My thoughts on my first six months of training Bjj

RhinoUP said:
I tried the other day to get my heart rate up on an exercise bike and no matter how hard I tried, I couldnt get it beating at more than 140 bpm.
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It's good your cardio is improving but if you couldn't get it above 140 on a spin bike you are doing it wrong.
 
Maybe.I'm not a cyclist and..it wasn't a spin bike. Just one of the bikes in my gym. Also I was going off the built in monitor, not the one that you put around your chest and wrist.
 
really enjoyed reading this thread. Im 32 with three kids, started 8 months ago, and have had many of the struggles you have. Sounds like you have great training partners that push you where you need be.

keep the updates coming
 
RhinoUP said:
Believe me...I fucking LOVE smoking. I just happen to love jiu jitsu more.
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i havent smoked in six years, but i still love smoking, my mouth still waters for it. I can smell it on people that come train sometimes, great motivation to stay quit
 
RhinoUP said:
Maybe.I'm not a cyclist and..it wasn't a spin bike. Just one of the bikes in my gym. Also I was going off the built in monitor, not the one that you put around your chest and wrist.
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Did you try increasing the resistance level? At my gym, I can't get my heart rate above 140 on level 1. I can get it to 180+ at level 10.
 
I think I'd be flatlining shortly after my heart rate hit 180:)

Eyewhites..someone told me when I first started,,,"just get through the door" It's the hardest part of training but whenever I feel like not going to class, I always think about this statement, and get off my fat ass and go to the gym.
 
Month 10 – I’m posting this a little early because training for the NY Open has been pretty intense. I’ve really been working on my cardio and Sinistro and Zata have been pushing us every single class. 10 minutes in the middle with fresh guys ever minute or so has made me very comfortable in bad positions while being very tired. The main thing with these drills is to never give up no matter how tired you are. One second you just reversed and pulled off a mount escape and the next second you have a new guy in there jumping on your back. Escape the back attack and you have another guy on top of you with knee on belly. Crazy. There are only a few techniques I’m comfortable with at the moment. One being a sacrifice throw from standup which I’ve used in tournaments before, the scissor sweep from closed guard, and armbar from mount. I find it easier to reverse from full mount than to escape from side mount. My half guard passing is getting better and I am improving maintaining mount/side control. My open guards need a LOT of work. The 2 friends/family members that I brought in to jiu jitsu have caught up to me and are excellent training partners and we are all competing together. One of them is in my division and he is a fucking monster. The nerves and anxiety are already out in full force and I’m pumped for this weekend. I would love to close out my division with my training partner, but either way, training for this competition has brought my jiujitsu and endurance to a new level. I don’t feel totally incompetent, but I have a ton of stuff to work on. Man…this jiu jitsu thing is really hard!!
 
Are you doing any strength and conditioning outside of class ? Or are you still having trouble finding the time ? I've really enjoyed your journey so far. Keep it up and please keep us posted.
 
Tony...I do as much weightlifting as I can which isn't much. After this weekend, I'll be lifting more and rolling a little lighter.
 
instead of all the BS threads in this forum that keep going and going.. I hope this thread keeps going

Good luck in the NY open
 
DaGenius said:
instead of all the BS threads in this forum that keep going and going.. I hope this thread keeps going

Good luck in the NY open
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I'll post my match/matches from the tournament this weekend. Anxiety is off the charts right now.
 
Really great thread and very happy for all of your success!! Good luck at the tournament. I'm also pushing 40...hahaha. Before my last deployment, we were doing a training jump and my chute collapsed about 40 ft. from the ground and I fell the last 40 ft and landed on my back/shoulder. Luckily, for my job in the Navy, we have to workout a lot and I take pride in staying in good shape and eating as well as I can. But, when they took me to the hospital, luckily...nothing was broken but I did have a slight herniation in one disc. This was about 2 months before deploying again. They said one of the things that protected me from having any bad injuries was my core strength. I'm not saying to do crazy crossfit, or military athlete workouts, but pushups, pullups, planks, dips, all of those really good body weight workouts can be great, too. Especially as I get older. And I still run a good deal, as well...even though it sucks..hahahaa. I was a smoker before I joined the Navy. Didn't join til 28. I think diet is so important for us, too. My fiancee and I use a juicer a lot and so do her kids. Her son is going to go Navy EOD soon, so I'll be his instructor...hahaha. It's great when the whole family can be on the same page. Anyway, your thread is a great inspiration to a lot of us, I'm sure. I can't wait to get home from Afghanistan and start training full time. Good luck and it's so badass that you're making this kind of progress. Take care.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF1mCprFoEg

Here is my match from this weekend. I'm pretty unhappy with my performance but I know what I need to work on. I missed my initial sweep/throw and was stuck in half guard bottom for quite some time. For the life of me I couldn't move him. Lot's of work to be done in the coming months.

All critique is welcome as always. Thanks.
 
RhinoUP said:
Month 1. torture. Maybe made it through 2 minutes of warmups before having to stop. This got better over the course of the monts but I never finished a warmup. Threw up several times during warm ups. I always tried to do the techniques when rolling/live drilling. I'm bigger than most guys in my school so they all took turns turning me into a pretzel. Threw up at least every other class and would need frequent breaks when rolling.

Month 2. Quit smoking cigarettes. Warm ups were better but still really tough. Was still throwing up but not so often. Still got smashed when rolling but would pull of the odd sweep from time to time and was lasting a little longer without needing a break.

Month 3. Warmups suck but I can finish. Learning more and more techniques and I find myself thinking about Jiu Jitsu constantly. I mean constantly. I can't stop talking about it. Eventually convince 2 of my very close friends to join my school. Tapped out a couple of smaller guys a couple times when rolling but still getting smashed and feeling helpless in most positions. I sense I'm getting the hang of some of the basics.

Month 4. More of the same, but I'm finding I'm trying to go for more technique attempts and taking some risks. Failing miserably at pulling them off, but I'm trying ands learning a lot from the mistakes I'm making. Starting to realize that timing is extremely important. Learning to breathe while rolling. Practicing breathing and thinking about Jiu Jitsu during most of the day. Attempting more submissions/sweeps and learning the importance of breaking grips. Relaxing more when rolling. Not holding my breath as much. Got a stripe from Sinistro. Felt I didn't deserve it but my training partners all believed I did so I trust them. Felt good. Btw warmups still fucking blow.

Month 5. Competed in my first tournament. Was up 9 zip when the ref stood us up with me mounted out of bounds. Experienced adrenaline dump and now know the true meaning of exhausted. My body stopped responding and I lost my match by one point. Was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again. The guys I train with took gold, gold, and bronze so I feel pretty damn good about the quality of instruction I'm getting. After competing I feel a new level of love for the sport. I'm rolling hard, taking much fewer breaks, only throwing up once in a while and warm ups still suck but not as much as they used to.

Month 6. I sense improvement. I'm still getting tossed but the higher belts I roll with now are having a tougher time tapping me. I feel strong in the side mount position and I was told tonight by a purple belt that my shoulder pressure from side mount is nasty. Very happy about that. Learning the basics and using open mat nights to help the two friends catch up on the techniques they don't know. They are becoming fantastic training partners. I kind of have an idea of what I should be going for in most positions /grip breaking/breaking posture...etc. im also getting very close with my training parthers and we are becoming a team. Its awesome. And war ups....piece of cake...NOT!!

All in all this has been the most difficult thing I've ever done. Also. FYI. I'm 40, 230 pounds was a fat bastard my whole life and started weight training about 18 months ago and got myself down to 19% body fat before joing my school. Haven't touched a weight since starting jits.

I don't know if this will help anyone, but to those discouraged noobs....stick with it. It gets better and better. Even though the beatings don't ever stop, you'll take pleasure in the small improvements you see over time.

Thanks for reading..I welcome your comments and advice.
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You got a purple belt in side mount! That is awesome almost unheard for a white belt. good stuff man.
 
Month 11...I slacked a little bit this month after training so hard for the NY Open, but I did manage to average about 4 hours of training per week. I feel like I'm going backwards again and always ending up in a bad position, but I know it's because I'm trying new things. I've been working a lot from bottom closed guard at every chance I get and my open guard has actually improved a little bit because of it. My endurance is getting better, but if I take a few days between training I end up suffering my first day back. I had a pretty good night rolling last night holding my own against some very good white belts and a really good blue belt. I notice everyone who trains consistently is getting better every day.

So at the end of class last night, Sinistro hit me with my fourth stripe. He also said that he wants me to train hard for the NY Summer Open in july and test for my blue after it's over. I was floored. I drove him home last night and told him that I didn't necessarily want to get promoted. He said it wasn't up to me. So I guess I'm gonna be turning my white belt blue pretty soon:)
 
Mid month update- tonight everyone in the gym beat the living shit out of me. It was brutal. Im still on the verge of puking. My cardio needs work so I'm rolling without breaks. The few techniques I am able to pull off are happening without any thought. I cant describe it. Its like im so tired and just working off of instinct. I couldnt tell you how many times i got submitted tonight, but it was a lot. Rough night. The quest continues tomorrow:)

On a side note..i watched the worlds today and it was awesome. I especially enjoyed watching the white belts. From the outside looking in, i was able to see many mistakes and missed opportunities. So I asked one of my purple belt buddies...do we as whitebelts really miss that many opportunities and make so many mistakes?...he responded..yes. You have no idea how much you miss....

Aint that a kick in the balls:). Its funny. Im coming up on a years training and still feel very incompetent. But I do love it. So the journey continues.
 
1 year ish to blue belt means you are making progress dude. Good on ya.
 
DaGenius said:
1 year ish to blue belt means you are making progress dude. Good on ya.
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I hear ya. It just doesnt' feel that way. I'm perfectly content being a white belt for another year or so, but it's not really up to me.
 
It just goes to show no matter what your background jits can improve your life. Well done and keep up the hard work. How much do you weigh now?

Also, what the hell kinda warm ups are you guys doing?

Being completely gassed is a good thing. If you can pull off a technique when you are gassed, you will be very good at it when you aren't gassed
 
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