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My first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class

My first class in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was probably the hardest I've trained in five years. It went like this:

Brief warm up - not too bad - my body still remembers roughly how to roll. I pick up shrimping - pretty sure I'm not elegant, but at least I can do the basic movement. Some hindu pushups (glad I've been doing these anyway)

Drill a technique - an armbar of sorts. Basically, from guard with opponent grabbing lapel, you break his grip, get opposite hand under his/her lapel, put one foot on his/her hip to create some space, get the opposite foot high on opponents back then bring the hip pushing foot up over the neck their shoulder. Don't cross the feet, but rather squeeze the knees together. I'm pretty useless, slow, just trying to remember the technique. The guard feels alien. I've done some striking arts and it just isn't something I've ever worked with.

We worked some basic takedowns that a couple of the guys wanted to cover for an upcoming tournament. A basic tap the leg with yours, reach down, grab the leg (left hand to right lead leg) pick up and take the guy to the mat. Ok, not too bad. I'm working with a guy who says he's been there a month. Turns out, after a while, he's been doing Judo for I don't know how long, which explains why he is so hard to take down :). That and I suck.

Then we rolled. I have no idea what I'm doing. I realise I don't even know if there are any rules. I try to just keep structure and see what techniques people apply to me. Seems strange that people voluntarily go to their back - I'm mindful that grappling is different when there's no striking allowed. I find keeping some structure and weight on one of an opponents four limbs seems to hinder them from submitting me too quickly. At the same time, I have no idea how to effectively joint lock, which seems to be the preferred method of getting them to tap. I'm exhausted after class.

The next day, I'm not as sore as I expected. My knees are pretty torn up though. I think tracksuit pants are not a good idea - the material is no good for mat work. I must dig out my old Aikido Gi. It's at least ten years old, but it will do for next lesson.
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