Getting Back On The Mats

quainy

As a kid I excelled at Karate, I've won European medals and qualified for world's. As time went on, the passion that I held for Karate faded and was replaced with an emptiness; a feeling of monotony and a type of boredom in the repetition that was involved. Eventually, I cut down on the amount of training I was doing, then slowly, stopped training at all.

However, I missed it dearly. Funny how it may be, it was the early Sunday mornings getting kicked in the ribs and the joint locks late every Tuesday and Thursday night that you rushed your homework to go and learn that I missed. So I attempted to return but failed miserably.

After being out of all kinds of Martial Arts for three years I looked back fondly on my memories the other day and whilst smiling and reminiscing to myself, googled nearby training centers. Lone behold I found one, fifteen minutes walk away. I looked into it's credibility, the reputation of the center, was it a "McDojo", etc.

I was impressed, so I decided to attend a class, see if I liked the atmosphere and go from there. I contacted the owner and they were extremely helpful and friendly, so I attended my first striking class for MMA.

Between learning the techniques correctly and practicing them on pads with a partner, I had great fun, it lit a fire in me that I haven't experienced in years. Then we moved to sparring, and I fought well, better than I expected. In fact I surprised both myself and the coach. Then he tired us out with some bag work.

As I sit here typing this today, my foot aches from landing a kick on someone's elbow, my shoulders are weak from the effort of punching and controlling the pads, yet I'm smiling, I'm happy to have committed.

Immediately after finishing the class I paid for the month, giving me the opportunity to attend five classes a week.

As time goes on, I'll keep updating this thread with my experiences and how I get on in every class. You never know, maybe I'll even help some other people to get on the mats!

Doug Cartel

Sounds good.

What kind of sparring/competition did you do in karate?

Zen65

quainy wrote: »

Then we moved to sparring, and I fought well, better than I expected. In fact I surprised both myself and the coach.

Karate strikes are very powerful, and make excellent preparation for MMA fighting. Of course it lacks grappling and groundwork (I do know there is some grappling in karate, but it's very limited) so hopefully you'll enjoy that 'new' aspect of MMA.

I think it's a great idea to blog your experiences in returning to MA. Looking forward to hearing more from you. Particularly interested in your view of the training after taking a break.

quainy

What kind of sparring/competition did you do in karate?

The style I studied was Shorin Ryu (Traditional Okinawan) Karate - Competed in competitions such as the USKKE and USKK.

Biggest challenges yesterday were:
1- My level of fitness is definitely not where it needs to be.
2- The difference in technique is a bit hard to adjust to.

quainy

So today was my first session of groundwork, ever.

We focused mainly on guard and mainly passing the guard, focusing a little more on how it would be done in MMA where striking would be an issue, rather than BJJ. It was tough, and very different. I haven't experienced anything like it in all my time in Karate, the fluidity yet strength involved is amazing.

Learned how to defend from the guard and how to pass guard from top. The three different variations that I was taught today increased in difficulty and I found myself grasping how the first two were done very quickly but having to work on the third.

It's a bit odd to be learning brand new techniques but it's exciting to be learning it all the same. Oh, and I got my a** handed to me when I rolled!

Can't wait for more BJJ on Monday!

cletus

The great thing about bjj is that the simple pass you learn today, you'll still be learning intricacies and nuances in five years time

RoboRat

Oh, and I got my a** handed to me when I rolled!

This will happen a lot, as you progress it will happen less often, then you find that you can hold your own. This happens to everyone so don't let it get you down.

quainy

Another BJJ class today, was great fun. Started with simple little things like shrimping and achieving an overhook and head control from the bottom of guard.

The class then progressed to submitions from the bottom of guard and using shrimping to make space for a triangle, shoulder lock and a small transition to omoplata.

Had great fun today and there was plenty of beginners as well as advanced students, meant that I got tapped and got to roll with skill levels similar to my own.

Striking class tomorrow night, really looking forward to some pad work.

Been watching what I eat lately too, it'll help in the long run if I can lower my weight now I guess.

Any suggestions on anything you recommend I study would be great or drills that may be advantageous? 😊

MrStuffins

Yo! Where are you training? (If you don't mind me asking)

quainy

MrStuffins wrote: »

Yo! Where are you training? (If you don't mind me asking)

Fusion Training Center in Athlone!

quainy

So, yesterday was a tiring day of striking. Working on the most used combinations and the technique involved.

It was a lot of repetitive pad work drills, so I was both improving my technique and my cardio.
Striking is my forte, I only have a few issues with the technique of things like the teep Kick.

All round it was a good day and God knows I haven't sweat as much in months!

BJJ again tonight, can't wait!

Doug Cartel

quainy wrote: »

Steep Kick.

Maybe it's just auto-correct, but I think you mean a teep kick

quainy

Doug Cartel wrote: »

Maybe it's just auto-correct, but I think you mean a teep kick

It was indeed, I haven't used the word too often on my phone so it was auto-correcting it!

Doug Cartel

On another forum recently there was a guy asking where he could get advice on the neon belly position. He was confused why there were no videos on such a basic position.

quainy

Neon Belly - I see what you did there haha

So, tonight was another class of BJJ, it was good. Learned some more submissions from the closed guard and how to get to them.
They included:
- Armbar
- Omoplata
- Triangle Choke

It was a very interesting class and in the roll at the end I got to use some of the techniques I had picked up from previous classes.
Such as moving into positions after using shrimping to make space.

However, tonight was a little differently, as we took turns ensuring that we had rolled with everyone in the class, including the instructor. Like I said, it was going good rolling with other students and then disaster struck; he tapped me, easily twenty times in a five minute roll. I feel useless, yet motivated at the same time.

I remember saying this in an earlier comment:

Oh, and I got my a** handed to me when I rolled!

But this was another level.

How long do you guys reckon it'll be before I can hold my own on the mats?

P.S. Striking tomorrow night - At least then I'll feel like I can do something.

Doug Cartel

quainy wrote: »

How long do you guys reckon it'll be before I can hold my own on the mats?

Some people take to it quickly, some take a lot longer. I think I was doing judo for about two years before any of it started to make sense to me. BJJ is supposed to have a slightly easier learning curve, as it's a bit more systematic, but it's still tough to get started in.

Most people go through phases of being completely lost, then feeling like it's all making sense and then feeling lost again.

Clive

quainy wrote: »

How long do you guys reckon it'll be before I can hold my own on the mats?

I've been training BJJ for well over 10 years and I could probably hold my own at any gym in the world, but there are still people you run into who just have your number - and I don't mean world champions or anything, just random people whose style is your kryptonite.

Usually around the 3-5 year mark you can have a nice roll with most people - you may get smashed, but at least you know why and what you need to work on.

Richy06

If you learn from Clive, you'll get there in about 2 though. ;-)

quainy

So I've been a quiet lately, ended up with a horrible bug at the end of last week meaning I had to miss out on a few classes. However, I got over it and got back in the gym last night for some more Bjj.

So last night was looking at submissions and control from side control. We drilled some submissions like Americana.

Time came to roll at the end of the class and I was paired with one of the more experienced guys, I managed to take side control, switched my hips, trapped his arm in my legs, almost like crucifix and then swung my front leg over and after a close roll, very nearly locked in a triangle choke... He's considerably larger and stronger and that worked to his advantage in the scramble.

I can genuinely look at my first day in the gym and last night and actually see the progress I'm making in my Jiu Jitsu, within one month!

It's motivating to say the least!

cletus

quainy wrote: »

So I've been a quiet lately, ended up with a horrible bug at the end of last week meaning I had to miss out on a few classes. However, I got over it and got back in the gym last night for some more Bjj.

So last night was looking at submissions and control from side control. We drilled some submissions like Americana.

Time came to roll at the end of the class and I was paired with one of the more experienced guys, I managed to take side control, switched my hips, trapped his arm in my legs, almost like crucifix and then swung my front leg over and after a close roll, very nearly locked in a triangle choke... He's considerably larger and stronger and that worked to his advantage in the scramble.

I can genuinely look at my first day in the gym and last night and actually see the progress I'm making in my Jiu Jitsu, within one month!

It's motivating to say the least!

Not to put a downer on your post, but depending on how advanced the guy you were rolling with actually is, there is a good chance that a) he is allowing you to gain the position you've been drilling, and/or b) he is drilling his own escapes.

I've rolled before with guys who have been there a fortnight, and he walks off telling his mate that he "nearly caught the blue belt".

Richy06

Or maybe he just managed to catch him with something. Either way, glad you're seeing the progress and enjoying the training, OP! That's the important thing, along with your obvious enthusiasm.

quainy

I understand what you're saying. The guy is also a white belt, maybe 6 months or so more experienced than I am. Trust me, I know the difference between nearly catching somebody and a blue belt practicing his escapes and sweeps, I made that clear in one of my previous posts haha!

We were rolling for 3 minute rounds with the intention of tapping each other. Hell, either way I'm impressed that instinct kicked in when I seen his arm stray in the first place

TitianGerm

quainy wrote: »

I understand what you're saying. The guy is also a white belt, maybe 6 months or so more experienced than I am. Trust me, I know the difference between nearly catching somebody and a blue belt practicing his escapes and sweeps, I made that clear in one of my previous posts haha!

We were rolling for 3 minute rounds with the intention of tapping each other. Hell, either way I'm impressed that instinct kicked in when I seen his arm stray in the first place

One bit of advice I'd give is never to be tense on the mats. Just move in ways that it feels natural to move. Your game will come over time.

Im the lightest guy in my gym by 8kg but because I'm relaxed its hard for any of the heavy guys to roll with me because they get tense and try to use all their weight and strength against me, which I then use to sweep them.

Also tap as soon as you feel someone has a submission in place and you can't advance an escape. Nothing worse than seeing a guy get hurt from been to stubborn.

quainy

So, last night was another striking class - Kickboxing.

It was a technical class, based around hand combos on pads and using our hands to set an opponent up for the kick. It came with a few slow rounds of pad work to get the technique right and and then some intense drills to commit it to muscle memory. Followed up at the end by some light sparring.

My previous training in Karate is finally kicking in and last night's sparring session was pretty good. My footwork helped me stay where I wanted to be and I had an average amount of head movement going. It was great to slip a few punches and land the counters, granted we were going 50% but it still gave me a boost in confidence.

Jiu Jitsu again tonight and I find myself thinking about techniques, or what to do in certain situations when I am in my spare time. Anyone else get these thoughts about Jiu Jitsu? I'm just afraid of overloading and not being able to take in as much as I should be.

P.S. Thanks to everyone for all the great advice so far, I try to take it all on board as I get it. It's great to have this level of support!

TitianGerm

quainy wrote: »

Jiu Jitsu again tonight and I find myself thinking about techniques, or what to do in certain situations when I am in my spare time. Anyone else get these thoughts about Jiu Jitsu? I'm just afraid of overloading and not being able to take in as much as I should be.

P.S. Thanks to everyone for all the great advice so far, I try to take it all on board as I get it. It's great to have this level of support!

If I'm rolling over in bed I tend to shrimp

Doug Cartel

Jiu Jitsu again tonight and I find myself thinking about techniques, or what to do in certain situations when I am in my spare time. Anyone else get these thoughts about Jiu Jitsu? I'm just afraid of overloading and not being able to take in as much as I should be.

Yeah it can be fairly overwhelming, but if you keep tipping away at it, you'll be fine.

quainy

Back from BJJ class! Tonight was another successful night on the mats.

Sooooo... Tonight began with some side control again, working on maintaining the position, driving the shoulder down into the lower mandibal/adam's apple region to both push their face away and to put pressure down on them.

(With this in mind, I had been studying different escapes from side control as we had also covered some of this earlier in the week.)

Anyhoo, we worked on some normal things like transitions to North/South and Mount but we also got to learn the Darce Choke. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

So, we started with some drilling, top person had to look for a submission or to transition to an advantageous position whilst the bottom person was looking for a submission or a transition to an advantageous position.

I actually excelled in this drill, see the brackets earlier in the post. I also thoroughly enjoyed "winning" at the drill.

So, then we went into some rolling rounds, three five minute rounds with a minute in between. At this stage I was already sweating buckets but for the first time ever I felt like I was good to go and I had the confidence to try some things that I wouldn't have experimented with before.

First round was rolling with a guy that has vastly more experience than me, however, I managed to roll out of Omoplata, bridge his mount, sweep him a few times and constantly kept control of his posture. Nonetheless, my inevitable mistakes at times resulted in being tapped.

Second round was with a guy that is a little lighter than me, a few months into BJJ but he's not vastly ahead of me as I'm a quick learner. This was a much more even roll, there were no submissions for either party but I dominated the roll, staying in extremely advantageous positions. Had it been an MMA bout I imagine it would have went in my favour.

Third round was with a beast of a man. He's amazingly strong and pretty tall. This was not an easy roll and I got caught in Americana twice (I currently have a browser tab open with escapes from it loaded up). However, I was more agile and he really had to work to get into a position where he could submit me.

So, that's my night's summary! Any advice and all advice is always welcome!

TL;DR: BJJ tonight - Coming on in leaps and bounds, study and practice is paying off!

Mellor

Doug Cartel wrote: »

On another forum recently there was a guy asking where he could get advice on the neon belly position. He was confused why there were no videos on such a basic position.

I seen that too. Was pretty funny.
Since then I've seen people use it ironically, I imagine people are starting to think its a new Eddie Bravo position

quainy wrote: »

How long do you guys reckon it'll be before I can hold my own on the mats?

It depends on your definition of hold you own.
In 6 months there will be a new batch of white belts looking at you as the white belt with more experience. But the experienced guys you are looking at today could be blue belts, and so on.

Subcomandante Marcos

quainy wrote: »

Fusion Training Center in Athlone!

How many BJJ sessions do they do per week?

I see you said you're doing 5 classes per week with a mix of striking and BJJ but on their website I can only see BJJ sessions on Mondays.

I currently travel a few times per week for BJJ sessions and Athlone would be a lot handier for me.

Also, who's the BJJ instructor?

I know MH is doing the striking and other stuff but not sure if he's running BJJ classes himself as I know he's from a muay thai/kick boxing background himself.

RoboRat

I actually excelled in this drill, see the brackets earlier in the post. I also thoroughly enjoyed "winning" at the drill.

Don't be THAT guy, I am enjoying reading your posts.

quainy

Picked up an injury a couple of weeks ago guys. Between that and holidays at the end of the month it'll be early September before I get back into it. I'll keep the thread posted on my progress and I might even throw in a little off topic content about the holiday, just for the fun of it!