First BJJ class...

[Will_N.O.]

Does anyone have any BJJ drills I can practice on my own when I'm home, so I can get better at certain things?

I'm sure they'll do some warmup drills in your gym that you can work at home. Shrimping, breakfalls (if you have a mat), etc. As always, the best thing you can do is ASK.

And stretching every day never hurts.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

Check your ego at the door. Don't assume that you know how to do anything. And keep an open mind and listen to instruction. Humility, focus, and dedication go a long way.

 

[rjackson89]

Check your ego at the door. Don't assume that you know how to do anything. And keep an open mind and listen to instruction. Humility, focus, and dedication go a long way.

That pretty much hit the nail on the head of what my instructor had told me at the beginning of class today.

 

[BrokenCouch]

I just got back from my first class and it went really well. Everyone there are very nice guys, who helped break down everything for me.

I did some basic drills, arm bar techniques and so forth. They didn't let me roll today, but I got to watch them roll for 3 five minute rounds. I'm definitly going to stick with it.

Does anyone have any BJJ drills I can practice on my own when I'm home, so I can get better at certain things?

here are two techniques i practiced a lot that helped me not only in rolling but helped my cardio a little bit too (since i was in bad shape).

someone said it already - practice shrimping. practice this until it becomes reactionary in your rolling sessions. it is the most useful thing to start doing as a beginner.

other thing that helped me a lot is to practice bridging. when those dudes get you in full mount, you want the ab strength and the technique to bridge.

and if you have someone at home (brother, sister, friend) that is willing to lay down and let you practice your techniques you just learned, that never hurts either.

i'd also suggest keeping a bjj log. it has helped me a lot after about 3-4 months going back over techniques again.

 

[Chinaboxer]

I just got back from my first class and it went really well. Everyone there are very nice guys, who helped break down everything for me.

I did some basic drills, arm bar techniques and so forth. They didn't let me roll today, but I got to watch them roll for 3 five minute rounds. I'm definitly going to stick with it.

Does anyone have any BJJ drills I can practice on my own when I'm home, so I can get better at certain things?

WTF? I hope you didn't have to pay.

 

[stu3ufc**]

WTF? I hope you didn't have to pay.

its his first class--

maybe 2nd class they should let him -- but only with someone who can be trusted

 

[rjackson89]

WTF? I hope you didn't have to pay.

Nope. I'm doing a free week trial first , but it is my first class as well.

 

[omgitsrick]

You won't spar on the first class, cause you wont know what the hell to do. You gotta get down all the positions first, and do some drilling before, and even then you wont know wtf to do half the time.

 

[rjackson89]

You won't spar on the first class, cause you wont know what the hell to do. You gotta get down all the positions first, and do some drilling before, and even then you wont know wtf to do half the time.

haha Exactly...I started watching them rolling and was thinking to myself..."what the hell would I be doing if that was me"..haha

 

[FLMikeATT]

You won't spar on the first class, cause you wont know what the hell to do. You gotta get down all the positions first, and do some drilling before, and even then you wont know wtf to do half the time.

This is true for some places. When I started 2 years ago at ATT Coconut Creek, I rolled on my first day. I believe I got armbarred, choked, armtriangled, and triangled X3. All in two 5 minute rolls. I learned a shitload though. I think it's perfectly fine for someone to roll on their first day as long as they know not to spaz and how to tap. I'm glad I don't have an ego problem or I don't think I would have kept coming back. Some guys just can't handle being schooled constantly for the first 6 months and drop out.

 

[SpartanWarrior]

There is an over 90% chance that your not gonna last more than a few weeks. Most guys I see that come and want to do BJJ don't last. Don't be that guy.

 

[rjackson89]

There is an over 90% chance that your not gonna last more than a few weeks. Most guys I see that come and want to do BJJ don't last. Don't be that guy.

I can bet on that, that I won't be that guy. I know going into this I'm going to suck, and going to get my ass kicked for the first couple of months until I get the hang of some things.

This is something I've been interested in for quite awhile now and there's no way I'm going to quit.


Why does everyone quit so fast? Because they can handle getting roughed up for the first couple of months and have a big ego?

 

[SpartanWarrior]

I can bet on that, that I won't be that guy. I know going into this I'm going to suck, and going to get my ass kicked for the first couple of months until I get the hang of some things.

This is something I've been interested in for quite awhile now and there's no way I'm going to quit.


Why does everyone quit so fast? Because they can handle getting roughed up for the first couple of months and have a big ego?

Your not gonna get your ass kicked for the first couple of months. Your gonna get your ass kicked for the first couple of years. Especially when you go up against guys whove been training for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. Just stick with it and have fun. If there is one piece of advice i could give anyone who wants to start BJJ, it would be to just have fun.

 

[rjackson89]

Your not gonna get your ass kicked for the first couple of months. Your gonna get your ass kicked for the first couple of years. Especially when you go up against guys whove been training for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. Just stick with it and have fun. If there is one piece of advice i could give anyone who wants to start BJJ, it would be to just have fun.

thanks!

 

[SteMc]

7 months on and im STILL getting my ass whooped by the same guys as when i started, and i still love it

 

[rjackson89]

7 months on and im STILL getting my ass whooped by the same guys as when i started, and i still love it

Awesome! I'm pumped to have another class tomorrow morning.

 

[rjackson89]

I had my 2nd class this morning and I got to roll for one 5 minute round. I think I did pretty good for my first time. I did get sumbitted twice, once in a kimura, and the second in a neck choke. I rolled with another white belt who has been training a couple of months. I'm pretty pumped to train again.

 

[Will_N.O.]

I had my 2nd class this morning and I got to roll for one 5 minute round. I think I did pretty good for my first time. I did get sumbitted twice, once in a kimura, and the second in a neck choke. I rolled with another white belt who has been training a couple of months. I'm pretty pumped to train again.

Everything you have said in this thread so far == successful attitude.

From one newb to another, one minor suggestion for sanity purposes: try not to think about how you're doing in terms of how many times you got submitted. I know it's hard not to, but the truth is that pretty much any blue can submit either one of us an arbitrary number of times in a round. No blue is likely try to tap you 10x in one round, but if one decided to they probably could. So for us newbs, whether we are tapping zero times or 4 times in a round is for the time being more about your training partners than your progress. In other words, if you go to class and it happens to be all high blues and you one night, don't go home bummed because it was a tap fest. It's normal.

Instead, try to think about how you're doing in terms of defending things you didn't defend last time. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll find that if you stop to ask your training partners how to defend an attack after you get submitted by it, you will very quickly learn to defend much better, and that is a positive feeling of progress. As a medium-term goal, try to focus on picking up a couple of basic offensive position techniques - stacking guard pass, scissor sweep, hip bump, stuff like that. Those will take a little more patience but I have only been training for a month and am starting to hit the occasional scissor sweep against other low whites now so you won't have to wait too long.

Good luck & keep having fun.

 

[rjackson89]

Everything you have said in this thread so far == successful attitude.

From one newb to another, one minor suggestion for sanity purposes: try not to think about how you're doing in terms of how many times you got submitted. I know it's hard not to, but the truth is that pretty much any blue can submit either one of us an arbitrary number of times in a round. No blue is likely try to tap you 10x in one round, but if one decided to they probably could. So for us newbs, whether we are tapping zero times or 4 times in a round is for the time being more about your training partners than your progress. In other words, if you go to class and it happens to be all high blues and you one night, don't go home bummed because it was a tap fest. It's normal.

Instead, try to think about how you're doing in terms of defending things you didn't defend last time. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll find that if you stop to ask your training partners how to defend an attack after you get submitted by it, you will very quickly learn to defend much better, and that is a positive feeling of progress. As a medium-term goal, try to focus on picking up a couple of basic offensive position techniques - stacking guard pass, scissor sweep, hip bump, stuff like that. Those will take a little more patience but I have only been training for a month and am starting to hit the occasional scissor sweep against other low whites now so you won't have to wait too long.

Good luck & keep having fun.

Thanks so much for the advice! That's the kind of stuff that will in fact keep me motivated to keep learning. So far for submissions I was only shown a armbar from closed guard and then from mount position. I am getting to get them down a bit faster, but still need some practice on them. The guy I had rolled with was pretty helpful when I had asked questions.

I had started in his guard a couple of times, and it did take a while to break his guard, but I finally got the hang of that. I haven't been shown stacking guard pass, scissor sweep, hip bump yet, but I will definitly look into them on the internet so I have a basic understanding of them.

Other than that, we've done some drills and everything. What a work out it is. I'm liking how things are looking so far. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Will_N.O.]

I haven't been shown stacking guard pass, scissor sweep, hip bump yet, but I will definitly look into them on the internet so I have a basic understanding of them.

Cool. Those were some of things my instructors showed to me early, your instructors may want you to learn other things first so of course go with whatever they're showing. The underlying ideas here are:

1) Everyone has told me to focus on position before subs, so I am just passing that along

2) Class in most places tends to cover 1-3 techniques a night, and for a newb that can be kind of overwhelming...since it takes a while to get any technique down, it's best to focus on just a few very basic ones at first in open rolling or your efforts will get too scattered.

Having said that, do stay focused on the techniques that are covered in class, because it will help you see them coming when your training partners attempt them...and knowing what is being attempted goes a LONG way in defending (for me, when a training partner starts doing something in a roll...and I don't know what he's trying to get...it usually means I am about to start seeing stars. )

Other than that, we've done some drills and everything. What a work out it is.

Heh, yeah I had the red face going for the first few classes for sure. Sore ribs too. It starts feeling more like a normal workout pretty quickly. Try to relax, think and execute technique, particularly from the bottom.

Thanks again for the advice.

De nada, man. Everyone on this forum has been super helpful to me so it's cool to get an opportunity to be helpful to someone else.