10 months of jiu jitsu

It’s been around a total of ten months that I have been practicing jiu jitsu. I have been going about 4-5 times a week. Things have been going pretty good with it. I have done around 7 months in a row since I hurt my knee in my last update.

Since the last time I blogged about it I feel like I have learned a fair amount. I find that I have to do stuff over and over again to learn. It takes a while for it to sink in. Since the last time I have learned a few new chokes and joint locks. And then probably what I learned more of was just the movement and the little positioning details.

You notice that you learn when the new white belts come into class without experience. It’s hard to see what you learned. But since they have little experience it’s often easy to submit them. And that feels good for a change since I am the one usually tapping out. So at the moment I have two stripes on my white belt.

My teacher said something funny along the lines that if the old Ian walked in the door you would be able to kick his ass. I think he said that after I was discouraged about this big strong guy with less experience made me tap out.

For awhile I was thinking that I must get a blue belt at least. I wrote in on my wall to visualize then decided that wasn’t best. I still want to get better and get a new belt of course, but more importantly I want to have fun learning jiujitsu. That’s my focus. To enjoy the process. Have fun.

I remember my teacher saying something cool to another student – who is at a similar level to me. He said to him “see it as more of a game and less of a fight.” Another student in my class – a purple belt said he liked jiu jitsu because it has depth. My teacher said something like that too. It’s not a fixed or dead martial art it’s evolving and growing. There is always something to learn.