way we can stop them is through jiujitsu? Probably not (but one can dream). So why do I need to test myself with jiujitsu?

    There were lots of other things I could’ve been doing on a Saturday morning, like sleeping in, reading a book, hanging out with my wife, eating, or really any activity that doesn’t involve me fighting a bunch of 20 something year olds. But for some reason I thought it was a good idea to sign up to a round robin tournament and do four matches in the gi and four matches in no gi.

    And you know what, it was a good idea. I ended up winning my very first match in Brazilian jiujitsu by points, 6 to 4. The feeling, of having your hand raised, looking at the score, and having your family and friends share that moment with you, is a wonderful feeling and I hope one day you can experience that. My wife was there with me the whole day, supporting me, and worrying about me, she’s family and she’s a friend. It was great to share it with her.

    My wife also made a good observation, my opponents had coaches to tell them what to do. I had no coach and had to figure out what to do on the fly by myself. However my wife was a great manger and yelled encouraging words as I fought. She was a great cheerleader and driver. She is a great person to have in my corner, in bjj and in life. She made another astute observation, I’m more mobile than most 37 year olds. Most 37 years olds aren’t competing and fighting against 20 something year olds in bjj. That’s true. That made me feel good about myself. Sometimes I forget how much I have improved and how much work I do. We need to step back sometimes and be proud of what we’ve done.

    So how did the other seven matches go? Arm bar, triangle, refs decision, ankle lock, D’Arce choke, and rear naked choke. Those are the techniques that I submitted to. And I won another match by, what’s called, a walk-over. A walk-over means that the person forfeited for some reason (they didn’t show up on time), however I did fight that guy later in no gi, he got me in a D’Arce choke, which was just as nasty as the others. Side note: my left elbow still hurts from an arm bar, going on over two weeks now.

    Would I do this again? Nope. I’m not as spry as I used to be. I would have to dedicate all my free time to training in the fitness gym and bjj gym, which I sort of do now but it’s not a strict schedule. I was out paced, out weighed, and older than my opponents by 10, sometimes 15 more years. Not sure I have it in me to compete at that level. I’ll stick to Mater 1 division (30 year old +) and try to make weight for 155 instead of 170.

    I’m what they call a hobbyist, someone who does bjj for a hobby. But I wanted to test myself and see what it was like to do eight matches. Now I know what my skill level is at for competitions, my record is currently is 2-8. 2 wins (one by points, one by walk-over) and 8 losses (by points and subs).

    Doing hard things tests you. If you survive (spoiler alert, you will) then you’re almost guaranteed to come out of the struggle a better version of yourself. This eight match extravaganza was one of the hardest things I’ve done phsycially. I’m glad I did it. Now it’s time to continue recovering, keep showing up to practice, and make sure I’m ready for my next competition, whenever that may be.

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