Well today is the first day that I haven't been very sore since my session the previous Tuesday. As I understand it, my recovery time should be getting shorter and shorter the more experience I get. I have been trying to roll with as many people as possible (even people who are completely untrained so I can try to perfect my techniques) and so far have rolled for a total of about an hour over the last three days.

Today I was tied up in a class from 8 AM until now teaching defensive tactics for many of the surrounding agencies in my area. It was a lot of fun and there was even one guy who had been training for approximately 6 months. I probably rolled for about 20 minutes total today only.

I've been dealing with what I am pretty sure is a sprained toe that I got when rolling Tuesday. I have been trying to sprawl out as much as possible when rolling and I guess I hit on my toe kinda funny. Oh well it is starting to feel better today anyway. I have my next class on Tuesday.

I am going to go to the sports store today to get some kettle bells so I can start doing some other types of training. I'll post up how that goes tomorrow since I'm pretty sure this is gonna suck!!

I am very sore today. I can tell that this is going to be an exceptional core workout and the best thing is I can't really tell I am working muscles while rolling and drilling.

Most of the obviously sore areas are in the front of my ribs, my back muscles, and my hip flexors.

It is also very obvious that the rolling portion is also a very good cardio workout.

I'm about to go to the house and stretch out real good then practice some transitions on the heavy bag.
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First day

All right here we go with my first blog training installment in my journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Although it only lasted about 45 minutes I am absolutely exhausted.

Warm ups started us out stretching and doing some agility type exercises but mostly shrimping. MAN my hips are gonna be sore!

After that we started out by going over how important posture is, especially while in someone elses guard. There were multiple demonstrations where he had me try to get out by whatever means possible from various positions (ie: mount, side control, inside the guard, half guard). I found out quickly that you can't just flop around like a fish out of water and expect results.

When asked about which position I felt least comfortable in, that was definently in his guard. For some reason being stuck between his legs made me feel extremely open to attack.

He slowly taught me some very simple guard passes. These were completed by creating downward pressure on his hips to help me make space between us. Then your knee came up and put pressure on the inside of their thigh dropping that leg to the ground. (I actually am going to be bruised I'm fairly certain cause of his demonstrating on me!!) You then slid the pressure leg through and kept their leg hooked with that foot until you could pass with your other leg and gain side control.

The other pass was on the same lines in the end but was set-up differently. You had to create the gap by slightly blading your body inside their guard and placing one knee on their butt to keep the space. Finish as before.

After that we slowly rolled for what felt like an eternity but was actually only about 15 minutes straight! He would let me start out and was intentionally giving me chances to find those opprotunities I had been taught. Whenever I would over react and lean too far forward he was punishing me by showing the different submissions available while someone was in your guard.

Another point that he made to me was that I naturally walk on my knuckles while on the ground therefore making it very hard for me to get a grip when its available! (I guess that re-enforces the "Magilla Gorilla" thing huh? :). )

Well that pretty much wraps up my second installment. I was given some exercises to do with a heavy bag since for now I will only be able to get with him once a week due to our conflicting schedules.

I'm gonna go take an ibuprofen and take a hot shower and stretch some more! Ill try to get some pictures up of the training area when I get a chance.

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First day

Ok so here goes nothing.

I am starting my experience with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu starting tomorrow at 3 Pm. I honestly am pretty nervous but mostly this is just due to not really knowing what to expect. I have done a lot of reading over the last few weeks and feel relatively prepared.

One of my two main reasons for taking up bjj is for the health aspects of being involved in a sport that is good exercise. I am currently tipping the proverbial scales at around 330 pounds and am 6'2" tall. I am in horrible shape right now but am hoping to make it a thing of the past. This is a picture of me and my niece take last week so I'm for sure a "big boy".















The one on the left is a pic of me taken with assistance of the bathroom mirror. For future size comparisons.

Another thing that I have taken into consideration is that my dad has a brown belt in judo. (Granted, this was in the 80s but still) He has tried in the past to get me involved in judo due to what he says is an extremely unnatural arm length. (I am affectionately referred to as "Magilla Gorilla" and the "Grape Ape"!) He has told me that this would lend itself to judo not only because of the long reach that I naturally have but also due to my short legs and inherently low center of gravity. I guess we shall see.

Now for reason number 2. I decided on bjj also because of my current occupation. I am a Sergeant at the local county jail. Although it does not happen often we sometimes have combative inmates come in and I feel that having the ability to control someone on the ground has a lot of good implications on the job.

All right, that is all for now. I will update tomorrow with details of my first class and to expand on some of the things listed here.