I recently earned my blue belt! Thanks for everything guys!
After about a year and a half of training BJJ in the gi i've recently earned my blue belt! Listening to Eddie and Joe talk about BJJ on the Joe Rogan Experience coupled with my love for MMA inspired me to begin my journey into the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; a decision that i certainly don't regret.
As some of you may know from a couple other threads i am currently on house arrest and have been for over 2 years (only 1 more to go). After 5 or 6 months on house arrest and probation my probation officer told me that since i had been doing well with everything and had not violated any rules that i could pick some sort of "extracurricular" (for lack of a better term) activity to participate in as long as it was constructive and something that she would approve of. I immediately asked if i could begin training in a martial art. Thankfully she agreed with me that this would be a great thing for me to get involved with.
Luckily the relatively small town that i l live in has an excellent BJJ/MMA gym run by Brad Maddox who is a black belt under Marcello Monteirro. I didn't exactly explain the ins and outs of BJJ to my probation officer out of fear that she might deny my request to train BJJ if she found out that it gives its practitioners the ability to maim and strangulate people. I just billed it to her as me taking a "martial arts" class, she still refers to it as karate to this day and i feel no need to correct her. I have been very fortunate that my PO was kind enough to allow me to get involved with something that i truly have a passion for. Training BJJ has improved my life dramatically in many, many ways and i am incredibly thankful to Eddie and Joe who inspired me to begin training, to my PO for allowing me the opportunity to begin training, and to all of my 10th PJJ brothers for helping me along the way by helping me add new techniques to my arsenal.
The school i train at is primarily a gi school although we do train no gi from time to time. Fortunately my instructor is very open minded and is willing to accept and try new techniques and grappling philosophies so to speak. Before i actually began training i watched tons of BJJ instructional videos on the internet and began to familiarize myself with the 10th PJJ system. The mastering the system series has been especially helpful in this pursuit. i was very flexible to begin with so i immediately knew that the rubber guard could potentially be a very valuable part of my game, so before i even stepped foot on the mats for the first time i had become pretty familiar with the rubber guard and some of the basic RG paths. This helped me immensely once i started training.
Over the last year and a half i have put tons of time and effort into developing my rubber guard along with the rest of the 10th PJJ system and of course the techniques that my instructor teaches. It has paid dividends for me. The rubber guard is my main weapon off my back and IMO the best weapon in my entire arsenal. I'm no where near mastering it of course but i am getting better at it everyday. I use the rubber guard so much and have enough success with it that everyone at my gym jokingly refers to me as "Eddie" quite often, a nick name that i greatly appreciate. In addition to that my use of the rubber guard along with many other 10th PJJ techniques especially the lockdown has changed the opinion of my instructor as well as the games of many of my training partners. Even though i train at a gi school i use only techniques that will work with and with out the gi and i have a ton of success with 10th PJJ techniques with the gi on or off. My instructor was never a 10th PJJ hater thankfully but he was quite skeptical of a lot of the 10th PJJ techniques especially the rubber guard and lockdown. After seeing the success i have with them he has changed his mind about their effectiveness. What i believe happens a lot of the time especially with rubber guard and to a lesser extent the lockdown half guard is that many people try the rubber guard out with out putting in the time and effort to fully understand the principals, paths, and key components of it. This will often discourage people from using it because the few times they toyed around with it they couldn't get it to work for them because it was so under developed.
One of the coolest things for me to see was how many of my training partners who never used the RG or the lockdown are now playing around with them and having success with them after seeing the success i often have with them. One of the things that i am most proud of is seeing how the injection of 10th PJJ techniques into the system of gi BJJ that my instructor teaches has changed peoples minds and styles, and evolved our system for the better.
Sorry for writing such a long and scatter brained post but i just wanted to let everyone here know how much i have benefited from the 10th PJJ system and how much my life has improved from getting involved with BJJ in the first place. I have made tons of close friends, I've gotten into the best shape i have ever been in, i have earned my blue belt, and found a fun, rewarding, and constructive way to occupy my time; all of these things have been wonderful for me especially in a rather depressing and trying time in my life. Thank you all very much for everything you all have done for me and the world of BJJ. I have and always will rep 10th Planet regardless of who i train under and regardless of whether i am wearing a gi or not. I'll continue to evolve and improve my overall grappling game by never becoming closed minded about new techniques, ideas, or strategies and hopefully my instructor and training partners will continue to employ that same philosophy. Thanks again for everything guys and an especially big thank you goes out to Eddie Bravo for inspiring me to give BJJ a shot. Doing so has changed my life for the better and i can't thank all of you guys enough. Take care!
