My initial first-hand exposure to grappling came during a seminar at my kung-fu school years ago. We learned only a few basic things such as guard, a takedown, and a few guard sweeps, but I really enjoyed what I learned. I didn’t pursue it further for reasons that are again, beyond the purview of this blog. Over the years I picked up some knowledge here and there but never did it seriously. I always meant to take classes, but always found excuses and could never find the time. This summer, I finally decided to bite the bullet and pursue it more seriously by taking classes.

Fast forward 3 months and I’m hooked! I have always loved learning new things, and grappling is completely unlike anything I’ve learned before. The movements are completely different as are the physical and mental skills needed. The knowledge is inherently practical; either what you are doing is effective or it is ineffective. There can therefore be no theorizing or pontificating about what works or what doesn’t, what you would do in this situation or that. There is absolutely no armchair quarterbacking, and no room for “this is how I do it”, unless it works, that is.

Much of Jiu-Jitsu involves application of technique with partners in live sparring situations. This allows you to receive instant feedback as to the efficacy of what you’re doing. For instance, something you learned and performed perfectly in a drill might not occur to you at all in a live sparring session, or it might not work well or at all because of the countless positions and variations involved. This causes you to work much harder and to need to know your technique VERY well in order to be effective. In other words, you get instant feedback about whether you’re good, or you know if you’re full of shit.

What this means is that there is a distinct lack of frauds. I’m sure that we have all seen people who talk the talk very well about their abilities and training methods, yet when the time comes to DO it, they aren’t there, or offer up excuses. If you claim to have certain abilities and you do not, this is exposed either through competition, or by a refusal to push some chips out onto the table and test yourself. From this perspective, Jiu-Jitsu is much like Crossfit, a direct test of acquired capabilities with objective, measurable results.

This focus on quality and superiority of technique does mean that some of the “Art” gets lost in translation, but I am determined to translate some of the beauty and grace I gained in my Kung-Fu to the movements in Jiu-Jitsu.

It’s hard to say why I enjoy Jiu-Jitsu so much. Maybe because it’s so incredibly unlike anything I’ve done before. At some point, I ceased to grow as a person from learning a new kick or a new punch or a new Kata, things that predominately featured in many of the martial arts I have taken in my life. I enjoy feeling like a beginner every day I go to class, like there is a bottomless well of knowledge and technique to draw from. Like a game of Go, there are infinite permutations of positions and techniques and counters. It is a dynamic art.

The analog to Jiu-Jitsu “rolling” in traditional martial arts is sparring. The main difference is that the techniques while live sparring in Jiu-Jitsu are the same ones utilized in class/drills. To contrast with this, unless a class is very disciplined in practice and sparring sessions, the transfer of the art’s material used in drills and class (Katas, etc) is generally subservient to more basic techniques such as kicks and punches.

The “Kata” does not really have an analog in Jiu-Jitsu, unless a school has developed a series of practical partner drills that are taught to every student (I actually feel this is a pretty good idea to internalize mechanics and technique. Indeed, many of the sweeps and goard passes naturally flow into other techniques that form continuous loops!). The fun, prearranged movements of katas are superb at developing balance, speed, cardio, and flexibility. I believe that my experience with this beautiful art form has helped me learn the Jiu-Jitsu techniques more quickly than otherwise, as well as given me good balance and stamina during the sparring.

Tournaments are a big part of Jiu-Jitsu; They are vital because they put you in situations that involve the unknown and unknowable, that is, the skills of a person you may have never met from a place you may have never been to. Developing skills in isolation is useful, and can lead to interesting evolutionary offshoots in thought and technique, but it can also lead to dogmatism and a perverted perspective of skill and ability. It’s sort of like your immune system; The more you expose it to different environments and pathogens during development, the stronger it ends up being in the long run. Similarly, Going to tournaments supplies instant feedback about your ability, strengths, and weaknesses and allows you to address them, making you a far better grappler and martial artist in the long run.

Encouraged by my instructors, I signed up for and went to my first tournament this past Sunday, the 6th. It was a very instructive, humbling, and encouraging experience on many levels, and I’m still digesting the meaning of everything that happened. I’m always happy when I’m given the opportunity to rethink my preconceived notions, or have the chance to reset my thinking into a mode more congruent with reality. That is what tournaments really are, a big test followed by a big reality check. At least that’s what it was for me. In short, I thought I would do much better than I did.

I won’t lie – My assumption going in was that my 20 years of experience in martial arts, as well as my Crossfit training would give me a leg up on some of the other competitors. In some ways it was true, and in others it would prove to be pretty humorously false!

I could say stuff about how allergies hit me that morning, or that I wasn’t used to workout that that early in the morning, but those sound like excuses. Let’s face it, I was nervous as hell! I had no idea what to expect or how well I would do, but I was putting myself under a lot of pressure. Added to that, I discovered that few people had actually signed up for the ‘Novice’ (< 1 year experience) division. This means that they combined all the weight classes, and I was by far the lightest guy there (probably by 10-15lbs at least). Whoops! Things were about to get interesting.

My first match was against a guy who was at least as wide as I am tall, and extremely strong and muscular. In what was going to be a continuing trend for the day, he took me down (I was able to fend him off for a while though!). Although I forget how, I was able to reverse him and obtain the mount about halfway through the match, where I remained until time expired. I tried a few things, but frankly, that guy was so strong that if he didn’t want to be moved, he wasn’t going to be moved. I won on points, and was very happy, my first Jiu-Jitsu match ever ended up in victory! A pretty good start!

From then on, my opponents got more skilled, and I got more tired. As I was entered in two different divisions, I was being called from mat to mat without too much of a break. My

*ack* *gag* *coff*

second match started much like the first, getting taken down after fending him off for a while. I also managed to reverse him while he was improving position and take his back! Unfortunately, fatigue set in, and I hadn’t practiced what to do in that situation. It was just a matter of time. My opponent calmly did the right things, and a quick reversal of fortunes resulted in the picture over to the left, of me getting the daylights choked out of me. Good times!

One thing I would like to note at this point is that every single one of my opponents was very very gracious, friendly and welcoming. I received a lot of positive compliments not only from my opponents, but from some of my opponents’ coaches, one of whom told me that I “definitely did not look like just a novice out there”. I take that as credit to my instructor and to my attitude towards training, and a sign that I’m going in the right direction. During my time at the tournament, I didn’t once run into bad attitudes or inflated egos.

My third match was against an absolutely huge, shredded dude who calmly picked me up like a small child, deposited me on the mat, and proceeded to, despite my fiercest protests to the contrary, crank my shoulder to hell and back. Tap tap tap and it was back to the drawing board.

I had two more matches after that, both of which resulted in victories for my opponents on points. I learned a great deal about what to do and what I should have done. My last match was actually against a two year veteran who also complimented me on my technique and performance. Those compliments from coaches and other competitors meant almost as much to me as victories would have. As a Kung-Fu instructor I several times saw great potential in beginners, and never hesitated to let them know. It felt good for positions to be reversed, and for me to know that I had potential.

I ended up with 4th place in Novice no-gi, and 4th place in over 30 no-gi (out of 4 competitors, it should be noted!)

So, what did I do well?

• I didn’t beat myself up about losing as much as I usually do. I was humbled, but not crushed. This tells me that I have the right attitude.
• My defense was quite good, with bigger, stronger, more experienced competitors facing great difficulty in passing my guard and establishing position without me scrambling (I received the comment “fantastic grappling” from one of the coaches there)
• I handled myself incredibly well given my experience level in the art. This was a very good start for me!

The bad, and areas for improvement

• I was a little timid. I feel that had I pressed for takedowns more, I would have gotten one and been able to use my quickness to establish good positions. I was too passive and waited for the fight to come to me.
• I suffered a lot of “paralysis by analysis”. This tells me that I do not have the techniques and strategies internalized as well as I could. If the conscious mind enters the thought process, you have lost a huge advantage in speed and reaction time.
• There is no substitute for experience. I can’t take a pill or read a book or watch a video that gives me that. It is part of the journey, and one to which I greatly look forward.

Overall, I left the tournament with the same sense of excitement that I had my first Jiu-Jitsu class, one that I hadn’t felt sone starting Crossfit. That alone tells me that I’m on the right path. I will try and apply one of my favorite Dalai Lama quotes:

“When you lose, don’t lose the message”.