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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu... does anyone train?

LeftBench

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Hey all,

I was just curious if anyone here trains BJJ? If so, fill me in on your background.

I started training in 2002 and was awarded my blue belt in August of 2003. I had a wrestling background which helped a lot. I dabbled in Judo in 2005 and 2006 but sadly stopped training in that.

I only trained sporadically from 05-2014 but I'm looking to get back into it full force. When I started I was a tough 18 year old former - wrestler with lots of speed and strength. Now I'm MUCH heavier and 31 years old... so I'm going to have to approach it much differently lol. Anyways I went and trained the other night and I've got a lot of work to do.

My main goal is to get my blackbelt and train for the rest of my life. One of my other goals is to fight MMA at least once in my life... running out of time so I'm hoping I can fight before I turn 36.

One thing that upsets me is the fact that I had tons of potential in BJJ. Guys at my old school used to jokingly call me the phenom. Now I'm just looking to train to lose weight and prevent diabetes... lol
 
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AubreyJ

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I just started BJJ last week! I had always been interested in fighting sports because they are great ways to stay fit. My dad was a pro boxer for a short period of time and so I've been boxing on and off my entire life, but I always wanted to try something like MMA, Muay Thai or BJJ, and being a female I felt like BJJ would be a good fit.
I am 20 and so I definitely had a late start into the sport, but so far I really enjoy it!
 
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jilla82

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ive been playing w/ the idea for about a year now.
Im just not keen on the idea of always having a random injury.

There are at least 7 BJJ/MMA gyms within a short bicycle ride of my place.
 
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LeftBench

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I am 20 and so I definitely had a late start into the sport, but so far I really enjoy it!

Congratulations on getting started. Nowadays 20 might be considered a late start, but back in the day it was perfectly normal. I know a guy who started at 53 and he is now a tough as nails BJJ black belt. Keep up the good work!
 

LeftBench

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ive been playing w/ the idea for about a year now.
Im just not keen on the idea of always having a random injury.
There are at least 7 BJJ/MMA gyms within a short bicycle ride of my place.

Injuries are always a possibility (fully tore my ACL in 2006 in BJJ) but in my opinion they are usually preventable if you choose the right training partner and stay aware of what you're doing. Always keep injury prevention in mind while you train and you should be ok.

Anyway, who needs to walk up and down the stairs without sore knees? Mangled fingers and toes are fun too.
 

Formless

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BJJ is the best thing that happened to me so far.

I don't train at a gym because I can't afford it right now, so I just roll with my friends any time I can get.

It's the most 'present' state for me. In 2 months I'm actually gonna be training at Braulio Estima's academy in Birmingham when I move there <333333
 
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TeflonDon

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I train some BJJ at times, although not in an official BJJ gym. Fortunately my cousins and brother-in-law are all trained by Braulio at GB Birmingham, so they teach me the grappling side whilst I teach them the striking side. I train Muay Thai too much to make it in to the BJJ gym, as I also recently began fighting pro in Muay Thai (my main martial focus).
 

teabag

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I've got a background in boxing and started BJJ 3 years ago. Most incredible sport.

First thing I learnt in BJJ the hard way... size doesn't matter. I used to weigh 115KG (now 80kg) @ 6'2'' when I first started training and was put into submission countless times by a guy weighing 60kg @ 5'8"
 

Nadia

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Incredible. In the near future, I want to train in BJJ--they have it at a gym near me.
 
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James Fake

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I setup a free website, did some internet marketing work, and some maintenance for a local MMA gym for free membership and coaching about a year ago. They now rank top 5 in Google for most martial art "city" keywords; I think I grew their business by like 3 folds lol.

Anyways; I've done BJJ about a year before adding in striking with this MMA gym. and 31 is still good age to fight. Although "most" pros start around early-mid 20s and are fighting at 30ish; but I don't think you want to go pro, so you're in the prime range! Body just takes a bit longer to heal now, thats all lol.
 

royemunson

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Always interested in BJJ but my son and I actually train in To Shin Do at Stephen K Hayes home center in Ohio. Love it and so does my son.
 

teabag

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Although "most" pros start around early-mid 20s and are fighting at 30ish; but I don't think you want to go pro, so you're in the prime range! Body just takes a bit longer to heal now, thats all lol.

I agree.

Great thing about BJJ though is it doesn't matter how old you are. If you can read a fight better than your opponent combined with fluent technique, you've got good chance of winning.

BJJ is literally a game of chess.
 
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D

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BJJ is pretty sweet.

As far as martial arts training, I'd be open do all different styles and just seek out good teachers. You might have a BJJ school near, but the teaching might pale in comparison to a tai chi school nearby, and vice versa. When you're looking for a place, look for one where the head teacher interacts with all levels of students during the classes and where they give lots of 1 on 1 attention. You don't want the brown belts teaching everyone and the head teacher teaching the high level students.

I'm training Emperor's Long Fist (Tai Tzu Chang Chuan), and it's pretty fun since it's a blend of several hard and soft style martial arts. The guy who teaches is also high level in Kali, Kickboxing, Hapkido, etc. so we get exposed to the basic concepts in a variety of styles and we can see where they connect to each other and to our main styles.

Kali's cool if you can find it. It's got open hand, stick fighting, knife fighting, and groundwork. It's what they use in a lot of action flicks these days, like Taken, e.g.
 

jilla82

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Injuries are always a possibility (fully tore my ACL in 2006 in BJJ) but in my opinion they are usually preventable if you choose the right training partner and stay aware of what you're doing. Always keep injury prevention in mind while you train and you should be ok.

Anyway, who needs to walk up and down the stairs without sore knees? Mangled fingers and toes are fun too.
how did you tear your ACL?
 

LeftBench

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how did you tear your ACL?

I was being stupid and got a little wild while trying to escape a leglock. My own fault really for not doing it the right way. It was my best friend too who I was training with lol.
 
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John64

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I use to train a while ago, now I really want to get back into it but have lack of time.

My instructor use to be Victor Estima first then after he moved I moved into the Birmingham gym to be trained by his brother Braulio Estima. Victor awarded me my blue belt but I haven't gotten any further along the ranks, if anything I think I've regressed back to a white belt lol.

I would recommend anyone to try it. Its probably the best cardio you can get and it like the only combat sport where you don't really need to hold back (as long as you know how to tap, just tap fast and often as a beginner).

Now thinking back to it makes me realise how much I miss it :(
 

Formless

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Yeah, I'll put it this way.

BJJ (Well, combat sports) is the ONLY CARDIO YOU WILL EVER ENJOY.
 

Mattie

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I was thinking about some type of martial arts. There's one around two of them around the block from me. But I don't know anything about any of them. Not to mention the instructors are dutch and I would be totally lost.

Sounds fun and exciting! I always wanted to try kick boxing too. lol Just never got a round to it.
 
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bane

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awesome! I love BJJ! Been training almost 7 years straight now! 80% of that time is in the gi!

Would love to meet up for a roll with anyone! It's the best rapport builder :p So just hit me up!!!!

I am currently in Paris trying out Luta Livre, which is like the No Gi equivalent of BJJ but is a different Brazilian Martial Art.
 

Ninjakid

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I did one class of BJJ. Wasn't really my thing, but I have a ton of respect for it. Man was it a physical challenge, especially that I was the lightest person in the class, so all my partners were heavier than me.

You said that these days, starting at 20 might be considered late. Well it's relatively a new trend for kids to be doing martial arts, because in the older times, martial arts classes were so physically demanding that kids couldn't fully train the way adults could. Even in many of the countries were these martial arts originate (I'm speaking mainly of the Asian countries such as Japan and Korea) training is still much harsher than in North America and students must be an adult to receive a black belt.

So don't feel like you're up there in terms of age. At 31, you should still have plenty potential!
It takes many years to master a martial art, so I recommend you train like a savage beast on your time off. Also, having a master who's passionate and actually knows his stuff makes all the difference. Beware of the many McDojos out there.

Good luck mate!
 
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Formless

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LeftBench

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awesome! I love BJJ! Been training almost 7 years straight now! 80% of that time is in the gi!

Would love to meet up for a roll with anyone! It's the best rapport builder :p So just hit me up!!!!

I am currently in Paris trying out Luta Livre, which is like the No Gi equivalent of BJJ but is a different Brazilian Martial Art.


Nice. If you're ever in the tri-state area of the US I'd be down to train! 80% gi training... hell yea! I've always been more talented at no-gi but have enjoyed the gi more.
 

JamesSJ

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Not BJJ but Muay Thai for 5 years.

I have been in Thailand the past 10 months and so been getting in some quality training here.
 
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bane

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HAHAHA i don't dispute that!
They used to have an intense rivalry with BJJ. Probably not so much now. But these Luta Livre guys really dont like the dominant awareness of BJJ.

Nice. If you're ever in the tri-state area of the US I'd be down to train! 80% gi training... hell yea! I've always been more talented at no-gi but have enjoyed the gi more.

Awesome! I'm going to have to google what the Tri-State Area of USA is haha.
Ah that's cool about you enjoying the gi more!

Anyone watch Metamoris? I love Metamoris.
 

Formless

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Watched last night's card. Actually sneaked out of a party to do so :D

Did NOT expect Barnett to do that to Lister.

DID expect Galvao to do that to Sonnen.
 

Shallen210

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i started training at 28 yrs old..little jiu jitsu. some muay thai. some judo. and striking didnt master any of those arts though was confident enough after a year that i went on to fight in 2 amateur mma fights here in Fl. I had a great time doing it. Great thing is you cant fake anything in the fight/ jiu jitsu game. Its you and one other guy. knowing that other guy is out to knok you out or snap your arm makes you realize no half assing it!!
 
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LeftBench

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i went on to fight in 2 amateur mma fights here in Fl. I had a great time doing it.

That's awesome!! Thats what I want to do eventually.. Get a fight or two under my belt, just to say I did it. I used to love competing... gotta get back into that mind set
 

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