My BJJ Journey

Yesterday, after taking just over 3 months off, I hit the mats again. My first training session since I had moved out to Seattle was both a success and part failure. I had been checking out schools for a while, and finally think I found the perfect one.  Gracie Barra Seattle has opened up an “Eastern Campus” in Bellevue, where I live.  Yesterday was the first day of classes in the new school. I had the day off from work, so I packed up my gym bag and headed off. GB Seattle is headed up by Professor Rodrigo Lopes, a 1st degree black belt. I was extremely excited to go to class, to train under a black belt. I have the utmost respect for Eric and what he has taught me, but the value of training under someone of Rodrigo’s calibur is just, well you can’t put a price on something like that.

So I went to the school to check it out in the afternoon, and met Cindy Hale, who also has her blackbelt, under Rodrigo. Cindy teaches women’s self defence, and the kids program at the school. Very nice, very personable. She gave me a bit of background on the school, and said there was a beginner’s class at 6:00 and I should come. I said I would be there, and left to pack up my gi and do some serious stretching. I figured the beginner’s class would be a great introduction back into training, no pressure, just doing some basics. When I arrived, I immediately met Rodrigo, who came right up and welcomed me to the school. I changed into my gi and hit the mats to stretch and warm up. The first thing I noticed, this was NO beginner’s class. On the mat by the time I got there, were 4 blue belts, with stripes and a couple purples. By the time class started, we ended up with 5-6 white belts, 5-6 blues, a few purples and 2 brown belts.

Back at the old gym, we would warm up with a few shrimp escapes down the mat to warm up, then stretch. Here? We started with calistenics… jumping jacks, pushups, crunches, squats, and some hip movement warm ups… then we shrimped down the mat twice….I was dying. 3 months of no exercise combined with the adreneline i had built up knowing I was training again had sapped all my energy, I felt like a first day white belt again. Rodrigo showed us a couple of different ways to pass half guard,  I drilled with a couple of blue belts, but 45 minutes into training for the day, I started feeling pretty light headed, and was pretty much done. I finished class watching from the sidelines, feeling very embarrassed, and my ego was definately bruised.  I slugged some water and started feeling better by the time I left, but I learned I have a long way to go to get into the type of shape I was in before, and even longer to get into the shape that these guys were at. Half of them  compete in jiu jitsu tournaments, MMA, etc…I would have been dead if I had sparred with them.

I’ll definately be back. I really like it there, and I think it will be a great place for me to continue my education of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Stay tuned friends, I’m back in the saddle.