My Jiu Jitsu blog

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Thought I'd share with you guys my experience with trying out Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, (BJJ). My friends been trying to get me to come in for a couple years now but I've been busy with the kids and have had some back pain issues on and off so never got around to trying it until about a month ago.

I've missed wrestling since high school and needed to get in shape so it sounded like a good thing to try. Its been great so far, pretty interesting sport.

Its at the U of I field house, Hawkeye Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu http://www.uiowa.edu/~armbar/ and they have a facebook page which is where most updates take place.

Pretty affordable at $100 a semester. Usually about 20-25 people in each class. But probably around 100 active members. Lots of people come and go being its a lot of college aged kids and busy schedules. Two major styles, Gi (with uniform) and NoGi is just shorts and t-shirt. They rotate Gi and NoGi every other day. The Gi allows more chokes and holds. Its a bit hotter with Gi and people hold onto your jacket and pants. NoGi is a bit faster pace since you can't hold on to people as easily.

Our instructor is a purple belt, John Gutta. I think he is only 23-24 years old. He only has been doing it for six years but really put a lot of time into it in the last 6 years. Its pretty amazing how he can have his way with anyone in the class, no matter how big they are.

He is a couple short videos of John Gutta (white trunks)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=767044610009&set=o.192946447423790&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=767989396649&set=o.192946447423790&type=3&theater

Our club is also under the instruction of Pedro Silveira , he lives in Brazil but comes over to instruct the class for a few months out of the year. He is a black belt and only black belts can issue/advance new belts to beginners. I believe Pedro is currently the world champion for his weight class in bjj . He also holds a title belt in mma.

Here is Pedro defending his belt in mma, (not bjj, no striking in bjj) just this last saturday. This is the final round only. Rounds 1 and 2 are on his page though if your bored.

Pedro is black trunks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxUXvl2B4ug&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxUXvl2B4ug&feature=youtu.be


I'll post my experiences with my first classes/sparring later.

[Caleb]

This is gonna sound kind of corny, but I've actually learned how to execute some submission's by watching UFC and training videos, even better when you get to test them on little brothers who are willing to take the punishment.

[JustinS]

Looks like a fun way to to stay in shape and work out some aggression.

[AutoMods]

This is gonna sound kind of corny, but I've actually learned how to execute some submission's by watching UFC and training videos, even better when you get to test them on little brothers who are willing to take the punishment.

hehe. yea it seems like you could apply a submission from watching ufc . but there is a lot to it when someone is resisting and moving in real time. lots of little tricks on setting it up, placement, leverage, positioning, counters etc. its a blast though, everyone should try a few classes.

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My first classes were on jan 23 and 25 . I weighed 225 pounds before starting class, despite working out for a couple months before starting class. 225 is about tied for the most I've ever weighed in my life but I've been up in the 215-220 range the last few years.

90 minute classes. First two classes are free. 30 minutes of cardio at the beginning, 2nd 30 minutes is technique with a partner. last 30 minutes is live rolling (sparring). Not allowed to live roll your first two classes.

I started at nearly the begging of a semester so a lot of new people were there also. Lots of wrestlers seem to try it out. A new guy from the Iowa wrestling team was there who just gradated in May. I watched him live roll with the instructor. I was impressed with both the instructor and the Iowa wrestler. The Iowa wrestler was able to hold the instructor down quite a bit but ended up getting stuck in an armbar eventually. Its also impressive to see our instructor compete with a high level athlete.

Other than that, the first 2 classes were uneventful. Cardio was fairly hard for me but doable. Most lighter guys in decent shape wouldn't have too much trouble.

[AutoMods]

For my 3rd class had to get a cup and mouth guard which most people wear. Opted to not wear head gear (ear protection), most guys don't wear it. First time live rolling I got extremely gassed out/tired . We switch rolling partners ever 5 minutes. I think I was going too hard trying to prove myself. I've come to learn they call that a newbie spazz. I may have pissed off one of the guys with trying to hard becuase he ended up retaliating and choking me pretty hard. Throat got crushed pretty good before I had time to tap. Normally chokes don't hurt that bad but you have to learn to flex your neck muscles and tuck your chin to protect yourself. I knew that coming into class, but until you get the feel for when your neck is exposed and a choke might be coming, takes a few hard learned lessons.

Knowing wrestling, and weighing more than most people. I was able to do pretty well against I think 3 of the guys. Then another 2 were able to tap me several times in one 5 minute roll session.

Got home and was really whipped, just went to bed. My throat was pretty sore sleeping that night. Next 2-3 days throat hurt to swallow. After 2-3 days it just felt like a sore throat from a cold. Took about a week for the throat to feel mostly back to normal with trace amount of pains when I pressed my throat for a good 3 weeks.

[Drifte]

idk if im supposed to comment in a blog here. But we've been doin this cross train weight routine mon-wed-fri that kicks my ass. I actually was passed out on a bench at the gym for 15minz because I couldnt recover.

anyway, its a combination of squats, bench and power cleans. Variations through out the week, 5 sets of 20-30 reps each. I'd recommend this to anyone trying to get into shape for a big event or just wanting to get cut.

[Caleb]

hehe. yea it seems like you could apply a submission from watching ufc . but there is a lot to it when someone is resisting and moving in real time. lots of little tricks on setting it up, placement, leverage, positioning, counters etc. its a blast though, everyone should try a few classes.

This.

[c_mart_28]

Props for giving it a go, Ryan.

Easily one of those things you could always just have wanted to do but never actually got around to doing it.

[AutoMods]

Thanks guys.

I Weigh 212 pounds now after being at it for about a month and a half. I'd really like to hit the 195 lb mark and see what that does for me at that weight. Senior year in high school I weighed 155 and wrestled in the 140 class :11: . For the first month of bjj, I was too sore to hit back to back classes, so I did every other day or every 3rd day. I'm getting older. But now I can do back to back classes and not as sore anymore. Cardio has went up a lot, still needs improvement though.

Bruising was pretty heavy at first. I had bruise chicken pox all over and my wife was questing my new hobby. And I've never thought of myself as an easy bruiser. But I do think my body is becoming more resistant to bruising if thats possible. But still every class leaves some battle marks and I enjoy seeing the fruits of my labor the next day.

This is my leg from today, these thigh bruises come from when I'm on bottom, back down on the mat, in the gaurd, and the opponent trys to pass my gaurd by pinning my thigh/knee/calf with their knee and then moving past my legs and into side control.
http://importevolution.com/temp/bjj/4.jpg


here is some bruises from last week. Higher up thigh/crotch area gets good deep knee bruises too but I'm not going to hike my skirt up that high for you guys.
http://importevolution.com/temp/bjj/3.jpg


Arm control is the name of the game, so lots of hard hand grips on the inside and outside of the arms, forearms too. Sometimes I'll see a neat clear bruise pattern with 4 or 5 finger marks showing right where they gripped. Also pinning an arm down with a knee is a common tactic.
http://importevolution.com/temp/bjj/11.jpg

outer arm
http://importevolution.com/temp/bjj/22.jpg

[AutoMods]

My weight is down to 202 pounds now. Lost 23 pounds in two and a half months. Been about 5 years since I've below 200 so that will be exciting.

Had a minor injury and had to sit out of bjj for two weeks. I was able to exercise at the gym though, just no bjj . Was back at it this week though and it went well.

Pedro, the black belt from Brazil, is here now for a few weeks as the head instructor so that's pretty interesting.

658

659

[AutoMods]

who knows, by the time shootout is here, my race weight might be down 35 pounds from just from my own body weight. better watch out

[AutoMods]

Pedro is trying to push the UFC to let him fill in for a hurt fighter at UFC 147 in Rio de Janeiro on June 23, 2012

Please do a quick vote "yes I want" on this link http://www.facebook.com/questions/285070828239985/

http://midnightlogic.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/silva-vs-sonnen-2-official-for-ufc-147-in-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/

[AutoMods]

Got to train with at the BJ Penn Gym in hawaii a couple weeks ago. For a birthday gift, my wife paid for a two hour private jiu jitsu training session with Jay Penn, bj's oldest brother. He is a head instructor and ring man for all his brothers fights. He had some good stories. He is a great bjj teacher and really knows his stuff. I tried a few of his new moves on some people when I got back and they were effective ;)

bj will be fighting again soon, tough young newer guy Rory MacDonald.

http://importevolution.com/temp/bjj/jay.jpg


http://s3-media2.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Rz4X408FPkwC6lQNxgo1eA/l.jpg

[sparkles]

That's awesome. I met him the first time I went to Hawaii back in 08. He was at the grocery store in Kurtistown and the family I was with that lives there knows him and introduced me. Pretty cool. He's one of my favorites. Didn't get to see him when I went back this year back in Feb, but I finally found out where his gym was in Hilo.

[AutoMods]

thats cool, its pretty neat how accessible the top level guys are.

Many of our club members regularly go to the militech camp in bettendorf and former heavyweight champ Tim Silvia is there a lot as well as a guy from a season of TUF and other UFC guys like Drew

You might be able to pick out a handful of people you have see on tv in the ufc and find their gym and be able to get in and train in the same room with them. a lot of bjj clubs allow visitors to walk in and train free as long as you are from another bjj school . and our school allows the same for visitors.

[DustinsDuster]

i remember i used to think Tim Sylvia was so awesome. 'course i didn't know anything about MMA back then, but it's still cool we could drive an hour and a half and see those guys who were heavy hitters in the UFC.

awesome stuff Ryan; keep up the good work.

[Drifte]

Got to train with at the BJ Penn Gym in hawaii a couple weeks ago. For a birthday gift, my wife paid for a two hour private jiu jitsu training session with Jay Penn, bj's oldest brother. He is a head instructor and ring man for all his brothers fights. He had some good stories. He is a great bjj teacher and really knows his stuff. I tried a few of his new moves on some people when I got back and they were effective ;)

bj will be fighting again soon, tough young newer guy Rory MacDonald.



2hr private lesson sounds exhausting, how'd it go? You've cut a lot a weight, Im concerned the rx7 is getting ignored. I still workout regularly, but my weight is comically (or maybe even dangerously) low. But getting stronger, so idk. need some people to go mountain biking with again.

[AutoMods]

We did a lot of technique so that's not too demanding. We did some live rolling too, he is very talented, tapped me out several times. Although my 40 pound weight advantage helped me fight him off for a while. There has been some recent warm days at the field house where my shirt has zero dry spots after class.

rx7 is getting less attention but its still getting some still.

I've kinda been stuck at 200lbs. but would like to get to around 185 and not lose strength. What are you weighing nowadays? I should try biking, see if my back likes it.

[Drifte]

Im a whopping 160. And I have to admit my back still hurts from whatever I did last year.