BJJ Zero

It's inevitable that pretty much every new BJJ blogger writes a "Buying my first gi" post. So here's mine. Up until now, I've been training in an old gi that I got when I was training Aikido about 10 years ago. It's pretty solid - an "old school Shogun". It seems tough as nails, but it is heavy as hell with a skirt longer than most young ladies wear and sleeves wide enough to accommodate Napoleon's armies. From what I can see of BJJ that puts me at a disadvantage. There's more material to hold onto, more gi skirt to wrap around my neck and more grips than any of the guys at my gym need to thrash me on the mat. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I have the gi- I made the mistake of going to my first class in tracksuit trousers which for some reason chaffed my knees and left them completely raw (my gi was drying from being washed after being in storage). Since then, though, I've been using the gi. First night wearing it and rol...

I've spent the past few weeks doing a bit of stand up MMA work. Been enjoying the combination of putting together all the striking, takedowns and grappling and learned a ton. Big things for me were learning a proper shoot - this is something that always looks easy when you see it live, but actually doing it right is more tricky. I'm pretty bad at shooting to be honest. It hasn't clicked for me yet and isn't really "there" when I'm under the stress of actually sparring. Next week I'm back to BJJ. Grappling is probably still my weakest link so eat bitter as they say.