Humbling experience

[Dawna]

When I first started doing jj this is what Eddie said to me: "For the next year, expect to come in here and get your ass kicked everyday." And I did, for more than a year actually, I got my ass handed to me every single time I got on the mats. Not only because I came to 10th Planet completely green and knowing nothing of jj, but more often then not, I am the smallest person in class and the only girl. I still get my ass handed to me daily, I just get to hand out a few ass kickings myself now, which totally makes it worth it!!
I don't know what it feels like to be a man coming in new to this sport and the dynamic that comes along with that. But I can relate to feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and outmatched. Yes, there is nothing more humbling than getting your ass kicked but there is also nothing more elating than the day you realize mid-roll that you know what you're doing and you get your first tap and then keep getting them! The beautiful thing about any MA (IMO) is that the challenge is really you against you, not your opponent. Everyone's time line is their own and their journey is there own. Fight through the frustration of being a newbie, train when you can, you'll be happy that you did. There's nothing like this sport and the community that comes along with it. Good luck on your journey!

[D.Stachovak]

Every morning and before/after every practice I do some of the stretches I found in the Mastering the Rubber Guard book. I also sit on the floor while watching TV or if I'm home alone and do little solo movements. I'm 43 with 3 kids @ home,a job,wife's in school+works. I put in the extra time so I can make the most out of my mat time and NOT get injured. Keep at it!

[frank-theman-james]

Every morning and before/after every practice I do some of the stretches I found in the Mastering the Rubber Guard book. I also sit on the floor while watching TV or if I'm home alone and do little solo movements. I'm 43 with 3 kids @ home,a job,wife's in school+works. I put in the extra time so I can make the most out of my mat time and NOT get injured. Keep at it!

thats awesome determination right there and good work ethics. keep it up.

[leach_jeffrey]

I see new guys come and go all the time. EVERYONE gets humbled when they first arrive. Those that keep coming eventually get good.

Stick with it and you'll be better for it. If you think about it, BJJ would be a pretty weak art if a guy that walked in off the street with 1 years experience in wrestling 24 years ago could hold his own. Be happy that you got schooled, because it means that the school you went to has a lot to teach you.

Oh, and I'm 39 and started when I was 37. You'll can hang with those young guys and eventually, when you are crushing some of them and they ask how old you are, they'll hang their heads in shame that an old guy could own them.

EDIT: One more thing, don't give up on the gi before you even start. No gi is great and so is gi. They are different, but both are a lot of fun. If you go to a school that teaches the nasty gi techniques, you'll have a lot of fun catching people unaware.

[stlnl]

"The secret of this sport is, while you're the nail, hang in there, let them hit you, until the day you become the hammer, then you smash them back!"
-Renzo Gracie

Quoted for truth, however, what Renzo left out, is there always seems to be a bigger hammer somewhere out there.

[stlnl]

I'm still having a hard time getting over him stepping on that guys head after a fight.

You do realize that guy was calling Renzo all night the night before on the phone in his hotel room, telling him he had eyes like his GF and that he planned to F^%K him, right?

[Harry Evans]

We have all been there, man, even the giant guys. The beauty of ground fighting is that it takes out a lot of the x-factors, like strength and instincts. Don't get me wrong, both are important, but not nearly as much when you don't have fundamentals. Side control is particularly frustrating at first: it's hard to hold position on top, and it sucks when someone has their weight on your chest/diaphragm/solarplexus/etc. Think of it in reverse - if your fundamentals get better, you can make it that shitty on other people, and they will have just as hard a time keeping you there. To be honest, BJJ doesn't really get interesting until you get the basics down - the cool stuff is learning how to use the basics on other people who know them as well. Stick with it, it'll start to click, and by the time your son is a teenager, he'll be a complete badass from the wrestling in class and the BJJ from dad.

[Jarrad Mckay]

ANd one thing no one has said yet, is a lot of the time the greener guys are often become better at defence then the guys they are initially rolling with. Because you don't have the reps in for offensive positions and submissions you are always working harder on your defence then the other guys. It's when you get better at your defence, and learn more offensive positions, that you use a lot less gas defending guys, and actually start submitting them. That's just my opinion as someone who was in your situation, and would be if I trained at a 10th planet gym.

[rav]

Every morning and before/after every practice I do some of the stretches I found in the Mastering the Rubber Guard book. I also sit on the floor while watching TV or if I'm home alone and do little solo movements. I'm 43 with 3 kids @ home,a job,wife's in school+works. I put in the extra time so I can make the most out of my mat time and NOT get injured. Keep at it!

great advice

[James Logsdon]

agreed, that was some bitch shit

I'm still having a hard time getting over him stepping on that guys head after a fight.