The first day of training for 2016 was great fun. I was crushed by the warm-up, which is a good indication of how little I did after being injured. Our warmup went for a little longer than usual as is the norm for the first class back. After warm-up we went over caging (raising arms to protect your head) and covering distance to initiate take downs. It was a fun class and a great start to the year.
After each break, there seems to always be a group of new people, wanting to jump in and try BJJ. I'm not sure about everyone else, but personally I try to show them an extra smile or compliment in an effort to make them feel welcome. A fight gym can be a very scary place to enter, and it can be even harder to open up to anyone there. Its always sad to see people drop out, so I think it's worth taking an extra step to try and make newcomers feel welcome.
There's several things changing at the gym this year, such as a shift towards some more striking and MMA classes. One of the big changes is the reversal from the white-blue belts system back to the standard ranking. For me this means going back to a white-belt with two stripes. The white-blue sytsem was initially implemented to give white belts more visible goals while heading towards blue-belt. The coaches found that while it did this, it also seemed to create a focus on learning specific techniques for grading, as opposed to an even skill set through rolling. Part of me completely understands the choice and is fine with it. The other part is a little pissed of because I feel as I'd I'm taking a step backwards, although in reality it means literally nothing. Belts matter as much as the wearer makes them matter. As long as I stay humble and work hard, I'll be happy with myself.
Tonight I'm going to my first striking class since injuring my left arm. I found that extending my arm to it's limit fast can hurt quite a bit if there's any impact behind it. This means I'll need to be careful when throwing jabs. As long as I'm careful though, I think I'll be fine. There's also a seminar with retired Mixed Martial Artist Brian Ebersole at the gym this weekend. Brian has had over 70 professional fights and has had numerous fights in the UFC. He is running a 'wrestling for BJJ' seminar and it will be awesome to see what he's got to teach.
Lots happening so early in the year! Ill be posting here again after the seminar at the latest, so I'll see you guys then.
/Anthoney.
After each break, there seems to always be a group of new people, wanting to jump in and try BJJ. I'm not sure about everyone else, but personally I try to show them an extra smile or compliment in an effort to make them feel welcome. A fight gym can be a very scary place to enter, and it can be even harder to open up to anyone there. Its always sad to see people drop out, so I think it's worth taking an extra step to try and make newcomers feel welcome.
There's several things changing at the gym this year, such as a shift towards some more striking and MMA classes. One of the big changes is the reversal from the white-blue belts system back to the standard ranking. For me this means going back to a white-belt with two stripes. The white-blue sytsem was initially implemented to give white belts more visible goals while heading towards blue-belt. The coaches found that while it did this, it also seemed to create a focus on learning specific techniques for grading, as opposed to an even skill set through rolling. Part of me completely understands the choice and is fine with it. The other part is a little pissed of because I feel as I'd I'm taking a step backwards, although in reality it means literally nothing. Belts matter as much as the wearer makes them matter. As long as I stay humble and work hard, I'll be happy with myself.
Tonight I'm going to my first striking class since injuring my left arm. I found that extending my arm to it's limit fast can hurt quite a bit if there's any impact behind it. This means I'll need to be careful when throwing jabs. As long as I'm careful though, I think I'll be fine. There's also a seminar with retired Mixed Martial Artist Brian Ebersole at the gym this weekend. Brian has had over 70 professional fights and has had numerous fights in the UFC. He is running a 'wrestling for BJJ' seminar and it will be awesome to see what he's got to teach.
Lots happening so early in the year! Ill be posting here again after the seminar at the latest, so I'll see you guys then.
/Anthoney.