BJJ Zero

After spending far too much time researching UK based BJJ Gi suppliers , as well as soliciting advice from several people, I plumped for a Tatami Nova as my first real Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi. The Nova is, by all accounts, one of the most dependable inexpensive gi on the market. I've only racked up about 15 hours of jiu jitsu mat time and given that I only train once a week, the Nova seemed to be a sensible choice. I wanted something friendly on the wallet as well as relatively plain. The Nova ticked the boxes, though it does come with patches on the shoulders and trousers (which I have subsequently removed). On paper, the Tatami Nova looks like the perfect beginner Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi; maybe even the perfect gi for the occasional student - you know, the one who isn't on the mat every day. How does it perform? I've got an old Shogun gi from about 10 years ago. I've long since forgotten what size it was (and the label has faded past the point of recognition). I...

Today we worked on the arm-bar. Here's what I remember. From the guard, keep the knees tight - cue bad joke about the German Guard (gudentight). You need to basically get yourself 90 degrees to your opponent to get a good arm-bar. That's a lot of movement, so you want to push him a little and move yourself a little. Put one foot on the hip. Whichever foot goes on the hip is the side of the arm that will be arm-barred. At the same time, make your body slightly U shaped. Bring the hips off the ground and the upper back off the ground. That way you have less surface area against the mat to move. So, right foot on the hip, hips up, head up. Left leg squeezes and pushes opponent slightly towards the right as you spin slightly towards the left. Right foot comes up and over their head, knees together and squeeze tight. Reach over and get their left hand and arm-bar. From there we worked on a transition, should they escape their arm which involved taking your right leg, w...

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 heard a story once of a martial art teacher who was very accomplished. Every year, he would go somewhere he wouldn't be known, put on a white belt and join some dojos, just to learn something new, pick up a new skill, without prejudice or preconceptions. It's a funny business having belts. I'm two lessons into BJJ. I joined to learn something new, gain some skill in something I'm not at all good at. It's easy to say I don't care about belt colour because I know I'm at the bottom. I wonder if I'll loose sight of that as I train and start chasing belts? I hope not. I hope I'm old enough to train for myself and not care about chasing external signs of validation. That's not to say that skill should be untested, just that owning a skill is not something someone else gives you. I liked what my teacher (can you call them that after only two lessons? I don't know) said at the last class when talking about an upcoming grading : If you don't...

Two weeks since my first Brazillian Jiu Jitsu class, my skinned knees finally healed up enough to get back on the mats (not to noobs, don't try a class in tracksuit trousers - get some gi trousers or spats or just wear some knees guards - tracksuit cotton seems to rip up your skin something terrible). Last night was a big class. We began with a warmup - working with a partner and doing some basic movement - get the hips away, climb the legs up into arm bar. No need to actually make the other guy tap, just get into position rapidly. Then a similar thing - from guard, his/her hands on either side of your torso on the floor. Grab the wrist, sit up and snake your opposite hand over his arm and around to grab your wrist. Again, no tapping. Then technique time - we did two techniques: Passing the guard with a leg drag Standing with opponent on his back trying to get you in guard. Grab his left leg with your right hand and drag it to the left. This turns his body to his right sid...

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 tou...