How to Train BJJ While Traveling

January 31, 2018March 4, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ Leave a comment

I tend to travel a lot and from early on in my BJJ training have grown accustomed to visiting and training as a guest in academies other than my own. While I’ve always strived to be a good guest, the more I’ve learned about BJJ the more I’ve tweaked the protocol I follow to ensure that I bring a positive vibe to the mat and that I represent my home academy well. While some of the following tips may seem obvious, I think they’re all worth mentioning. If any readers have additional advice to add, please feel free to leave a comment or email me directly.

Always call or email in advance to inquire about the visitor policy

Ask if there are any uniform requirements, restrictions on which levels may take which classes, etc. Introduce yourself by name, rank, home academy, and length of time you’ve been training.

Show up early and prepared

Have cash available in case the school doesn’t accept credit cards. Bring flip flops and any uniform needs.

Respect the instructor

Introduce yourself to the instructor and ask if there’s a particular way they prefer to be addressed. While my home academy doesn’t employ the use of honorifics and titles, I always make a point of adjusting to the use of “sir” or “professor”.

Respect the other students

Introduce yourself to the other students after you bow and step onto the mat.

Be helpful

During drilling, be as helpful as possible, ask intelligent questions (if necessary), and give helpful and encouraging feedback to your partner.

6. During sparring, resist the urge to go 110% as if you’re in a tournament. It’s not a competition and you have nothing to prove. Start off at an easy pace and take your cue from the other students. There’s nothing wrong with applying the pressure, but only if it’s appropriate based on the pace set by the other students.

Be grateful

After class, thank the other students and most importantly, thank your instructor. If you can offer a compliment, do so.

Give thanks

After returning home, send a follow up email to say thank you for allowing you to train as a guest and let the instructor know how much you enjoyed and appreciated the experience.

I also take a picture when I train as a guest and ask permission from the instructor to post it on my blog and Instagram. Remember that you’re a guest. Training BJJ is an extremely personal and intimate experience, and you should treat your visit to a new school as you would a visit to the home of a new friend. Be kind, be respectful, and stay humble.

One of my favorite parts of training BJJ is being able to visit schools all over the world and train with so many different practitioners. Having a common language that we can share regardless of our spoken language is truly special. Being welcomed into someone’s academy as a guest is not to be taken lightly. Always remember how special the experience and show gratitude for the opportunity.

What Role Do You Play On the Team at Your BJJ Academy?

November 8, 2017February 26, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ 6 Comments

As one of the older teammates at my BJJ academy, I consider myself slower and less athletically gifted than many of my fellow students. I see many other students training who are much younger, come from a martial arts background, and/or are simply in a stage in their life where they’re able to train nearly every day. I find that either due to work commitments, travel, or simply being limited to what my body will tolerate, I can only train 3-4 times per week tops. I find that it’s absolutely essential for me to do strength and conditioning work outside of class to ensure that my body is capable of responding to what I ask of it during training, as well as to prevent injury.

As a result, it often feels as though I’m progressing at a slower pace than my teammates who are younger and physical capable of training much more often. I find myself wondering sometimes if my slower progression is limiting the development of my teammates. I’ve developed a theory which I hope enables me to be a better training partner and has the added benefit of enhancing my development as a Jiu Jitsu player.

I have a theory that we can all contribute even more to our teammates by giving thought to the role we play on the team and how our teammates benefit from training with us. This can take on several meanings that can present several possible roles we can play.

The Student with Outstanding Athletic Ability
We all know these folks. They’re the ones who played varsity everything in high school and college and seem to roll like purple belts after training for less than a month. Usually this person is also a former wrestler. They usually have outstanding cardio and are quite strong. They also seem to pick up all of the moves being taught the first time around. This type of student can be excellent to train with as they often possess tons of explosiveness, have a great sense of timing, yet due to their athletic prowess don’t quite have an understanding of how much natural talent they have. They’re just doing what comes naturally to them.

While I don’t enjoy rolling with such partners all the time, I like to find someone from this background to roll with at least once per rolling session. Rolling with such a person is usually very humbling (for me, at least), and I’m forced to pace myself unless I get gassed very quickly as they can usually turn up the heat throughout the entire roll. These rolls teach me to think quicker than I normally need to, and I find myself working defensive positions.

Drilling with this type of student is truly a gift as they usually just “get it” and I can learn much from observing how they perform the moves of the day in our drilling session. Having a long history with team sports, this student typically is extremely generous with their observations and advice if asked.

Former Martial Artists or Those Crossing Over from Another Discipline
These folks also often pick up the moves quickly simply from having done so in other disciplines for many years. When they offer advice, it’s always welcomed as it’s usually spot on. Again, these students tend to seem much more advanced than the actual amount of time they’ve been training due to how comfortable they already are on the mats, and the fact that they already have a learning process. I try to stay close to these students as I always learn from them. They seem to pick up on details I often miss. Also, they have humility from having gone through the learning process with other disciplines. There’s no ego, and they simply love being on the mats and sharing the learning experience. We have one such student at our Jiu Jitsu academy. He’s a two stripe white belt, but rolling with him feels like I’m rolling with a high level blue belt. However, he’s incredibly humble, always eager to help a fellow student, and brings a positive energy to the training.

Those Who Are…um…More “Mature”
This is where I fit in at my BJJ Academy. As a BJJ practitioner who is 40 plus year in age, I’m around 10-20 years older than most of my teammates. In some cases, I’m 30 years older! I move slower, I pick up on moves slower, I don’t retain the information as well, and I tire more easily. However, I’ve noticed that I (and most of my peers) possess two qualities in more abundance than my teammates. First, I’m strong. Not in a “I can deadlift 600 pounds” type of strong. It’s more a natural strength from a combination of a lifetime of strength training with as good form as I can muster, and some of that “old man strength” starting to creep in.

The other quality, patience, can only come from being alive longer. This covers various aspect of the game including being patient enough to know that development and promotions will come whenever I’m ready for it, and to just enjoy the process. Just as important is being patient during drilling and rolling. When drilling, I move very slowly to ensure that I’m performing the moves correctly and deliberately. My hope is that my partners will follow suit (they often do) and will take the time to let the proper form settle in. I’m also not afraid to ask question, even if there’s a chance they might be perceived as obvious or silly. I’m too old to care. If I want an answer, I ask and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it. There’s a strong chance that someone else will benefit from hearing the answer anyway, so I’ll continue asking my obvious and silly questions.

Patience also plays a huge role in my rolling. I’m finally learning to slow the pace and conserve my physical and mental energy. I’m learning to appreciate positions and to move thoughtfully and deliberately. It’s a constant struggle, and I’m still learning when I need to be explosive.

I sincerely hope that my teammates can benefit from my “mature” aspects.

Summary
Maybe I’m on to something here, or maybe I’m completely full of it and am spinning my wheels. I like to think that by analyzing our individual strengths and weaknesses, in addition to working on our own games, we can learn the various ways that we can exploit those characteristics to make ourselves fully available for our training partners so that we can help fellow teammates at our BJJ Academy to grow as much as possible.

Training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu With Intent and Purpose

October 24, 2017February 26, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ 4 Comments

As a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner who is 40 plus years old, I’ve found that it’s not possible to train with the same intensity as my younger teammates. My body doesn’t recover as quickly as it used to, so I can’t train as many days per week. Also, my body doesn’t tolerate the strain of sparring as well as it could twenty years ago. Therefore, I’ve made some adaptations to my training that I’ve found to be quite effective.

Choosing which classes to take
By alternating between traditional classes that include sparring and more drilling focused classes, I can get the necessary mat time without inflicting too much abuse on my body. Of course, this may not be an option at every school, but if your Jiu Jitsu academy offers more self-defense or drilling oriented classes, I would recommend including these into your routine. I get a lot out of learning the Gracie Combatives curriculum and find that I can always learn things that can be applied directly to my sparring. Nearly every class includes takedowns, submissions, and/or escapes, which I find to be immensely valuable. Also, the minutes immediately before and after class can be an excellent time to drill with my teammates to help me to solidify any moves I’m currently working on. By adding in drilling classes, I’m able to train an extra two to three days per week without have to be overly concerned about overtraining. I usually take four classes per week, of which two are traditional sparring classes and two are self-defense drilling classes.

Attending open mats
This may seem fairly obvious, but open mats can be an excellent time to dial in the skills learned during the rest of the week. By using this time for drilling and light flow-rolling, it enables one to be much more focused and efficient with their energy during regular sparring sessions.

Working on your “game”
I often make a point of focusing on one particular aspect of my game during sparring sessions. For example, if I know that I need to work much more on a particular guard pass, I’ll make a point of allowing my opponent to pull guard so that I can work on that position. I’ll focus on finding openings to use the intended guard pass, even if it’s not necessarily the best choice at the time. Either way, I’m still learning, even if I’m simply learning when not to use that particular pass. Regardless, I’m still becoming more familiar with the move.

Slowing things down
I believe it’s especially important for practitioners in the 40 plus age range to focus on slowing down their game. We’ll never beat the younger and faster opponents using speed and power. Instead, our strength is in our patience and wisdom, which can both be applied directly to our game. When rolling with a younger opponent who is faster and more aggressive, I try to compensate by slowing down my game and looking for openings. I focus on keeping my breathing controlled, and moving deliberately. I patiently wait for my opening before utilizing explosive power. This conserves my strength and energy, and often will tire out the younger opponents. It’s all about economy of motion and energy. I learn a lot from rolling with more advanced players and I try to observe how patient and deliberate they often are.

Proper warmup and cooldown
I make a point of stretching before and after training. Even just a few minutes makes a huge difference. This eases the strain on our bodies and reduces recovery time.

Hydrating
After putting our muscles through such an intense activity, it’s especially important to hydrate enough. If I’m feeling particularly dehydrated, I’ll sometimes grab a Gatorade on the way home. However, I try to avoid such drinks because of all the added chemicals. Instead, I’ll reach for a banana or a peanut butter sandwich as a means of replacing lost electrolytes. But mainly, I focus on drinking a lot of water.

Strength training
For BJJ players who are 40 plus, it’s especially important to maintain a strength and conditioning program. I find that even just twice per week is plenty, and it shouldn’t be too strenuous. Just something that focuses on the major movements can be enough. I do a simple barbell or kettlebell routine that provides training of the hip hinge, squat, push, and pull. The emphasis should be on training the movement with some added resistance. It’s not important for us to constantly be maxing out, but instead to make our focus training the movements. Adding some resistance will help us to develop added strength. And we should never sacrifice form. Using proper form in our strength and conditioning routines will help us to train our bodies to move properly while sparring, which will help to reduce injuries and will reinforce the various movements we learn in class. As an example, the Turkish Getup is an excellent complement to the standing guard pass and the technical standup. It’s also a crucial part of Pavel Tsatsouline’s Simple & Sinister strength and conditioning program.

Summary
I’ve found that using these techniques allows me to train much more efficiently and more safely. I’ve found my game improving more rapidly and I’m able to spend more time on the mat. I hope you find some benefits in these observations, and I welcome your feedback as well.

Product Review: TRX GO Suspension Trainer

October 22, 2017February 28, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ 2 Comments

The TRX Suspension Training System is a fantastic portable solution for anyone who wishes to travel with a portable gym that’s flexible enough to provide a complete workout.

As Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners, it’s important to find ways to stay fit while traveling. We’ve all had the experience of returning to our Jiu Jitsu academy after a prolonged absence due to travel, work, or family commitments. Therefore, I’m always searching for ways to exercise while on the road.

I recently purchased the TRX GO Suspension Training Kit and finally had an opportunity to use it on a business trip. I just returned from a trip to Los Angeles, where I had the opportunity to use the TRX GO in my hotel room about every other day. In this review I’ll share a few of my initial thoughts.

When I travel, I often don’t have time to do a proper workout at the hotel gym every day, and my schedule doesn’t always allow me to find a local Jiu Jitsu academy where I can train. Therefore, I’m always searching for a good way to get in a quality workout in limited amount of time. Sometimes just taking the elevator down to the gym and back can eat up 10 minutes, so any workout I can do in my hotel room saves valuable time. I have a routine of bodyweight exercises that I do when I travel, but without a pull-up bar I’m not able to effectively get in pulling exercises, so I was very eager to try TRX.

The TRX suspension training system was created by a former Navy SEAL as a way to get in a full body workout while on deployment in places where there wasn’t access to gym equipment. As the concept caught on, he turned it into a very successful and wildly popular product, which can now be found in gyms around the world and is used by amateur and professional athletes from many disciplines.

The TRX GO Suspension Training Kit is the entry level suspension kit and sells for $99.95 on Amazon. The product arrived neatly boxed and comes with a convenient carrying pouch which I found perfect for travel. Weighing just one pound, I didn’t have to worry about the weight of my suitcase when traveling and the convenient size made the unit extremely easy to pack. I did a lot of research on the various training kits, which range in price from $99.95 to $229.95. I discovered that I chose wisely and that as an occasional exercise tool for travel, the entry level model suited me just fine.

The first time I used the TRX GO Suspension Training Kit in my hotel room it was easy to anchor it in place over the hotel room door. I decided to follow one of the workouts included in the iOS TRX app I downloaded. The workout I did consisted of several circuits in carefully timed sequences and the app provided timing for reps, rest, and for adjusting the TRX trainer to the next exercise.

In general, the workout was more strenuous than what I expected, though I frequently had to interrupt the workout to take time to figure out how to do the next exercise. The app does include videos and instructions for each exercise, but it certainly interrupts the flow if it’s necessary to learn from the videos while trying to get in a workout. Even with this minor setback, I could see great potential in the product.

The next time I went to use the TRX trainer, I tried a different approach. Instead of going through the cycle of 24 exercises in my chosen workout, I decided to create my own workout based on the exercises listed in the materials included with the unit. I chose a push, a pull, a hip hinge, a squat, and something for abs in order to create a full body exercise. Instead of doing each exercise for a specific time period, I focused on a specific type of movement for an appropriate number of sets and reps. I also did the exercises slowly and controlled enough to allow me to focus on proper form.

Although I didn’t get the cardio benefits of following the TRX video, by choosing simpler exercises that I could master quickly and by doing fewer exercises while focusing on proper form, I found the workout to be very beneficial. I would recommend any new TRX user to follow this method. Just focus on doing a few exercises and do them with perfect form rather than try to take on a huge variety of moves that are unfamiliar and new. Eventually, we can work up to doing any of the entire sequences in the TRX online workouts.

On my recent trip, I did go to the hotel gym on alternate days to do some cardio on the treadmill or the elliptical, and on my off days I went to a local Jiu Jitsu academy to train. The end result is that I found that I was able to stay reasonably on top of my fitness even though I was traveling for business. The great advantage of TRX is that you can do any number of different types of workouts, whether for strength, core, conditioning, etc. and all with a single piece of equipment in the privacy of your hotel room.

I found it to be extremely helpful to not have to be concerned with creating a new workout based around the equipment available to me at the hotel gym. When traveling on business, it’s not always possible to devote as much time and energy to our workouts as we would at home, so being able to use familiar equipment is a huge bonus.

I’m very pleased with my new purchase and I highly recommend the TRX GO Suspension Training Kit to anyone with a busy travel schedule. It’s a fantastic way to stay fit with limited time and resources.

TRX GO Suspension Training Kit

The Mental Health Benefits of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

March 22, 2017February 28, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ 6 Comments

Last week in class at my Jiu Jitsu academy as the active part of the warmup began, I noticed something that I found to be very interesting. I immediately was overcome by a profound feeling of elation and happiness. It wasn’t just the kind of happy that one feels when they begin an activity they enjoy, but rather something bordering on a runner’s high type of happiness. This experience led me to wonder about the mental health benefits of BJJ and to search out what some others have had to say about it. Although one could argue that these feelings of joy and elation are simply the result of an endorphin release, and they’d be partly correct, it must be noted that this experience occurred at the beginning of training, and therefore prior to when the endorphin release would be in full effect.

I would argue that at this stage of training I was experiencing a sense of what sociologist Victor Turner calls communitas. This is a sense of a greater community and togetherness that members of a community experience through shared rites of passage such as religious experiences, work, music, sports, and other occurrences. I would argue that Jiu Jitsu is actually a combination of several of these types of ritual. On the surface, we experience the bonding of sport and functioning together as a team. However, one of the most profound benefits of BJJ is that it is a profound tool for introspection and personal development. We share with our training partners an intensely personal struggle which enables us to form bonds with our teammates that’s similar to those who experience fraternal rituals together, participate in sports teams, or undergo severe physical or mental hardship together.

I often find that when I try to explain how wonderful the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community is, and the intensely positive energy we experience in our Jiu Jitsu academy, people who have never trained any martial art look at me with a blank stare. As martial artists, we share an experience that is unique that only those of us who participate in it can truly understand. This creates an intense bond between all practitioners whether they’ve trained together for years or have only just met.

And of course there’s the BJJ community, which I find to be comprised of some of the nicest, kindest, most helpful people one could ever meet. Being surrounded by that positive energy, it’s nearly impossible not to feel uplifted after training. I find myself leaving the BJJ academy feeling like a better person, and wanting to continue to evolve.

As we all know, BJJ is an intensely physical activity which releases tons of endorphins. Therefore, it’s no surprise that most of us experience an endorphin high just like the famous runner’s high. Exercise has been shown to reduce depression, improve memory, and to some degree prevent the onset of dementia. Therefore, it’s no wonder that thirty minutes of drilling followed by another thirty minutes or more of rolling should produce such extreme feelings of euphoria.

One of my favorite benefits of Jiu Jitsu is the meditative aspect of the sport. When you’re rolling, there’s no time to think; there’s only time to react. Otherwise, reflexes become too slow to be effective. This has the result of freeing the mind to become a blank slate while we act solely on instinct. Learning to exist in such a situation for periods of five minutes or more at a time allow us to clear our minds of any superfluous thoughts and simply exist. Those minutes of rolling are pure meditation. In today’s fast paced world, it’s so rare to an opportunity to truly tune out the static of the outside world and focus only on one simple task. In our case, it’s to submit or be submitted. I live for those rolls when the only thing I hear is the sound of my breathing and my opponent’s breathing, and our roll becomes a conversation. Even working out at the gym isn’t nearly as meditative as there’s often background music, waiting for equipment, moving out of people’s way, etc.

Lastly, there’s the self-growth aspect of BJJ. I love knowing that at 48 years old, I’m a beginner to a discipline that’s brand new to me. It’s absolutely thrilling to approach it as a child and to absorb the material and to learn a new skill that’s so rich and deep. It keeps the mind fresh, alert, and awake. Each training session is every bit as much a mental workout as it is physical. It’s also a great way to stay humble and to keep one’s ego in check!

I’m looking forward to continuing to training BJJ beyond my 40 plus years, and for many years to come. Though I still do strength training at the gym several days a week, I can’t think of a better workout than BJJ. Most importantly, I appreciate the peace of mind it gives me from the meditation of the drilling and the rolling. It’s tempting to measure my progress by the stripes on my belt or my performance on the mat, but sometimes I need to remind myself that if my training is helping me to stay focused, relaxed, and in a good mood, I’m still progressing just fine.

Injury Prevention For Training BJJ Over the Age of 40

January 26, 2017February 28, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ 1 Comment

Every once in a while I’m reminded that although I’m often rolling with teammates who are twenty years younger than I am, my body just can’t operate at the same physical intensity as it did when I was in my twenties. I can tell when I’m pushing it too far by one of several symptoms. I sometimes am more prone to injury, fatigue, or even illness. I’ve developed a few ways to prevent these symptoms in order to allow me to train as regularly as possible as one of the few members of my team who train BJJ over 40.

Don’t Over-train
This may seem obvious, but it’s often difficult to resist the temptation to attend class every day. Those of you who practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu know just how addictive it can be. It’s taken a while, but I’ve found three to four times per week to be the sweet spot. Any more than that and I begin to feel fatigue, and sometimes even begin to feel sick. I also get sloppy on the mat, which can sometimes result in injury or more aches and pains due to pulled muscles. I also am careful about balancing the rolling classes with drilling classes. If I want to train an extra class, I’ll take a class that focuses more on drilling so that I can at least go through the movements on the mat.

Sleep
Even though we’re not all UFC fighters who can sleep ten hours per night to properly recover during their training camps, it’s still absolutely essential to get enough rest to allow our bodies to fully recover from our training. This is especially true for those of us who train BJJ over 40. Any other combat sport takes a much bigger toll on the body than playing a round of golf. This is also an important for one’s safety and it’s important to be fully alert when doing any combat sport. We need to know when to tap, and to have quick reflexes to respond to our opponent’s tap. And of course there’s the issue special awareness, performing techniques properly and safely, etc. Personally, I need my seven to eight hours of sleep per night if I’m training regularly.

Nutrition
Again, this may seem obvious, but there are other aspects to it as well. I’ve found myself trying to count calories and have discovered that if I’m training regularly, I’ll sometimes not eat enough calories or hit the right nutrition macros to properly fuel my body. First of all, there’s that whole hydration thing. When I’m training regularly, I drink water constantly, and most especially following class in order to assist with the recuperation process. Second, whenever possible, I try to make sure that the food I’m eating is high in nutritional content. Also, following workouts I’ll often eat a banana to make sure I’m getting enough potassium, and I generally try to avoid those heavily sugared sports drinks that try to pass themselves off as being healthy.

Strength and Conditioning
I know some younger practitioners at my Jiu Jitsu academy who claim that to get better at BJJ, you just need to do BJJ and that extra strength and conditioning aren’t so important. For those of us in the 40 plus age bracket, that’s not so much the case. We need to make sure our bodies are in good shape for the stress that BJJ places on them. I find it’s necessary to perform some assistance exercises about once or twice per week. I’ve experimented quite a bit and here’s what I’ve found works for me.

Simple & Sinister: This workout plan by the kettlebell guru Pavel Tsatsouline is pretty darn effective. You do 5 Turkish Getups per side and 100 kettlebell swings. That’s it. It’s simple enough that it doesn’t interfere with your BJJ training, yet sinister enough to give the body a good workout. The getups and the swings both address strength through compound exercises, and the swings also give a good conditioning workout.

Basic Compound Workout: This my favorite and in my opinion, the most effective. This workout routine consists of three compound exercises that each address different types of movement. You need a pull, a push, and a hip hinge. All three are useful and quite necessary in both BJJ and life in general. Here are some examples:

Pull: Pullups, barbell rows, or rowing machine

Push: Pushups, overhead kettlebell presses, or barbell military press

Hip Hinge: Deadlifts, kettlebell swings, or barbell squats

Travel: When I travel, it’s very easy for my workout routine to become unhinged. I’ve recently begun traveling with a TRX GO Suspension Training Kit so that I can complete a full body workout in any hotel room.

I’ll sometimes add a few sets of kettlebell swings or snatches as a finisher. And of course, it’s extremely important to stretch. I find the older I get the more important the stretching part is.

Summary
All of this may seem fairly obvious, but when life happens, we get busy, and we get very eager to roll with our teammates, it can be very easy to forget about proper rest, nutrition, and assistance exercises. There’s no need to go over the top with any of these things. It’s just important to be mindful and aware. A few nights of poor sleep isn’t the end of the world, and a few chocolate chip cookies every once in a while won’t destroy our training. Also, there’s no need to strength train as if we’re preparing for a powerlifting competition. The most important thing is using good form and using enough resistance to maintain and hopefully build some extra strength. We want to save our energy for our BJJ training. The important things is to incorporate as much of these concepts into our daily routine as possible so that we can continue our BJJ training over 40as healthy and injury free as possible.

Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

January 16, 2017February 26, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ 1 Comment

The Initial Spark
When I set about to learn a martial art, I never imagined that I would have found myself in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, commonly referred to as BJJ for short. As I mentioned in my previous post, I discovered BJJ through a No-Gi class at my former Krav Maga academy. As I had wrestled in junior high school and enjoyed impromptu wrestling matches with my buddies during my high school years, learning a grappling centered art seemed natural. However, I was completely unprepared for what I discovered in that first BJJ class, especially as a 40 plus student.

First of all, everything was much more difficult than any physical activity or workout I had ever experienced before. For the first time in a long time, I was so winded that I didn’t even know if I could finish the class. Aside from the physical demands, learning the coordination required for the drills and moves we were learning was incredibly frustrating. I wasn’t prepared to move my body in such unfamiliar ways, and everything seemed so incredibly complicated. When it came time to roll (spar), I was even more lost. Everything I tried to do just seemed wrong, and I kept getting submitted so quickly that I had so idea what was happening. In short, the experience was so frustrating that it actually seemed like my opponent was doing a magic trick.
At the end of the class, I was beat up pretty badly, but I also noticed that everyone was incredibly nice, supportive, helpful, and friendly, and they genuinely wanted to make sure that I had a great experience. In short, I was hooked. I was determined to learn what this art was all about. At this point, I hadn’t heard of the Gracie family and knew nothing about their involvement with the UFC. I simply recognized BJJ as a fascinating, challenging, and beautiful art and I was determined to learn it.

My Jiu Jitsu Journey Begins
The next week I signed up for an introductory offer for new students at Vitor Shaolin’s Jiu Jitsu Academy, otherwise known as Modern Martial Arts in midtown Manhattan. I got two classes and a basic starter Gi. I was immediately impressed with the high level of instruction, the focus on safety, and how friendly and helpful everyone was. I joined right away and never looked back.
Starting any martial art, and particularly BJJ, after the age of 40 plus has its own challenges, even for someone who’s in relatively decent shape, as I was at that time. My schedule as a musician often made it difficult to train as regularly as I would have liked, so my development was even slower. However, I soon discovered that the benefits of Jiu Jitsu were so much more important than just whether or not I can submit my opponents or whether I earn another stripe on my belt.

Benefits of Jiu Jitsu
First of all, it’s an amazing physical workout. I’ve never found a better way to work my cardio than BJJ. Even the warmups are more strenuous than any running or biking I’ve ever done. BJJ also works strength as so much of the grappling game requires the practitioner to do standard pushing, pulling, gripping, squatting, and hip-hinge movements so essential to everyday life.

Jiu Jitsu is an amazing mental workout. At my age, it’s rare for people to take up learning a new skill. I was surprised at how difficult it was (and still is) to remember the moves being taught, acquire the coordination to perform them, and develop the memory to retain them. This art constantly tests my memory, my spatial relationships, as well as my strategic thinking. It’s really like learning another language.
It’s a form of meditation. When I’m drilling a new move or rolling with my opponent, the only thing I can think about is what I’m doing in that moment. All other thoughts go out the window. So for that hour I’m in class, it’s a magical experience during which time stands still. When I’m in the middle of a good roll with a well matched opponent, the only thing I hear is the sound of my breathing and I simply move without thinking. It’s difficult to convey just how great you feel from the endorphins that are released during such an activity. When I leave class, I’m on a natural high for days. I finally understand what runners have been talking about for all this time. One of the best benefits of Jiu Jitsu is that when I’m training regularly, I feel happier, more relaxed, and more in touch with the world and other human beings.
The BJJ community is made up of some of the most wonderful and interesting people you could ever meet. I’ve trained in my home Jiu Jitsu academy in NYC and have visited schools in Philadelphia, Hamburg, London, Osaka, and Tokyo. Without exception, I was welcomed warmly and made to feel at home. Even language wasn’t a barrier. As long as I joined the class with respect, humility, kindness, and a desire to learn, I was welcomed.

Summary
At this point, I’m hooked. I’d love to eventually earn my black belt, but it’s more important to me to know that I’m learning and developing. The belts will happen naturally. The biggest surprise for me has been learning that BJJ is an art form that has a profoundly positive impact on my character and I believe it helps its practitioners to be the best human beings they can possibly be.

How This Journey Began

January 14, 2017February 28, 2018 ~ BudoBelly ~ Leave a comment

At the age of 45, I began studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Vitor Shaolin’s Jiu Jitsu academy. I’ve now been at it for nearly two years, and it’s had a profound impact on my life. However, my journey really began several years prior when I received some startling news from my doctor. I learned that my cholesterol was high and my BMI put me officially in the obese category. I had always been active during my childhood and even throughout my 20’s and 30’s, but I had allowed myself to grow sedentary and careless with my diet. As a result, my body grew horizontally. Determined to avoid medication, I immediately joined a gym, hired a personal trainer, and began adjusting my diet to focus more on eating food that’s high in nutrients.

I focused my workouts on kettlebells, barbells, and bodyweight routines as I had always loved weight training during my teens and my 20’s, and I had recently become interested in finding out more about kettlebells. After about two years of steady training and attention to my nutrition, I eventually lost about 30 pounds. I felt much better, looked much better, and my cholesterol came down to a safe level. I’m still not quite at my goals and my nutrition is always a challenge, but I’ve made major lifestyle changes.

Once I was feeling more like my old self again, I decided that it was time to move beyond my comfort zone. I had always wanted to study a martial art, but never followed through. I had done some wrestling back in junior high school and always loved it, so I knew that I would likely enjoy a grappling based discipline. However, I was intrigued by Krav Maga, the self defense system used by the Israeli military, so I signed up at a local school.

For the first year, I had a ton of fun training in Krav Maga. I felt more confident, was getting an amazing workout, and felt like a kid again. However, I sensed that there was more. I longed for a sense of competition and more focus on technique. In an effort to try something different, I signed up for a No-Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class that was offered a few times per week at my Krav Maga school. Not only was it one of the most difficult physical activities I’d ever taken on, but the techniques of my opponents were so effective that it seemed like sorcery. I knew that I had to learn what it was.

That same week, I researched some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) schools and decided to try the trial package at Vitor Shaolin’s Jiu Jitsu academy. At the time, I had no idea that Shaolin was (and is) and world champion BJJ and MMA fighter, and is highly respected all over the world. All I knew was that I has impressed with the high level of instruction at his school, the friendly atmosphere, and by how much fun the art of BJJ could be. After two classes, I was hooked and signed up immediately.

BJJ has since become an important part of my life. I’m still a white belt, and my progress is slow, but I’ve discovered an amazing community of wonderful people, and a truly beautiful art that benefits its practitioners in many ways; be it physical, intellectual, or emotional.

In this blog, I’ll discuss my BJJ and my fitness journey both to motivate others and to serve as motivation for my own practice.