First Day of BJJ

[dunc]

@User3256 It's great that you're going to give it another shot. In my experience a little courage and perseverance goes a LONG way in martial arts
Please do let us know how it goes and always happy to help any time

A word of advice from a total stranger on the internet: If you heard a loud pop when your knee reaped then you may have a meniscus tear. A scan of your knee will give you a conclusive diagnosis and knowing one way or another early on will help your recovery big time. Speaking from experience....

@Wing Woo Gar Amazing & inspiring that someone with so much experience can put on a white belt, open their mind and go to learn a new style. I did it myself and there's nothing quite like it

As a fellow 50 year old I cannot stress enough how important it is to find a group of safe training partners and largely stick to them. Young strong white and blue belts (& the occasional higher belt) can still get over excited and over-crank things which takes a disproportionate toll on the middle aged body
All the older guys at my academy have an acute awareness of who's a "safe roll for those aged 50+" and who doesn't fall into that category. It is 100% OK to refuse a roll if you're not sure about someone's temperament. But generally if you're proactive when pair up for rolls/training you can be in control
If you ever do end up rolling with someone who's overly aggressive, super strong, etc then my advice is to play defence. Clamp your elbows in, guard your collar with your hands and stay tight. It's surprising how quickly you can learn how to simply not get tapped and doing this means very little risk of injury
If you're getting crushed then bump and turn a little (not too much) onto your side - works wonders

FWIW my professor advises everyone starting out to first build a strong defence before focusing on attacks

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I had my first BJJ class a few days ago and everything went great for the entire class until the last drill. We started out with my partner already in the back mount on me with scissor hold and we did this alot in drills but this time he used a little more strength then he had been doing all day.

For some reason I suddenly became extremely clausterphobic and completely panicked. I forgot all the previous drills and started trying to brute force my way out with strength like my life depended upon it even forgetting I could just tap. It not only didn't work but I guess I hurt my partners finger cause he got mad and yelled at me.

Needless to say I felt horrible once I calmed down from my panicked state but couldn't even apologize cause he had already left since it was the last drill. I didn't even know I was clausterphobic until I was trapped with no way to move and no idea how to get out of it. I spent alot of money to take the classes and I feel like it's a waste to never go back but I'm too ashamed of myself to even show my face there again.

Has anyone else ever suddenly gotten clausterphobic and freaked out or had a white belt freak out on them during a hold?

I've had students have panic attacks in a number of situations, even in seminars. It happens. Part of the training for some folks is learning to overcome this. A good instructor will work with you on this.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

You usually get the 1st class for free.

A lot of folks don't ever use that free first class. I offered one for years, and I don't think I ever had a taker. Someone with more new students would almost certainly see some percentage of folks take advantage of it, but some folks would still just sign up after watching a while.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

@User3256 It's great that you're going to give it another shot. In my experience a little courage and perseverance goes a LONG way in martial arts
Please do let us know how it goes and always happy to help any time

A word of advice from a total stranger on the internet: If you heard a loud pop when your knee reaped then you may have a meniscus tear. A scan of your knee will give you a conclusive diagnosis and knowing one way or another early on will help your recovery big time. Speaking from experience....

@Wing Woo Gar Amazing & inspiring that someone with so much experience can put on a white belt, open their mind and go to learn a new style. I did it myself and there's nothing quite like it

As a fellow 50 year old I cannot stress enough how important it is to find a group of safe training partners and largely stick to them. Young strong white and blue belts (& the occasional higher belt) can still get over excited and over-crank things which takes a disproportionate toll on the middle aged body
All the older guys at my academy have an acute awareness of who's a "safe roll for those aged 50+" and who doesn't fall into that category. It is 100% OK to refuse a roll if you're not sure about someone's temperament. But generally if you're proactive when pair up for rolls/training you can be in control
If you ever do end up rolling with someone who's overly aggressive, super strong, etc then my advice is to play defence. Clamp your elbows in, guard your collar with your hands and stay tight. It's surprising how quickly you can learn how to simply not get tapped and doing this means very little risk of injury
If you're getting crushed then bump and turn a little (not too much) onto your side - works wonders

FWIW my professor advises everyone starting out to first build a strong defence before focusing on attacks

Thanks so much for this!

 

[jayoliver00]

A lot of folks don't ever use that free first class. I offered one for years, and I don't think I ever had a taker. Someone with more new students would almost certainly see some percentage of folks take advantage of it, but some folks would still just sign up after watching a while.

I currently have about 40 students right now and never had an instant sign like that. Wish I was that lucky.

 

[jayoliver00]

Should I have tried to defend using all of my other MA skills? That seems ultra douchey. I’m there to learn BJJ not show off something else.

I mean if you did that, he'd probably would've done worse; if you're already caught in a type of can opener (that's cranked enough to hurt that much) and you try something nasty to get out of it....then he'd just have to crank it sideways or more sideways, w/everything he had in him = spine injury.

I've had a Blue belt friend get pretty jacked up in a twister by a Brown belt who he didn't know was a Brown belt (in their 1st roll); but disrespected him by a little tiny bit upon their first encounter in nogi class. It was just a slight, 1 sentence that was about 3/10 in disrespect (w/10 being, say something about their mother or something). This Brown is a really nice guy who would never & has never hurt me dur. rolling; he's also a Medical Doctor too, haha.

Besides, I’m a nobody special late summer chicken. The dude was just making sure I know who is boss, no biggie.

That's what I meant about going down your complete resume of MA experience; it can sound braggy. But I mostly run into dudes that come in and say they have ZERO experience and then getdown like it's chinatown.... Both can be annoying and/or a problem. But this is mostly a pecking order kind of thing, it happens.

 

[jayoliver00]

Nope. I’m also not that guy. I just said I did some training in martial arts. We had a friendly chat outside the gym before hand. We had met before outside the gym. We are of similar age, although he is larger and stronger. I am 6’2” 210 lbs. I must have made a really poor impression on you. You seem to be engaging in victim blaming, and that makes the baby Jesus cry.

LOL, "victim blaming"??????????????

You're pretty old to be SJW'ing like that, but it's a joke though, I get it. And I'm going by the impression that I get from quite a few people on here....the moment someone dares disagrees with *some* of them; here comes the resume of how many years trained + all sorts of acronyms.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

LOL, "victim blaming"??????????????

You're pretty old to be SJW'ing like that, but it's a joke though, I get it. And I'm going by the impression that I get from quite a few people on here....the moment someone dares disagrees with *some* of them; here comes the resume of how many years trained + all sorts of acronyms.

Yes it’s a joke. Yes I’m getting up there. I try to be a good beginner and just shut up and listen. I just don’t want to be injured over anybody’s ego BS.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

LOL, "victim blaming"??????????????

You're pretty old to be SJW'ing like that, but it's a joke though, I get it. And I'm going by the impression that I get from quite a few people on here....the moment someone dares disagrees with *some* of them; here comes the resume of how many years trained + all sorts of acronyms.

What is SJW?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

What is SJW?

It's a political epithet which should be avoided by anyone trying to stay within the rules on MartialTalk.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

It's a political epithet which should be avoided by anyone trying to stay within the rules on MartialTalk.

Thanks for the help. I looked it up. I think if I can accept a neck crank/can opener then I can accept the epithet as well.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

It's a political epithet which should be avoided by anyone trying to stay within the rules on MartialTalk.

I appreciate your help with the BJJ thing. It is uncomfortable but refreshing to be brand new at something. I would not enjoy a different striking system nearly as much because I teach that and have my own ideas about how it’s done. BJJ is different in that I’m not on my feet or striking at all so I only have what they show me. That means I get to enjoy being new. Hopefully, I will find a place I feel fits me.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I think if I can accept a neck crank/can opener then I can accept the epithet as well.

Based on our discussion in the other thread, I think what you got caught with was just a strong cross-face and your partner may have been slow to recognize the tap because he wasn't really applying a submission and wasn't expecting you to tap.

A can opener is something else entirely and should not be done to beginners for safety reasons.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Based on our discussion in the other thread, I think what you got caught with was just a strong cross-face and your partner may have been slow to recognize the tap because he wasn't really applying a submission and wasn't expecting you to tap.

A can opener is something else entirely and should not be done to beginners for safety reasons.

Whatever the definition, I was tapping and verbally asking to be let up. His face was only a few inches away. I can tell that nobody wants to acknowledge the fact that this guy knew what he was doing to me. I have accepted the whole thing as whatever. Perhaps I should go to the striking class there…Perhaps everyone would tell him that when I kicked his head and stomped on him that I didn’t expect him to go down so fast? I mean I wasn’t really trying to KO him after all…I’m not actually going to do this, I am making a point. Maybe I don’t have any business being there. Maybe I am missing the lesson here.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I can tell that nobody wants to acknowledge the fact that this guy knew what he was doing to me.

I merely mentioned it as a possibility. I also said that he should apologize regardless. Even if it was a matter of being so focused on the position that it took him a moment to register that you were tapping, then that’s still his fault for being unaware. I had that happen once when I was a blue belt. I had my partner pinned but wasn’t applying a submission and apparently completely failed to notice that he was tapping. He got justifiably mad and I apologized profusely and it hasn’t happened since because now I maintain the awareness that a tap can come at any time even when I’m not applying a submission.

If he did it on purpose and that behavior is tolerated in the academy, then it’s a red flag that you should be looking around for other schools. I think I mentioned that previously as well.

 

[jayoliver00]

Yes it’s a joke. Yes I’m getting up there. I try to be a good beginner and just shut up and listen. I just don’t want to be injured over anybody’s ego BS.

I'm glad you have a good sense of humor. Funny thing is, I was just talking to a student in MT who's a near Blue, WB...he was wondering why a certain Brown belt went so rough on him; tapping him ever 10 sec and holding it way longer after the tap (w/o cranking). First thing I asked was, "did you disrespect him"? LOL. I knew this Brown since he was brand new; kid is also a Pro MMA fighter. I told him to not try to get back at him with rough or questionable tech., he will hurt you.

Everybody has ego. Ego is good for a Competitor. Ego is in these forums too; albeit the less valued type. You're in an area where BJJ is huge, so that's a lot killers per dojo.

 

[jayoliver00]

It's a political epithet which should be avoided by anyone trying to stay within the rules on MartialTalk.

Sorry, I didn't know.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I merely mentioned it as a possibility. I also said that he should apologize regardless. Even if it was a matter of being so focused on the position that it took him a moment to register that you were tapping, then that’s still his fault for being unaware. I had that happen once when I was a blue belt. I had my partner pinned but wasn’t applying a submission and apparently completely failed to notice that he was tapping. He got justifiably mad and I apologized profusely and it hasn’t happened since because now I maintain the awareness that a tap can come at any time even when I’m not applying a submission.

If he did it on purpose and that behavior is tolerated in the academy, then it’s a red flag that you should be looking around for other schools. I think I mentioned that previously as well.

You did. Thank you.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I'm glad you have a good sense of humor. Funny thing is, I was just talking to a student in MT who's a near Blue, WB...he was wondering why a certain Brown belt went so rough on him; tapping him ever 10 sec and holding it way longer after the tap (w/o cranking). First thing I asked was, "did you disrespect him"? LOL. I knew this Brown since he was brand new; kid is also a Pro MMA fighter. I told him to not try to get back at him with rough or questionable tech., he will hurt you.

Everybody has ego. Ego is good for a Competitor. Ego is in these forums too; albeit the less valued type. You're in an area where BJJ is huge, so that's a lot killers per dojo.

Well I’m too old to play nonsense to nonsense. Big guy can have his win if such a thing has value to him. I have lost count of my losses long ago.

 

[dunc]

I think the question to ask is the douchebag behaviour part of the culture in the academy?
Whilst they are in the minority, there are places where the instructor‘s character/maturity isn’t so great and this gets reflected in the student pool
If that’s the case then go try somewhere else
If it seems like maybe this was an isolated incident or just a student to avoid then probably all good to keep going there