Just got back from my first class at Shaolin's academy in NYC. It was a one on one with one of their brown belt instructors during their beginner's class. They had the new guys do the warm ups with the class and then broke us off for individual instruction. I was showed RNC, Americana and hip escapes/shrimping. Then while the rest of the class broke off to roll we worked on a guard pass to side control.
I really enjoyed and appreciated the method of the one-on-one introduction, as it allowed me to get some individual help without being thrown directly into the deep end with guys that obviously know far more than likely would have caused some discouragement in getting fully dominated right from the start. I have another one-on-one next week and then I'll move into the full class setting.
I had taken a couple classes at Cyborg's place in Miami maybe two years ago, and while I loved my experience there, I really liked this way on introducing new students to the school. Everyone on the staff was very friendly and other students were cordial but obviously not terribly interested in investing time with someone there for their first lesson who may or may not ever show up again. I assume this will change once I start going to the regular classes and don't blame anyone or have any issues with it as I would likely have the same attitude.
All in all I really enjoyed my time and am looking forward to class #2. I'll keep this thread updated if people have interest in a newbie's experience.
Yay! Good for you dude.
Shaolin is a great guy 
Good luck bro. Take it easy.
NeilDiamond -Next class will be next week?!
You're gonna want to train more than that ;)
I'm sure I will. Already itching to get back, but sadly life and the schedule on when they do the intro piece makes it hard for me to get back there until next week. Probably not a bad thing though as I'm sore as hell in some very unusual places today. Age certainly is catching up with me.
How old are you ? 
Aaronrodgers=GOAT -How old are you ?
I'm 32. A little late to the game, a little out of shape, but happy I finally got my act together to do something I've wanted to do for a long time.
32 Your fine alot of guys start older than that, just take it easy until you get a hang of whats going on and have fun bro.
32 is young, you got a lot of years left
I just came
AliBomaye -I just came
I consider this thread a success.
When's the second class ?
Next Wednesday. Awhile to wait, but given schedules and whatnot for the week that was the earliest I could get back. Probably not a bad thing considering how sore I am in odd places today.
So I had my second class last Thursday. Was another 'one-on-one' type of session that actually ended up being the instructor, myself and one other new student taking his first class. We went through a couple sweeps from closed guard (scissor sweep, and hip bump) and also did a guard pass to side control. The instructor demonstrated each of these on both of us and then we drilled them on each other. Was a good session and was cool to see the sweeps work and how the leverage of the positions facilitated the ease of them.
I did unfortunately feel something pop in a rib right at the beginning when we work doing the hip bump sweep. It was probably the second time I drilled the sweep and as I was coming up I felt it pop. I worked through it and finished out the class, but it's still bothering me several days later. Obviously need to let this sort itself out before I get back. It's a rather frustrating thing as I really would like to get back to the gym and begin training for real. Has anyone dealt with this sort of thing before? Would love any insight and suggestions on how to deal with it.
Training is a stress on your body, and your body will "lie" to you to avoid that stress. It is perfectly normal to be sore or have aches and pains after training, especially at first. Make sure you warm up your body before training and see if you can't just push through this; otherwise for a popped rib or intercostal the only thing you can do it rest.
CWalterSAM - So I had my second class last Thursday. Was another 'one-on-one' type of session that actually ended up being the instructor, myself and one other new student taking his first class. We went through a couple sweeps from closed guard (scissor sweep, and hip bump) and also did a guard pass to side control. The instructor demonstrated each of these on both of us and then we drilled them on each other. Was a good session and was cool to see the sweeps work and how the leverage of the positions facilitated the ease of them.
I did unfortunately feel something pop in a rib right at the beginning when we work doing the hip bump sweep. It was probably the second time I drilled the sweep and as I was coming up I felt it pop. I worked through it and finished out the class, but it's still bothering me several days later. Obviously need to let this sort itself out before I get back. It's a rather frustrating thing as I really would like to get back to the gym and begin training for real. Has anyone dealt with this sort of thing before? Would love any insight and suggestions on how to deal with it.
Do you workout regularly ?
Aaronrodgers=GOAT -CWalterSAM - So I had my second class last Thursday. Was another 'one-on-one' type of session that actually ended up being the instructor, myself and one other new student taking his first class. We went through a couple sweeps from closed guard (scissor sweep, and hip bump) and also did a guard pass to side control. The instructor demonstrated each of these on both of us and then we drilled them on each other. Was a good session and was cool to see the sweeps work and how the leverage of the positions facilitated the ease of them.
I did unfortunately feel something pop in a rib right at the beginning when we work doing the hip bump sweep. It was probably the second time I drilled the sweep and as I was coming up I felt it pop. I worked through it and finished out the class, but it's still bothering me several days later. Obviously need to let this sort itself out before I get back. It's a rather frustrating thing as I really would like to get back to the gym and begin training for real. Has anyone dealt with this sort of thing before? Would love any insight and suggestions on how to deal with it.Do you workout regularly ?
I've been running a couple times a week. Haven't been doing much weight training as of late. This isn't the soreness that I had after the first class. If it was just that I would be fine working through that, but this is distinctly different. I can clearly point to the moment when it happened and it's been nagging me ever since. It's on the right side of the rib cage and is tender to the touch and quite noticeable whenever I breathe deeply, sneeze, cough, etc. From what I've read it sounds like an intercostal strain.
Geesh