What is up my UG friends…I had my first Gi BJJ class last night in about 12 years and loved every second of it. I used to be a twice a week white belt kind of guy and eventually life got in the way. I really wanted to get back into it and finally decided to stop talking and start doing.
Little background on myself…I am 39, in pretty good cardio shape by running and cycling. I am divorced with two kids and work a lot. I have zero aspirations of competing or anything like that, but really wanted to put the Gi back on for self defense, health and workout purposes. I was definitely a little nervous since I am not young and this is way out of my current comfort zone.
The class was a fundamentals class. It started out with a 15 minute warmup of stretching and bodyweight exercises. The instructor then went over a closed guard sweep (forgive me if my terminology is off) and then showed a kimura from the guard (again forgive me if I am saying wrong terms). We then ended with some conditioning and stretching. I was completely soaked and loved it. Really good time and I can’t wait to go back. My plan is to do the Gi fundamentals class twice a week.
The moral of this story… go for it. I talked about doing it, thought about doing it, researched it, but always had an issue pulling the trigger. I finally went to class and it was just great.
I have never trained, but was talking to my wife the other night and stated that if I had started when I wanted, I would be a high purple/low brown by now.
She looks and me and says “Well quit being a pussy and do it!” I love that woman.
I have never trained, but was talking to my wife the other night and stated that if I had started when I wanted, I would be a high purple/low brown by now.
She looks and me and says “Well quit being a pussy and do it!” I love that woman.
my first was in 07 and I trained sporadically until 08. Had I trained consistently who knows.
Good work man! Also 39 isn't old at all. You won't feel like you did in your 20s, but take it slow and make sure you properly warm up. Sometimes less is more once you're approaching 40s.
Good work man! Also 39 isn't old at all. You won't feel like you did in your 20s, but take it slow and make sure you properly warm up. Sometimes less is more once you're approaching 40s.
I'm a brown belt in BJJ and thinking about returning to some TMA training for the love and exercise of it. I have 2 black belts in kenpo and Kajukenpobo. Just miss the traditional of training to be honest. (I am 50 btw)
Dude everyone says it's harder to take a long break and come back to jiu jitsu than it is to take your initial first >
Way to go OP!
Glad you got that fire back! I personally would love to be part of a gym again, but training at a legit gym can be costly and obviously, times right now it's not the best time to mingle, but I do still train with a couple guys every now in again at their house/garage.
Just starting my third week of BJJ and tonight I am going to my first No Gi I am having a blast and loving this stuff. It is never too late in life to learn a new skill and feels great to be a white belt.
Trained last summer a bit and fucking 120lbs asian guy tapped me.
Very humbling experience
I am open that I have zero interest in competing and at 39, looking for some health and self defense benefits. It is cool there are 4-5 other white belts in that are in late 30’s, early 40’s. I am not looking to train with an aspiring MMA pro or NAGA competitor.