Grappling once a week

[farmboy]

I actually just posted this on another thread, but it got me thinking and I figured I'd ask the advice of people who could give some suggestions from experience, possibly.

I took some Aiki-Jitsu for a while, about a year ago. We worked a lot of throws. I miss it a lot. We don't work grappling at the school I study at, now. I think we may at some point. We're supposed to get a guy to start teaching a Judo class, but from what my wife says (she knows the guy, used to take judo at the college from him) he can be a lot of talk. Not that he isn't good, it's just that he doesn't always do what he says he's going to do.

I would love to get back into grappling. I'm thinking about this BJJ dojo in Liverpool, NY, about 40 minutes from my place, to supplement the stand-up I get from my current school, but the money thing is an issue. I could only probably make it once a week, if that, and I don't know if I'd have to pay for a full membership.

I don't know if it would be worth paying like $90 a month to take 1 class a week. Well, actually if that were the case, it wouldn't be an issue. I jsut couldn't afford it at this point. But, maybe like $10 a class, or something. Of course, a lot of places make you sign a contract.

Anyway, I just thought maybe I could get some helpful advice.

 

[Commissar]

You won't get belt increases at all, but thats usually not an issue.

Its up to you, really. If it was up to me, I'd go to the BJJ club full-time.

 

[Happy Camper]

I bet BJJ is nothing compared to Aiki-Jitsu ^^

 

[triso]

Well, I used to do Submission Wrestling once a week for a 2 hour class. It was enough to get the basic idea of it. I learned some techniques, did some rolling, and improved from not knowing any grappling.

With that said, I do believe your progress will go very slowly. It takes a lot of mat time to get good at grappling. Playing around with new techniques, and rolling with all different people.

It's all about making yourself better. If you do some homework, watching videos, and going online checking out techniques, you can try and use these and improve a little faster.

I will say this though, any mat time is better then no mat time at all. You will progress, just slower then people putting the time in.

 

[scorcho]

40 min by car. That is some serious commitment. I would take everything if I had the time/money. Give it a try and talk to the BJJ instructor and see what he thinks.

 

[farmboy]

I bet BJJ is nothing compared to Aiki-Jitsu ^^

Thanks, smartass.

 

[farmboy]

You won't get belt increases at all, but thats usually not an issue.

Its up to you, really. If it was up to me, I'd go to the BJJ club full-time.

Yeah, belts aren't really an issue. Never have been. I just want to become a better, more rounded fighter, and I thought BJJ would be a good supplement to the stand-up I already do. If it were up to me, I'd go to a school that offered it all, but I don't have one very close to where I live, which is why I thought that I could do the BJJ on a Saturday when I don't have work and could actually make the 40-45 minute drive.

Hopefully, our instructor will get ranked in judo soon, or his teacher will actually start teaching a class. Then I could get my grappling and stand-up at one place.

 

[Eilertso]

I bet BJJ is nothing compared to Aiki-Jitsu ^^

uh - ok then...

 

[Stephan Kesting]

Only you can make the decision whether the pros and cons balance out for your life. I would suggest, however, that you give it a try for at least a single class (or preferably a month of classes) and then re-evaluate whether it is working out for you or not.

You can definately make progress on the ground, even with training only once a week, especially if you do some cardio on other days. Having half decent cardio will mean that you can continue to learn for the whole duration of the class, as opposed to being so gassed that all you're learning is how to suck wind hard.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

 

[thaiking]

Once a week is better han no time a week.