so, Monday night when I went there ended up not being a class, but instead our head instructor, Marcello Monteiro was hosting a seminar. Since I was unaware of this, I was allowed to sit in and watch how the seminar went. I didn't participate, but I watched everyone learning. It was a fantastic experience.
Last night I went for my first class. As I was walking to the building from my car, I met a friendly guy and he gave me some info about where changing rooms were, etc...
After putting on my Gi, I realized I didn't know how to tie my belt :icon_neut. Luckily another very friendly white belt helped me out. He said he'd been coming for about 6 months, and that I was going to have a good time.
The instructor for our beginners' class came in, and was very nice. He's a brown belt under Marcello, and really was accessible. I was worried that our instructor wouldn't be open to questions, but that was not the case at all.
We started off with some stretching and very light cardio to get warmed up, then jumped right into learning. We began be learning some open guard positions. after practicing those for a while, we moved into a triangle and omoplata from that particular open guard. that's where my issues are.
I'm a big guy (fat), training with other large guys. There were three of us larger men in the class, myself being the smallest. I'm 5'6", 260lbs with short thick legs. I cannot lock a triangle on other big guys, as my ankles can barely lock. The instructor showed some techniques grabbing the pant leg to adjust, but it's still a very difficult move to pull off on other big guys.
the omoplata was easier, but still very hard. my problem lies with the initial pivot from an open guard to the omoplata position. Once I maneuver to that pivoted position, sitting up is also difficult. granted it's my first class ever, but would have been nice to be more fluid with my movement
then we went into some rolling from guard. Onc person started on bottom with closed guard and the guy on top tried to pass while the guy on bottom tried to submit or sweep. as soon as someone achieved their goal, we reset. After about 4 or 5 minutes, we switched position. I was going against another white belt who had a fair bit more experience than me, but he was also smaller. He was maybe an inch or two taller than I, and only 225. He didn't manhandle me as much as I was expecting, but I chock that up to the size difference. I was able to pass his guard twice to side control (EPIC good feeling :icon_chee), but from the bottom I was unable to sweep or submit while he passed my guard each time. I did however get a compliment from the instructor, saying I was doing excellent for someone with no background at all.
He (the instructor) said to have fun with it, that training was meant to be enjoyable and a learning experience; to try something new. The worst that happens is you lose position, reset, and learn from that mistake. So that's what I did. I was trying new things (which was damn near everything being that it was my first class ever), and most didn't work, but some did. I remember the compliment from my instructor came when I was on bottom during the rolling and as my partner stood up to a three point type stance, I hooked his leg from the bottom and kept him from passing for a while.
Overall it was a fantastic experience, and I am looking forward to going again tonight. Sorry this post ended up way longer than I anticipate when I started typing, I just wanted to share my excitement
Last night I went for my first class. As I was walking to the building from my car, I met a friendly guy and he gave me some info about where changing rooms were, etc...
After putting on my Gi, I realized I didn't know how to tie my belt :icon_neut. Luckily another very friendly white belt helped me out. He said he'd been coming for about 6 months, and that I was going to have a good time.
The instructor for our beginners' class came in, and was very nice. He's a brown belt under Marcello, and really was accessible. I was worried that our instructor wouldn't be open to questions, but that was not the case at all.
We started off with some stretching and very light cardio to get warmed up, then jumped right into learning. We began be learning some open guard positions. after practicing those for a while, we moved into a triangle and omoplata from that particular open guard. that's where my issues are.
I'm a big guy (fat), training with other large guys. There were three of us larger men in the class, myself being the smallest. I'm 5'6", 260lbs with short thick legs. I cannot lock a triangle on other big guys, as my ankles can barely lock. The instructor showed some techniques grabbing the pant leg to adjust, but it's still a very difficult move to pull off on other big guys.
the omoplata was easier, but still very hard. my problem lies with the initial pivot from an open guard to the omoplata position. Once I maneuver to that pivoted position, sitting up is also difficult. granted it's my first class ever, but would have been nice to be more fluid with my movement
then we went into some rolling from guard. Onc person started on bottom with closed guard and the guy on top tried to pass while the guy on bottom tried to submit or sweep. as soon as someone achieved their goal, we reset. After about 4 or 5 minutes, we switched position. I was going against another white belt who had a fair bit more experience than me, but he was also smaller. He was maybe an inch or two taller than I, and only 225. He didn't manhandle me as much as I was expecting, but I chock that up to the size difference. I was able to pass his guard twice to side control (EPIC good feeling :icon_chee), but from the bottom I was unable to sweep or submit while he passed my guard each time. I did however get a compliment from the instructor, saying I was doing excellent for someone with no background at all.
He (the instructor) said to have fun with it, that training was meant to be enjoyable and a learning experience; to try something new. The worst that happens is you lose position, reset, and learn from that mistake. So that's what I did. I was trying new things (which was damn near everything being that it was my first class ever), and most didn't work, but some did. I remember the compliment from my instructor came when I was on bottom during the rolling and as my partner stood up to a three point type stance, I hooked his leg from the bottom and kept him from passing for a while.
Overall it was a fantastic experience, and I am looking forward to going again tonight. Sorry this post ended up way longer than I anticipate when I started typing, I just wanted to share my excitement
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