Oh Hai

I know, I've been a shitty blogger and haven't written for awhile. Sorry, bros, I've been busy.  I was out of town for like a month, and I just got back a couple of weeks ago. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of work, family, and training.

While I was gone, I fully expected to have no opportunity to train in BJJ. I was at an Army course in the middle of nowhere. I was surprised, and happy, to meet a purple belt that trains out of New Jersey. He is an MMA fighter who is in incredible shape. We got to roll three times in the month...but that's better than nothing. He was equally pleased to have somebody to roll with.

We had to improvise training space, because they didn't have actually training mats available to us. The first time we went into one of those old Army tire pits (shredded tires that creates a soft surface for conducting physical training). That was actually fun, but the rubber was very dirty and some got in my mouth. Horrible experience.

The training was good though, and I learned a few tricks. I got to roll with somebody with an unorthodox style, and actually surprised him a bit with some of my moves. Never submitted him, but came close a few times, and he had to work to get subs on me. That's all you can ask for as a white belt.

Since I've been back, I've only gotten into the gym a few times. I've been doing stuff like retiling my kitchen floor and working late. The beginning of fall is always my busiest time at work, and I've had to work late a few nights. Or I've just been too tired to go to the gym.

I'm trying to pick up my training schedule. I am a three-stripe white belt, and I'll probably get striped next month when we do our seminar. I don't really have a time frame on getting blue belt, but its getting close. We generally have a seminar/promotions every 4-6 months. I really want to be at the blue belt level by the time the next grading rolls around, which will probably be February or March. That is also, conveniently, my two year anniversary with Jiu Jitsu! I just want to make Blue Belt before I'm 30.

I've been rolling pretty well in class the last two weeks or so. After going away for a month, I came back handling people a lot better than I was when I left. I'm not killing people, but I'm more active in my rolls. I'm getting more subs on white belts, and getting subbed less by upper belts. Yesterday, I was only submitted once by the blue belts I was rolling with. Of course, our black belt could have killed me like 20 times, but he was just flow rolling with me.

I've been getting better with my guard work too. Something recently clicked with me, and my guard game improved quite a bit. I've always been a guard player...but now I'm actually comfortable there.

Overall, I've been having blast and learning a lot. I'm just so thankful I found Jiu Jitsu. It really has been a positive force in my life, and I can't wait to learn more.