I'm not sure in which direction I am going to take this blog as yet but I wanted to keep it separate from my Judo blog which I am only updating sporadically now.
What is this new adventure?
I've dabbled with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the past but it was always on the understanding that I was purely dabbling with it as a way of maybe adding a trick or two to my Judo Newaza game but I always wanted to learn BJJ properly and often talked about doing so.
Why now?
I received my Judo black belt last year and whilst that doesn't signify the end of my Judo journey I certainly feel that I have a good foundation on which to add some serious grappling skills now.
What are my goals?
I need to be realistic with my goals. Obviously everyone wants to receive that coverted black belt but BJJ black belts are particularly hard to come by. That's why i'm setting blue belt as my goal, not the belt as such but the standard that it represents. This doesn't mean that once I achieve that level that i'm going to leave and start doing Aikido, all it means is that i'll be able to take a deep breath, pat myself on the back and continue. Of course I have to be realistic. I'm 42 years old now and grappling hurts a lot more at my age than it did 20 years ago. My body takes a lot longer to heal from injuries and get injured a lot easier so you never know what's around the corner.
How often will I train?
I have a full time job, 2 perfect little children and a wonderful wife so training will always play second fiddle to them. I'm also continuing with Judo as I've still so much to learn. Therefore I will be only training once a week. Now I've been told on some forums that once a week just isn't enough to learn BJJ and maybe this is true but that's all I can commit to at present.
Where will you train?
There really was only one club I could train at and that's Nova Forca in Epsom. I've trained there on a number of occasions in the past and Ricardo and the guys have always made me feel very welcome.
When am I starting?
I started 2 weeks ago and loved both sessions.Being a white belt again is a little bit liberating. I can make mistakes and get tapped out by everyone and no one cares because I am the new white belt. What I am already trying to work on is my guard passing and guard retention as I feel these are the biggest two obvious(to me anyway) weaknesses in my game.
So that's it, the start of what I hope is another exciting journey.
