Brazilian WHAT?
Last night was my first real brush with Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Sure I've seen TONS of it being around the club and being a fan of the UFC, but it's one thing to watch this stuff, and it's another to actually be in there on the mat. Last night was my first class and I found that out quick.
We started with ½ hour of rolls and drills. My head certainly wasn't used to the amount of rolling we where doing, I think I'm still trying to find my true equilibrium again today. After tons of rolls, falls and all kinds strange and new forms of movement to me, the drills ended in the most insane exercise I've done for a long time, 75 Turkish getups with a 35lbs dumbbell. It was one of the hardest things physically I've done in a long long time.
We moved from there to a demonstration of a few of the moves we would be practicing this night, and then we paired up and started working on the moves and breaking them down, learning the techniques involved. I must have great luck because suddenly, on my first night there I ended up being partnered with "the guy" in the club. The guy belt ranked the highest in the club who's a professional MMA fighter and even has a national title shot coming up shortly. He really is a nice, great guy, but it was a little intimidating at first, having seen him fight at the Forum in front of thousands and break his opponent's jaw in less than 35 seconds. He showed me so much and really helped a lot both with my technique and my comfort level on my first night as a beginner. He made sure I survived my first class.
After ½ hour of that we started to "roll" for real a little bit. Two guys (this is a simplified explanation) competed on the mat, the winner stayed and the loser was replaced by the next guy in line. What I found so much fun about this, is that in Muay Thai you always have to hold back just a little, if not a lot, so that no one ends up in the hospital while you are practicing. In BJJ you can go full out and as hard as you can. If it gets too rough or you are about to get hurt you just "tap out" and you're safe. Suddenly, I'm wrestling with another 200lbs guy for control, with absolutely everything I have physically. In a lot of ways it was like being 10 years old and wrestling in the backyard again, only with bigger guys and much more serious.
If I had to quickly find analogies for Muay Thai and BJJ that really showed how different they are on the body… Muay Thai is like running, running hard and for endurance. BJJ is more like lifting weights, HEAVY weights for endurance. Both are very physical and taxing, but both work the body in such different ways, no wonder they compliment each other so well in so many ways.
Needless to say, I hurt in all new ways today… I think I'd addicted!
We started with ½ hour of rolls and drills. My head certainly wasn't used to the amount of rolling we where doing, I think I'm still trying to find my true equilibrium again today. After tons of rolls, falls and all kinds strange and new forms of movement to me, the drills ended in the most insane exercise I've done for a long time, 75 Turkish getups with a 35lbs dumbbell. It was one of the hardest things physically I've done in a long long time.
We moved from there to a demonstration of a few of the moves we would be practicing this night, and then we paired up and started working on the moves and breaking them down, learning the techniques involved. I must have great luck because suddenly, on my first night there I ended up being partnered with "the guy" in the club. The guy belt ranked the highest in the club who's a professional MMA fighter and even has a national title shot coming up shortly. He really is a nice, great guy, but it was a little intimidating at first, having seen him fight at the Forum in front of thousands and break his opponent's jaw in less than 35 seconds. He showed me so much and really helped a lot both with my technique and my comfort level on my first night as a beginner. He made sure I survived my first class.
After ½ hour of that we started to "roll" for real a little bit. Two guys (this is a simplified explanation) competed on the mat, the winner stayed and the loser was replaced by the next guy in line. What I found so much fun about this, is that in Muay Thai you always have to hold back just a little, if not a lot, so that no one ends up in the hospital while you are practicing. In BJJ you can go full out and as hard as you can. If it gets too rough or you are about to get hurt you just "tap out" and you're safe. Suddenly, I'm wrestling with another 200lbs guy for control, with absolutely everything I have physically. In a lot of ways it was like being 10 years old and wrestling in the backyard again, only with bigger guys and much more serious.
If I had to quickly find analogies for Muay Thai and BJJ that really showed how different they are on the body… Muay Thai is like running, running hard and for endurance. BJJ is more like lifting weights, HEAVY weights for endurance. Both are very physical and taxing, but both work the body in such different ways, no wonder they compliment each other so well in so many ways.
Needless to say, I hurt in all new ways today… I think I'd addicted!
posted by Geeper at 11:38 p.m.
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