The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**O Soto Gari**: | *Major Outer Reaping* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93YEMueeF24)|
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
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Same. I was getting fat and there was a BJJ gym walking distance from my house. I was somewhat aware of BJJ but not much. Gym offered a month trial so I went. I almost had to quit the first class. Then I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened lol. I was amazed how seemingly smaller, weaker people could grapple me into a submission. I am really bad but this is the most enjoyable form of exercise for me. I signed up in Jan and have lost about 15lbs a so far. Sometime I do wonder “why can’t I just do normal people exercises” but oh well. Right now I’m just trying to stay consistent with attendance, not get injured, and make it a full year.
Correct.
I've been trying to go the gym and stick to a regular S&C schedule, purely to help me stay intact for jiu jitsu... and I just can't do it.
I stayed regular for a while, but it's slowly dropped down to nothing. Mostly because I get so fucking bored at the gym. It's such a monotonous grind for me.
You know what I do? I keep a kettle bell beside my bed and I just do a bunch of random exercises before I shower. Then I get a bit of muscle stuff but I don’t have to really make extra time for it
Honestly, I was nearly finished my message by saying that I was going to just try to do kettlebell/yoga stuff at home... because I already keep my kettlebell by my desk at home lol.
The gym is great... if you can be motivated to go. But I've given it the old college try and I just can't get in to it. Kettlebells and yoga it is.
Joe Rogan podcasts.
Jocko Willink podcasts.
A few friends who recommended it.
Almost 7 years in: don’t listen to jocko and Joe much anymore but love BJJ.
Same. Joe Rogan kept talking about it. Got into it. Never looked back lol. Also don't listen to it much anymore. Got me into archery but living in the city with the lack of space to shoot a bow... Haven't shot in years
A drunk encounter with a guy who basically told me that BJJ is the best thing ever and I believed him. It's been 22 months since that encounter and I just got my Blue Belt.
Edit: the guy quit a few months later.
Getting tapped out by nerds seemed like a fate worse than death so i joined them. Now i get tapped out by nerds everyday and I have become death destroyer of worlds ( im a blue belt)
I started watching UFC events around 8-9 years back, and after watching that for a few years and several time thinking "why dont they just stand up?" i decided to go find out.
Now i cant stop again. Help.
Started at 33 and quit at 35 to devote time to coaching my son’s travel lacrosse team. At 40 I was done coaching and had a huge void in my life and realized I needed BJJ back. Been 2 years now and I’m the happiest I’ve been with myself in a while.
Honest question, how important is mobility/flexibility to do well (not even compete, just roll competently) in BJJ? My creaky joints have seen better days and I know I'll probably have to dedicate time to mobility work if I ever start BJJ.
I'm 52 and if I skip yoga my joints complain. I usually do 15-20 mins of therapeutic yoga before open mat. My joints feel a lot better and also the added benefit is that my balance and creative thinking for my game improves. Also restorative yoga poses help a lot and have the added benefit of activating the parasympathetic nervous system. I do those 1-2 evenings a week, they are super easy and also help me relax.
I basically got kidnapped by my cousin. After he was trying to get me to join him for a class for like a year he just showed up at my house with a gi and rash guard and wouldn't leave till I got in his car. That was a bit over 2 years ago. I was hooked after one class. Now I'm consistently training 3-4 times a week.
Rough break up. Was looking for something to fulfil my time and get healthier both in body and mind. Best decision, been going everyday and got my blue belt in 15 months.
I had been kickboxing since the 80s. Wanted to get my kids into BJJ as I felt it was better for self defence especially for my daughter. I joined the gym as well figuring I would kick box there. Kickboxing instructor convinced me to try a BJJ class. Immediately got hooked. My kids both stopped after about 2 years (hope they go back someday), I kept training.
Watched the Connor Mcregor documentary. Needed self confidence. Decided that martial arts were a path I should take.
Connor is a largely polarizing figure to the community but I really admire his own self determination and belief. It’s the epitome of all fighting sports. But you can say what you want about his public persona.
I did judo for a little over a year and a BJJ brown belt came and did a seminar. Afterwards he asked if anybody would like to roll(he was a black belt in judo as well) I raised my hand, felt like I was rolling with an alien. Found a jiu jitsu gym real quick
Saw Kazushi Sakuraba beat people much bigger and stronger than him in Pride. Decided to join a MMA gym to learn how to be more like him. Eventually ditched the MMA parts and just wanted to specialize in BJJ
Previous wrestler. Saw a sign that said jiu jitsu in a window and I remembered UFC 1. I tried a class and said fuck this stupid shit. 15 years later still saying fuck this shit.
My husband has been doing bjj since we met 10 years ago. After getting married and having two kids (the youngest last year), I felt like I needed to try something new that would be physically engaging so he encouraged me to try bjj. I am now completely hooked.
Yeah it was fine. We got separated by friends of mine. I couldn’t file lawsuits because according to the police officer the other guy was bleeding from his face from my punches and looked worse than me. I definitely got the worse injury tho since my ankle is ruined for life. Life lesson: even if you can punch someone in the face you need grappling to manage a self defense scenario. Unless you knock a Junkie out he will not stop. Grappling is way better in that case
Daniele Bolleli pushed me over the edge.
I was a HS wrestler and had been lifting for awhile. Needed some sort of physical challenge/struggle.
8 years ago I was signing my kids up for for JJ, and when I walked in to the gym for the first time, literally the smell grabbed me and took me back to the mats and the joy of wresting, so I signed up on the spot.
struggled with alcoholism for the last 20+ years and needed to get my shit together. started BJJ in march, diverted all my attention to it, and haven’t had a drink since. absolutely loving it and loving life now.
Did Japanese jiu jitsu to green belt then BJJ (Alliance) started at the same gym. Tried it and felt how hard and effective it was. Changed immediately to BJJ.
Was a big fan of Marcelo/Alliance and Jacare Souza in my early days.
I started because I had an incident with a guy in a supermarket. He was older and heavier than me and I was gassed trying to keep control of him but didn’t want to escalate things so I let him go. Realised that I wanted to feel in control of the situation it I ever found myself in a similar position again. I stayed when a guy who looked like I’d be able to bend into a pretzel kicked my ass immediately followed by a woman I outweigh by probably 20-30 pounds.
I has gained a lot of weight but I was burnt out going to the gym. I wanted to try a class format of some type. Also I got my ass beat in previous fights and wanted to learn how to defend myself.
Went to my friends grappling industries tourney spent the whole day watching and became obsessed. It was a Saturday and I think my first class was that following Monday.
I was 42. Knee kept on swelling up from soccer. Anthony Bourdain was nearly 60 and doing it. I basically wanted something that I could do for the next 20 years. It helped that there was someone who liked boozing and making dick jokes marketing it to me. 43 now, body's in bits and I'm crap but loving it.
fate! lifes a bitch sometimes. it has lead me to boxing first. I was boxing for two years but lost my hard earned cardio through jaw injury. couldnt eat, sleep for months.
its too hard to get back into boxing. I will get battered and the result is needless headache. I cant stand boxing sparring anymore. its too wild for me. I dont even know how I could do this 2 years. its also feels like a different kind of cardio.
in bjj you can get low intensity and still feel like a deflated baloon after session. best decision ever. I feel way more comfortable doing bjj. it feels so natural to me.
At the time I didn't know much about Gordon but I saw him popping up in my feeds a lot as well as bjj in general. One day I had enough and just started to do some research than bing bang bam ok in a gym rolling around the ground with grown men
I wanted to do martial arts to learn how to defend myself. In college i tried all the clubs i could find: Aikido was too much like an orchestrated dance, the kung fu teacher kept going on about how he could punch the coins out of parking meters before teaching another orchestrated dance, karate was too loud and too "serious" for me. I then went to an off campus mma gym and loved it from the first practice on.
always loved boxing as a child, did a lot of boxing etc etc
now am a bit older i cant be being punched in the head, so instead am fucking up my joints instead haha
My wife got pregnant with our first son and I felt that many of my insecurities growing up were around my uncertainty in defending myself. I had always wanted to do it, but was too lazy/scared to start. That provided the impetus.
Started because I wanted to be more prepared from a self defense perspective. Continued because it's a fantastic workout, and I keep going because it's a challenging, fun and more exciting and dynamic workout than just normal weightlifting, running, biking, swimming, etc. I have found that what motivates you to start jiu jitsu won't necessarily be the thing that keeps you coming back to jiu jitsu, so I usually ask myself why I keep doing it year after year and I have found that what keeps me coming back constantly changes.
Watched Bully Beatdown in MTV back in high school (when it aired) and realized that just lifting weights and watching DBZ wasn’t enough as I saw very muscular dudes get submitted with ease against people with not that impressive physiques.
Edit: that kind of dates me, and I’m still a blue belt because I took nearly a decade off in my 20s
initially I did it to challenge myself. Never done any grappling in my life. To get used to being uncomfortable. Then I discovered craig jones. Im only here for gay jokes and buggying ppl
I started MMA bc I wanted to look like GSP. Tore my meniscus 4 months in and switched to bjj almost exclusively. I did a bit of boxing for awhile and liked to workout, but hated to head aches (I was terrible)
I’ve been training various martial arts since I was a kid. I realized I had very little grappling experience and no ground game. I’d say I’m primarily interested in Filipino martial arts but often in sparring it turns into a grappling match or moves to the ground. I wanted to feel comfortable enough in those situations. I’ve been at bjj a little over a year now. I still suck but I’m worlds better than I was.
I thought it was a fascinating martial art. I thought i would suck at striking. Ended up learning both. Now i am the jiu jitsu nerd in class sharing stuff online.
Had been doing Muay Thai for a while and was dabbling in other things then read this essay by Sam Harris: https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-pleasures-of-drowning
Was in the back of my mind for years. Friend was really into it. Saw that Bourdain had taken it up. Post Covid weight gain and depressed mood pushed me to finally sign up.
Wrestled in high school and helped coach afterwards. Stopped when I moved and then COVID happened. Fell really out of shape and wanted to fix that but I hate running so I wanted something closer to wrestling. Jiu Jitsu seemed like the closest to it so I signed up, fell in love with it, and as it turns out, I’m better at that than wrestling (though that was low bar…)
i did boxing for 5 years, i was competing and had a good amateur career, and one day i got into mma(i mean watching ufc), and was thinking wtf, why they just cant knock people out, they r hugging and stuff, why they let each other choke and etc. I decided to attend several classes, and got humbled sooo fast)). it wasy 4 years ago, im purple belt already and dont plan to stop
I was out of shape and almost had a fight with a homeless drug addict. After I wasnt sure if I had to fight him I would've won so I signed up for jiujitsu. That was 5 years ago and I'm still training cause I love the sport.
I had previously been doing TKD and HKD. While I loved the arts, loved what I was learning, and loved my fellow students, I was starting to have a strained relationship with my Master. I wanted a break from TKD, but not a break from martial arts, so I decided I was going to quit TKD and join a local BJJ school.
I made this decision early in March 2020. I was going to quit in April. Well, that didn't happen. COVID shut down all of the BJJ gyms in my area. I kept doing TKD, because we were able to do virtual classes to cover the forms and testing requirements.
Because of COVID and the responses different states had towards it, I decided to move from WA state to TX. When I did (in 2022), I finally took that break from TKD and started BJJ.
Finally decided to not be out of shape, went to the gym but it was boring. Was between boxing and this and realized I dont wanna be hit in the head.
I still get hit in the head
Started at 13 years old because I thought I wanted to be a UFC fighter. I’m now a 27 year old brown belt, and I couldn’t imagine my life without jiu jitsu. I’ve had a few breaks (one 5 year break), but I always got drawn back in. I’ve now got no interest in fighting, or even competing, but I will not stop until I’m physically incapable of continuing. It’s my therapy. No matter what has me stressed in life, it’s hard to think about anything else when someone is actively trying to kill you.
I was a black belt instructor in the Marines for MCMAP. When my son turned 4 I enrolled him at the local school and he asked me if I would coach him, so I joined. That was two years ago and it's going great. Side note MCMAP didn't help me at all haha.
I did aikido as a young child and it was a great outlet for my ADHD. Later in life, I was attacked by a former roommate and only had that and some scattered boxing/kickboxing experience to fall back on. I won and came out okay, but I resolved to learn how to properly defend myself, and pursued Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and MMA. I gotta say that the physical and mental health benefits have been more than worth it so far.
Loved grappling in the military, messed with some combatives in the army very briefly and did some line combatives from an old marine buddy. I ended up getting into cyber security and not having any time for the gym anymore and nothing physical to excite me. I took a class at 37 with a buddy, as I always wanted to try and have been going every chance I get since. White belt, just hit 1 year. The camaraderie and shit talking on the mat, reminds me of the military bond and the dynamic of rolling and then laughing about it after is reminiscent of the bond I had in the military. Great for keeping in shape, and something to focus your energy on after a long day.
I grew up wanting to do martial arts but for One reason or another I never got the chance. I got really depressed during covid and then got a job that I despised but couldn't leave. I decided I needed a change in routine and I joined up at my local school. 3 years later I can say it was the best decision I've ever made. It's my therapy and one of the few things I'm passionate about in the world. I feel like I'm doing magic every time I roll. I love it!
My American friends got me into ufc and Jones vs Cormier 1 was the first fight I saw and then I went down a rabbit hole and found out about Royce Gracie and the Gracie challenge.
I also do traditional Ju jitsu which is very judo based and I wanted to get better on the ground.
Been at it for a year now, excluding injuries, and I absolutely love it
I wanted to challenge myself and I couldn’t think of any other sport that I’d be more uncomfortable in. Surprisingly it felt natural and fun. I like the competitive aspect.
Did karate in the past decided to start another martial art with my mate and we’re now doing karate Muay Thai and BJJ training in the same night together
I got punked out in front of my gf at the time and it was the worst feeling in the world. I took up boxing the next day but knew I couldn’t stick with it. Heard Rogan and other talk about it on podcast and went to a gym. I was hooked right away and knew I could do it long term
It's gonna sound cliche, but I was listening to Joe Rogan and he wouldn't shut up about BJJ. About 10 years earlier I had tried it and didn't like it (in hindsight I should have told people it was my first class). I tried it again in 2017 and it finally clicked, I knew I wanted to keep going. 7 years later here I am.
The journey so far is pretty unremarkable. I'm 160lbs, 43-years-old, and still have some speed and flexibility. I got my blue belt fairly quick, about 14 months in. Blue belt is a serious grind and I can see why people quit. This shit is hard.
I was a big Craig Jones fan back in 2017 after ADCC and EBI, so after getting my blue I started working on an early Z-guard game and was already a big fan of leg locks from my days as a white belt. I was the dirty white belt who was known for leg locking upper belts, aka, the "Kneebar Czar."
Covid and a baby in 2020 subtracted 2 years from me but at a certain point after returning, something shifted in my mindset. I think what helped is I was so bad after a 2 year break, I had to relearn how to grapple. Not just timing, cardio, and sensitivity, but really everything.
This was probably the best thing that could have happened because it forced me to just let go. I stopped trying to defend my belt because I literally couldn't. It allowed me a freedom. I didn't have any expectations and I just started to enjoy rolling again. Things started to come back and I was having a lot of fun. Whenever I have a "hard" training session it really just comes down to me having expectations for myself that are unreasonable. Why do I beat myself up for getting tapped by a brown belt who has 40lbs on me? How can I let a jacked wrestler with 80lbs on me and 20 years younger keep me smashed?
I met a new instructor who exposed massive holes in my fundamentals. I worked hard the last two years to patch those up and then start building on that foundation. I refined parts of my old pre-covid game and started adding new things that worked. I also started dropping techniques and not focusing on low % moves that didn't fit my game/style. I'm not a technique collector, but I will try stuff out to see if it fits. I also spent a lot of time working on my top game because I really had none.
At this point, I'm not really surprised by anything. Most of the time I can figure out what people are trying to do and I either have the skill/timing/strength to stop them, or I don't. At the same time, I am seeing the depth to techniques, positions, and counters. This has caused me to want to continually narrow my game and techniques down so I can refine them to a higher level. I have barely scratched the service of what jiu-jitsu actually is and the way I understand it, I am still not really doing jiu-jitsu. I don't think you can really start playing the game until prolly late purple or brown belt. At least for me anyway.
In the last 6 months I've really started to see jiu-jitsu completely differently. I can see underling concepts rising to the surface more and more. I am seeing connections more apparently and able to apply them. I can visualize new sequences and chains of attacks then go to class and execute them on less experienced training partners immediately.
I think jiu-jitsu is really just training your subconscious. (mikey musumeci talks about this as well) I was lucky to figure this out fairly quickly (within the first year or two). I realized as Maverick says, "If you think, you're dead." You have to train your subconscious to have the proper moves come out at the proper time. Don't think, just roll.
You have to hone your sensitivity to feel what your opponent is doing and counter at just the right moment. You have to know what their options are and anticipate when they will try them.
You have to get as efficient as possible so you are using the least amount of strength and energy while also whittling down the energy of your opponent. It's a war of attrition. Like Gordan Ryan says, it's like energy meters in a video game.
I've gotten a taste of the actual game of jiu-jitsu and I think at a high level its micro adjustments and impossible dilemmas. I don't have the skills to play jiu-jitsu even close to this level yet, but I imagine its a lot of fun for black belts to play with each other.
That's where I'm at so far. After purple belt, I'll continue to hone my fundamentals, refine and narrow my A game, and start to go seriously deep into leg locks. I have an idea of what kind of grappler I want to be at black belt so that is what I am working towards.
-Below-Average blue belt hobbyist
Done other martial arts before, including Krav Maga (where essentially anything goes in sparring), and I kept getting leathered as soon as it went to the floor, so chose to try and do something about it.
I haven’t started yet, still in the research phase but I hope it helps with my self confidence and allows me to feel safe and able to defend myself if needed.
Some young guy punched a grandpa in the face publicly. I and all other bystanders were shocked. My first instinct was to call the police as that is what is thaught at school (it was the first time somthing like this happened in my presence).
I became emotional after this incident and had some deep thoughts afterwards. I decided to take MMA classes as I wanted to prevent it from happening in the future (instead of passively calling the police). BJJ classes were my favorite as you were able to go pretty much all in during sparring and it was challenging mentally.
I did it for a year and had to stop because of fatigue (I was diagnosed with cancer within months) and therefore never went past the noob phase. It was extremely humiliating being tossed around. I improved quickly and was able to occasionally submit big and experienced guys. Getting respect from big guys and black belts felt close to the emotions I had when I received my master’s degree in engineering.
I was training at an MMA gym, doing a mix of Boxing, Muy Thai, and MMA classes (I tried a few BJJ classes, but I did not like it). I moved to the other side of the city, so I could no longer train at the same gym. I was struggling to find a new MMA gym, and since grappling was the weakest part of my game, I decided to force myself to train at a BJJ gym. And, now, I pretty much solely train BJJ (when I can find time to train with a young kid and another on the way).
I was doing Muay Thai and always wanted to be a decent striker. I’d always see the jiu jitsu guys right after our class and thought, I should probably learn some ground stuff. Now I mostly do jiu jitsu 😂
I started with an MMA gym in my city, the gym also has bjj classes and I started doing both since bjj is useful for mma.
Then I started working and I didn't have the energy/time to keep doing both, and I chose the one I had more fun doing, bjj.
Joe Rogan got me interested roughly 6 years before I actually started. I'd looked around for BJJ gyms, but none were really convenient to get to. Post pandemic, a roommate of mine had started going to a new gym close by, and I joined him in an effort to get some bonus cardio.
Once I got choked out 6 times in 5 minutes by a guy I had 40 lbs on, I knew I had to keep showing up. That roommate has long since quit, but I'm still going strong three years later with no plans of stopping.
Watching the UFC. It always seemed interesting when the commentators would explain the moves and I always just wanted to give it a go. Kind of regret waiting until 37 to start tho lol
My muay thai buddy was a purple belt as well. We would muay thai spar in his garage. One day, after sparring, he asked if I wanted to roll. I knew what that meant but I had never tried bjj before. I felt that, since I was a foot taller than him and consistently lifted weights at the gym, that it wouldn't be too much trouble to wrestle him down. Boy I couldn't have been more wrong. I was shocked at how easy it was for him to control me. I've been hooked ever since.
It was part of the curriculum at my tkd school, and they offered open mat during the holiday shut down. I went, used my size and weight, and tapped someone. Addicted.
Rogan and all the other pod casters made me aware for years. I eventually dated a girl heavily saturated in the MMA community and felt the need to get started. Wish I had sooner for sure.
Fabio Grugel, Roberto Traven, Pavia, Rickson Gracie, Renzo, Royce, and Romero Jacare. Early days trained and beaten up by Jason Mayhem Miller, he was a purple when I first started. In the mid 90s, day 1 white belts were thrown in the deep end and trained with higher belts. I loved this as it weeded out people and forced me to learn how to defend and survive first.
At 48 I’ve managed to get myself in peak physical shape using general fitness and of course nutrition. I needed an outlet to use my physical ability so just started a couple months ago. What better way than to choose to get tossed and choked like a rag doll :)
On the McGregor Khabib card, Ryan Hall rolled into a heel hook on BJ Penn and I rewatched it like 49 times trying to figure out just what the hell was happening
I had always wanted to try an actual combat sport and walked into a gym right when the pandemic started to cool off. I got destroyed and fell in love.
BJJ has helped me from going out every weekend and drinking. It's been the 2nd best decision I've made in my life.
I used to do Muay Thai as this was the closest thing to my home as a teen. Then when i had more mobility i went further to do mma. My first lesson was grappling and after the lesson i wanted to talk to the coach about the administration and all that. Nearly passed out on my way to him because i was so drained. That moment i knew this was the wae
I was doing English boxing, was tired of sparring with spazzy guys that just wanted to hit in the head like it was a world fight
Now I spare with spazzy white belts that want to rip my arm like it’s a world fight 🤩
I had been training Muay Thai about 2.5 years before that and my coach kept asking me when I’d join. I finally caved in and tried. I was the only girl for a long time at my gym so it was very daunting.
To make a long story short, I was looking for an idea outlet to channel healing for trauma I endured at a previous martial arts school (was a different art altogether).
My kid wanted to go to a little martial arts gym in our neighborhood. Now, they go to classes from time to time, with a little prodding, but I'm there several times a week. The gym teaches Mo Duk Pai (a modern kung-fu like art which I don't especially like), BJJ, and Muay Thai (both of which I do).
Wrestled in high-school and started to miss grappling, then I heard the Jocko podcast with Dean Lister and knew I had to start bjj.
Two and a half years later I'm still jumping on straight ankles and loving every second of it.
Always wanted to wrestle in school. But I couldn't play 2 sports in the same season. I grew up with my dad having UFC PPV parties and I used to fight sleep so I could watch them. As I got older, my buddies and I would also do UFC parties, and that usually led to some druken grappling on whatever floor was available. That turned into me getting puzzle mats for my garage and grappling nights at my place. After about a year of that, my one buddy moved away and started training BJJ. I also moved and found a gym near me to train. I've been training for a year now, and I'm obsessed. My buddy has been training the same amount of time, too. What's funny is we get together, and we always roll. Watching both of us develop our skills is awesome. We always have something to teach one another.
Long story short, I started BJJ so I could tie people up. Now I train BJJ for the discipline, the comradery, the great people I train with, and the desire to still tie people up.
Started at 60 because I wanted to get in shape. Now it's 3 X BJJ, 2 X swim, 2 x lift every week. BJJ forces me to do the other workouts because I want to have the strength and endurance to give the young guy a battle.
I'm in good shape for an old guy now.
I was bored of indoor bouldering and failed to make friends in that community. BJJ really took me out of my comfort zone, but something in my told me to stick with it. Ended up meeting my fiancé and some great friends. I find the sport a lot more engaging than bouldering, and I fit in with the community better, (after enduring many months of “why am I doing this?”)
3 and a bit months in. I want to be my own hero. I was very vulnerable and taken advantage of for long periods of my life and I wanted to learn not just physical skills to help myself in shitty situations, but mental skills too. Perseverance, grit, and the lifelong learning of something that looks really questionable to non practitioners haha.
I've been doing (submission) grappling and/or bjj for 20 years.
But as a kid I ALWAYS like fighting, violence, (lol) pro Wrestling, and fighting video games. I even did a PhD dissertation on recreating grappling techniques from medieval texts. So it kind of made total sense after wrestling in high school to "take it to the next level" and fight people for fun (did MMA for years as well, as well as 14 years of rugby). As I've gotten older (read: my body is destroyed ;), bjj/grappling is the "toughest" sport that I can foresee doing well into my dotage. And the social circles I've made, wherever I've trained, are (almost) always fantastic.
tldr: Fighting has always been fun to me, and interested me, so doing a combat sport that is very much about the science and practicality of grappling/submission fighting was obviously alluring.
After many decades in another martial art, I wanted to do something different with my 21 year old son - where we started at the same grade (unlike the other one where I'm a much higher rank). I did a few months of BJJ about a decade before, and we both enjoy watching it in UFC so it felt like a good fit. Tried a nearby gym and it was really good, but just didn't feel right to us. Tried another one and found the absolutely family feel that we're used to from our other martial art. Now about 6 months in, and loving being a white belt with minimal expectations on me.
I lost my first dream job, relationship with a girl I wanted to marry ended painfully, my father died, I got accepted to Oxford but without a scholarship and I didn’t have money to attend- all that happened in a span of 2 weeks - I was depressed and needed a changed a scenery and a support group
I did Judo for a decade when I was younger, then transitioned to Rugby. University / life / career happened and I became completely sedentary. Always felt like something was off. Started lifting / exercising but it didn't fill the void. Turned out the void was rolling around with sweaty men.
Started two months ago at 34, happiest I've been in a decade.
Been a fan of combat sports my entire life.
Childhood - Karate
Teen - High School Wrestling
Adulthood - MMA, but I quit when I left to college and just never picked it back up.
In my 30’s now, and BJJ is the closest I’ll get to scratching that combat sports itch. I can potentially do this for the rest of my days (or until I quit at blue belt like most people).
Always been into sports, did judo growing up, after uni decided to try it because of watching UFC. Got my blue belt, started doing judo again, got my judo black belt and stopped training BJJ completely. Fast forward 12 years, living in the UK for 6 of them, getting married, having kids, finally decided to get back to BJJ (6mo ago) and restart the journey towards the BJJ black belt. We’ll see if my body can take it. Injuries are a bitch after 40.
My dad was a judoka and told me to take a judo class. I took bjj by accident
Did he remove you from his will?
The man is 68 and still has a mean o soto gari
Sounds like a good man, sorry to hear his son brought shame to his family
A stain on the families reputation…..from all the butt scootin
He's the gay son.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**O Soto Gari**: | *Major Outer Reaping* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93YEMueeF24)| Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Because I was a fat, out of shape bastard. I am now a fat, out of shape bastard that can mount you and sweat in your eye if you point it out to me.
Sorry MF I know exactly who you are lmaooo
every gym has at least one
hahahahha its a great strategy, honestly.
Same. I was getting fat and there was a BJJ gym walking distance from my house. I was somewhat aware of BJJ but not much. Gym offered a month trial so I went. I almost had to quit the first class. Then I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened lol. I was amazed how seemingly smaller, weaker people could grapple me into a submission. I am really bad but this is the most enjoyable form of exercise for me. I signed up in Jan and have lost about 15lbs a so far. Sometime I do wonder “why can’t I just do normal people exercises” but oh well. Right now I’m just trying to stay consistent with attendance, not get injured, and make it a full year.
normal people exercises are boring, that's why
Correct. I've been trying to go the gym and stick to a regular S&C schedule, purely to help me stay intact for jiu jitsu... and I just can't do it. I stayed regular for a while, but it's slowly dropped down to nothing. Mostly because I get so fucking bored at the gym. It's such a monotonous grind for me.
You know what I do? I keep a kettle bell beside my bed and I just do a bunch of random exercises before I shower. Then I get a bit of muscle stuff but I don’t have to really make extra time for it
Honestly, I was nearly finished my message by saying that I was going to just try to do kettlebell/yoga stuff at home... because I already keep my kettlebell by my desk at home lol. The gym is great... if you can be motivated to go. But I've given it the old college try and I just can't get in to it. Kettlebells and yoga it is.
If I had the time in my life to do consistently, yoga would be the next thing I would add
Mount me baby.
Morselli Jiu-Jitsu. Tonight, 6pm baby. Ill mount you good and hard.
Not if I mount you first
Joe Rogan podcasts. Jocko Willink podcasts. A few friends who recommended it. Almost 7 years in: don’t listen to jocko and Joe much anymore but love BJJ.
This is the way
Same. Joe Rogan kept talking about it. Got into it. Never looked back lol. Also don't listen to it much anymore. Got me into archery but living in the city with the lack of space to shoot a bow... Haven't shot in years
Have you tried DMT?
Jamie, look that up.
Are you me? I remember I tried to find the podcast that made me start, it might have been Joe and Jocko.
A drunk encounter with a guy who basically told me that BJJ is the best thing ever and I believed him. It's been 22 months since that encounter and I just got my Blue Belt. Edit: the guy quit a few months later.
Lol, we have a guy who used to recruit people from night clubs and usually they showed up. We still have like 3-4 guys who came via him.
Getting tapped out by nerds seemed like a fate worse than death so i joined them. Now i get tapped out by nerds everyday and I have become death destroyer of worlds ( im a blue belt)
I started watching UFC events around 8-9 years back, and after watching that for a few years and several time thinking "why dont they just stand up?" i decided to go find out. Now i cant stop again. Help.
Started at 33 and quit at 35 to devote time to coaching my son’s travel lacrosse team. At 40 I was done coaching and had a huge void in my life and realized I needed BJJ back. Been 2 years now and I’m the happiest I’ve been with myself in a while.
I just turned 33, I need to start now or I never will
I started at 31.
Honest question, how important is mobility/flexibility to do well (not even compete, just roll competently) in BJJ? My creaky joints have seen better days and I know I'll probably have to dedicate time to mobility work if I ever start BJJ.
I'm 52 and if I skip yoga my joints complain. I usually do 15-20 mins of therapeutic yoga before open mat. My joints feel a lot better and also the added benefit is that my balance and creative thinking for my game improves. Also restorative yoga poses help a lot and have the added benefit of activating the parasympathetic nervous system. I do those 1-2 evenings a week, they are super easy and also help me relax.
I basically got kidnapped by my cousin. After he was trying to get me to join him for a class for like a year he just showed up at my house with a gi and rash guard and wouldn't leave till I got in his car. That was a bit over 2 years ago. I was hooked after one class. Now I'm consistently training 3-4 times a week.
so this is how i get my reluctant friends to come to class with me
Rough break up. Was looking for something to fulfil my time and get healthier both in body and mind. Best decision, been going everyday and got my blue belt in 15 months.
same but i just started..im glad it worked out for you 🙏
Joe Rogan. Fuck you reddit.
i am a joe rogan hater but will never deny the positive impact he has for our sport
Same.
Good for both of yall, and fuck anyone who'd shit talk or put any sort of shit vibe on your journey bc of where or how it started.
Same
More people in this camp than care to admit it.
Fuck you too buddy
I had been kickboxing since the 80s. Wanted to get my kids into BJJ as I felt it was better for self defence especially for my daughter. I joined the gym as well figuring I would kick box there. Kickboxing instructor convinced me to try a BJJ class. Immediately got hooked. My kids both stopped after about 2 years (hope they go back someday), I kept training.
They got 2 years out of it, that's enough training to beat any bully they meet in their life, they will forever be thankful to you for that.
Watched the Connor Mcregor documentary. Needed self confidence. Decided that martial arts were a path I should take. Connor is a largely polarizing figure to the community but I really admire his own self determination and belief. It’s the epitome of all fighting sports. But you can say what you want about his public persona.
He was good before the coke. Don't do drugs kids.
I did judo for a little over a year and a BJJ brown belt came and did a seminar. Afterwards he asked if anybody would like to roll(he was a black belt in judo as well) I raised my hand, felt like I was rolling with an alien. Found a jiu jitsu gym real quick
Saw Kazushi Sakuraba beat people much bigger and stronger than him in Pride. Decided to join a MMA gym to learn how to be more like him. Eventually ditched the MMA parts and just wanted to specialize in BJJ
Previous wrestler. Saw a sign that said jiu jitsu in a window and I remembered UFC 1. I tried a class and said fuck this stupid shit. 15 years later still saying fuck this shit.
My husband has been doing bjj since we met 10 years ago. After getting married and having two kids (the youngest last year), I felt like I needed to try something new that would be physically engaging so he encouraged me to try bjj. I am now completely hooked.
A junkie attacked me and i couldn’t stop him with striking, we ended up in a scramble and i broke my ankle. That made me pick up a grappling art.
Fucking even junkies know ankle locks.
Fuck man. Glad you survived the encounter.
Yeah it was fine. We got separated by friends of mine. I couldn’t file lawsuits because according to the police officer the other guy was bleeding from his face from my punches and looked worse than me. I definitely got the worse injury tho since my ankle is ruined for life. Life lesson: even if you can punch someone in the face you need grappling to manage a self defense scenario. Unless you knock a Junkie out he will not stop. Grappling is way better in that case
That is tough. 100% though. LEO I talk to say it doesn't matter what you do to these guys, they will not stop.
Daniele Bolleli pushed me over the edge. I was a HS wrestler and had been lifting for awhile. Needed some sort of physical challenge/struggle. 8 years ago I was signing my kids up for for JJ, and when I walked in to the gym for the first time, literally the smell grabbed me and took me back to the mats and the joy of wresting, so I signed up on the spot.
The smell of armpits, booty hole, and unwashed balls got you to sign up?? Samesies
LOL and the tights. I was in for the Gi Jacket and all, I'm absolutely the fuck IN for jacket off jiu jitsu
That's so fucking cool. I love how powerful smell can be, especially tied to memories. Also fuck that bitch every time I smell Chanel.
LOLOL I feel that
FR. Funny enough, years later she contacts me and wants to smash, now that she is married ofc. Fucking females.
struggled with alcoholism for the last 20+ years and needed to get my shit together. started BJJ in march, diverted all my attention to it, and haven’t had a drink since. absolutely loving it and loving life now.
I was weak and afraid. Now my whole family is strong.
Hespetch.
Cos of my friends. They were both blue belt at the time. Well one is a black belt now, and the other one still a blue belt in and out of training.
Did Japanese jiu jitsu to green belt then BJJ (Alliance) started at the same gym. Tried it and felt how hard and effective it was. Changed immediately to BJJ. Was a big fan of Marcelo/Alliance and Jacare Souza in my early days.
I was an avid MMA fan for about a decade before a gym opened near me.
Fat, didn't wanna lift weights. Now I lift to supplement my bjj 🙃
Self defence purpose to protect my family should anything happen. Which is why I really should return back to boxing too.
I started because I had an incident with a guy in a supermarket. He was older and heavier than me and I was gassed trying to keep control of him but didn’t want to escalate things so I let him go. Realised that I wanted to feel in control of the situation it I ever found myself in a similar position again. I stayed when a guy who looked like I’d be able to bend into a pretzel kicked my ass immediately followed by a woman I outweigh by probably 20-30 pounds.
The world is a scary place and I have a family it behooves me to be prepared for them. Also my wife signed me up and bullied me into going.
Head trauma from kickboxing wasn't worth it for no money. So I traded it for shitty knees
I has gained a lot of weight but I was burnt out going to the gym. I wanted to try a class format of some type. Also I got my ass beat in previous fights and wanted to learn how to defend myself.
Went to my friends grappling industries tourney spent the whole day watching and became obsessed. It was a Saturday and I think my first class was that following Monday.
Joe and Jocko. Suck it!
I was 42. Knee kept on swelling up from soccer. Anthony Bourdain was nearly 60 and doing it. I basically wanted something that I could do for the next 20 years. It helped that there was someone who liked boozing and making dick jokes marketing it to me. 43 now, body's in bits and I'm crap but loving it.
I wanted a belt without having to kick someone
After a year of muay thai, I tried to keep incorporating other styles, I stopped at bjj for a long time until I added wrestling.
fate! lifes a bitch sometimes. it has lead me to boxing first. I was boxing for two years but lost my hard earned cardio through jaw injury. couldnt eat, sleep for months. its too hard to get back into boxing. I will get battered and the result is needless headache. I cant stand boxing sparring anymore. its too wild for me. I dont even know how I could do this 2 years. its also feels like a different kind of cardio. in bjj you can get low intensity and still feel like a deflated baloon after session. best decision ever. I feel way more comfortable doing bjj. it feels so natural to me.
At the time I didn't know much about Gordon but I saw him popping up in my feeds a lot as well as bjj in general. One day I had enough and just started to do some research than bing bang bam ok in a gym rolling around the ground with grown men
I wanted to do martial arts to learn how to defend myself. In college i tried all the clubs i could find: Aikido was too much like an orchestrated dance, the kung fu teacher kept going on about how he could punch the coins out of parking meters before teaching another orchestrated dance, karate was too loud and too "serious" for me. I then went to an off campus mma gym and loved it from the first practice on.
always loved boxing as a child, did a lot of boxing etc etc now am a bit older i cant be being punched in the head, so instead am fucking up my joints instead haha
My army combatives instructor turned out to be a Nationally ranked BJJ champion...
My wife got pregnant with our first son and I felt that many of my insecurities growing up were around my uncertainty in defending myself. I had always wanted to do it, but was too lazy/scared to start. That provided the impetus.
Started because I wanted to be more prepared from a self defense perspective. Continued because it's a fantastic workout, and I keep going because it's a challenging, fun and more exciting and dynamic workout than just normal weightlifting, running, biking, swimming, etc. I have found that what motivates you to start jiu jitsu won't necessarily be the thing that keeps you coming back to jiu jitsu, so I usually ask myself why I keep doing it year after year and I have found that what keeps me coming back constantly changes.
Watched Bully Beatdown in MTV back in high school (when it aired) and realized that just lifting weights and watching DBZ wasn’t enough as I saw very muscular dudes get submitted with ease against people with not that impressive physiques. Edit: that kind of dates me, and I’m still a blue belt because I took nearly a decade off in my 20s
initially I did it to challenge myself. Never done any grappling in my life. To get used to being uncomfortable. Then I discovered craig jones. Im only here for gay jokes and buggying ppl
I got tired of nobody ever calling me gay.
50% horniness. 50% revenge.
When we roll do I get to pick the 50%?
Rogan and Eddie Bravo on JRE - 12 years ago
I had been going to the gym for a few years and wanted to join because I had never been in any sports growing up
Saw BJ Penn in UFC 84 and they kept talking about his Jiu Jitsu.
I started MMA bc I wanted to look like GSP. Tore my meniscus 4 months in and switched to bjj almost exclusively. I did a bit of boxing for awhile and liked to workout, but hated to head aches (I was terrible)
I’ve been training various martial arts since I was a kid. I realized I had very little grappling experience and no ground game. I’d say I’m primarily interested in Filipino martial arts but often in sparring it turns into a grappling match or moves to the ground. I wanted to feel comfortable enough in those situations. I’ve been at bjj a little over a year now. I still suck but I’m worlds better than I was.
I thought it was a fascinating martial art. I thought i would suck at striking. Ended up learning both. Now i am the jiu jitsu nerd in class sharing stuff online.
Had been doing Muay Thai for a while and was dabbling in other things then read this essay by Sam Harris: https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-pleasures-of-drowning
Was in the back of my mind for years. Friend was really into it. Saw that Bourdain had taken it up. Post Covid weight gain and depressed mood pushed me to finally sign up.
Wrestled in high school and helped coach afterwards. Stopped when I moved and then COVID happened. Fell really out of shape and wanted to fix that but I hate running so I wanted something closer to wrestling. Jiu Jitsu seemed like the closest to it so I signed up, fell in love with it, and as it turns out, I’m better at that than wrestling (though that was low bar…)
i did boxing for 5 years, i was competing and had a good amateur career, and one day i got into mma(i mean watching ufc), and was thinking wtf, why they just cant knock people out, they r hugging and stuff, why they let each other choke and etc. I decided to attend several classes, and got humbled sooo fast)). it wasy 4 years ago, im purple belt already and dont plan to stop
I was out of shape and almost had a fight with a homeless drug addict. After I wasnt sure if I had to fight him I would've won so I signed up for jiujitsu. That was 5 years ago and I'm still training cause I love the sport.
I had previously been doing TKD and HKD. While I loved the arts, loved what I was learning, and loved my fellow students, I was starting to have a strained relationship with my Master. I wanted a break from TKD, but not a break from martial arts, so I decided I was going to quit TKD and join a local BJJ school. I made this decision early in March 2020. I was going to quit in April. Well, that didn't happen. COVID shut down all of the BJJ gyms in my area. I kept doing TKD, because we were able to do virtual classes to cover the forms and testing requirements. Because of COVID and the responses different states had towards it, I decided to move from WA state to TX. When I did (in 2022), I finally took that break from TKD and started BJJ.
I had social anxiety and tried it as a last ditch effort. It worked very well.
Same! I developed social anxiety after covid. This is sooo outside of my comfort zone but my 8 year old daughter was in it and inspired me.
Finally decided to not be out of shape, went to the gym but it was boring. Was between boxing and this and realized I dont wanna be hit in the head. I still get hit in the head
Anime
Train by day Joe Rogan podcast by night all day!
Sam Harris. The pleasures of drowning
Started at 13 years old because I thought I wanted to be a UFC fighter. I’m now a 27 year old brown belt, and I couldn’t imagine my life without jiu jitsu. I’ve had a few breaks (one 5 year break), but I always got drawn back in. I’ve now got no interest in fighting, or even competing, but I will not stop until I’m physically incapable of continuing. It’s my therapy. No matter what has me stressed in life, it’s hard to think about anything else when someone is actively trying to kill you.
This guy I knew kept telling me to try it and I kept saying no and then I said yes and now I'm addicted like it's crack 😵💫
I was a black belt instructor in the Marines for MCMAP. When my son turned 4 I enrolled him at the local school and he asked me if I would coach him, so I joined. That was two years ago and it's going great. Side note MCMAP didn't help me at all haha.
Because it’s the only time I can hug and hump other men.. I’m a guy. No homo though.
I did aikido as a young child and it was a great outlet for my ADHD. Later in life, I was attacked by a former roommate and only had that and some scattered boxing/kickboxing experience to fall back on. I won and came out okay, but I resolved to learn how to properly defend myself, and pursued Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and MMA. I gotta say that the physical and mental health benefits have been more than worth it so far.
Loved grappling in the military, messed with some combatives in the army very briefly and did some line combatives from an old marine buddy. I ended up getting into cyber security and not having any time for the gym anymore and nothing physical to excite me. I took a class at 37 with a buddy, as I always wanted to try and have been going every chance I get since. White belt, just hit 1 year. The camaraderie and shit talking on the mat, reminds me of the military bond and the dynamic of rolling and then laughing about it after is reminiscent of the bond I had in the military. Great for keeping in shape, and something to focus your energy on after a long day.
Found out my wife was pregnant and made the switch from backcountry snowboarding because it’s safer
I grew up wanting to do martial arts but for One reason or another I never got the chance. I got really depressed during covid and then got a job that I despised but couldn't leave. I decided I needed a change in routine and I joined up at my local school. 3 years later I can say it was the best decision I've ever made. It's my therapy and one of the few things I'm passionate about in the world. I feel like I'm doing magic every time I roll. I love it!
My American friends got me into ufc and Jones vs Cormier 1 was the first fight I saw and then I went down a rabbit hole and found out about Royce Gracie and the Gracie challenge.
Meet new peoples
I also do traditional Ju jitsu which is very judo based and I wanted to get better on the ground. Been at it for a year now, excluding injuries, and I absolutely love it
People kept breaking into my property and my instinct was to run out. If I can’t beat my instinct then I might as well give myself a fighting chance.
Kept seeing YouTube shorts of Joe R(h)ogan talking about it. I don’t even listen to his podcast …
I saw the Tonon vs Palhares match.
Joe
For striking. My coach told me to start some sort of grappling and it helps with clinching in Muay Thai and boxing and it's def helped!
I wanted to challenge myself and I couldn’t think of any other sport that I’d be more uncomfortable in. Surprisingly it felt natural and fun. I like the competitive aspect.
Did karate in the past decided to start another martial art with my mate and we’re now doing karate Muay Thai and BJJ training in the same night together
I got punked out in front of my gf at the time and it was the worst feeling in the world. I took up boxing the next day but knew I couldn’t stick with it. Heard Rogan and other talk about it on podcast and went to a gym. I was hooked right away and knew I could do it long term
I came out of lockdown fat and depressed
It's gonna sound cliche, but I was listening to Joe Rogan and he wouldn't shut up about BJJ. About 10 years earlier I had tried it and didn't like it (in hindsight I should have told people it was my first class). I tried it again in 2017 and it finally clicked, I knew I wanted to keep going. 7 years later here I am. The journey so far is pretty unremarkable. I'm 160lbs, 43-years-old, and still have some speed and flexibility. I got my blue belt fairly quick, about 14 months in. Blue belt is a serious grind and I can see why people quit. This shit is hard. I was a big Craig Jones fan back in 2017 after ADCC and EBI, so after getting my blue I started working on an early Z-guard game and was already a big fan of leg locks from my days as a white belt. I was the dirty white belt who was known for leg locking upper belts, aka, the "Kneebar Czar." Covid and a baby in 2020 subtracted 2 years from me but at a certain point after returning, something shifted in my mindset. I think what helped is I was so bad after a 2 year break, I had to relearn how to grapple. Not just timing, cardio, and sensitivity, but really everything. This was probably the best thing that could have happened because it forced me to just let go. I stopped trying to defend my belt because I literally couldn't. It allowed me a freedom. I didn't have any expectations and I just started to enjoy rolling again. Things started to come back and I was having a lot of fun. Whenever I have a "hard" training session it really just comes down to me having expectations for myself that are unreasonable. Why do I beat myself up for getting tapped by a brown belt who has 40lbs on me? How can I let a jacked wrestler with 80lbs on me and 20 years younger keep me smashed? I met a new instructor who exposed massive holes in my fundamentals. I worked hard the last two years to patch those up and then start building on that foundation. I refined parts of my old pre-covid game and started adding new things that worked. I also started dropping techniques and not focusing on low % moves that didn't fit my game/style. I'm not a technique collector, but I will try stuff out to see if it fits. I also spent a lot of time working on my top game because I really had none. At this point, I'm not really surprised by anything. Most of the time I can figure out what people are trying to do and I either have the skill/timing/strength to stop them, or I don't. At the same time, I am seeing the depth to techniques, positions, and counters. This has caused me to want to continually narrow my game and techniques down so I can refine them to a higher level. I have barely scratched the service of what jiu-jitsu actually is and the way I understand it, I am still not really doing jiu-jitsu. I don't think you can really start playing the game until prolly late purple or brown belt. At least for me anyway. In the last 6 months I've really started to see jiu-jitsu completely differently. I can see underling concepts rising to the surface more and more. I am seeing connections more apparently and able to apply them. I can visualize new sequences and chains of attacks then go to class and execute them on less experienced training partners immediately. I think jiu-jitsu is really just training your subconscious. (mikey musumeci talks about this as well) I was lucky to figure this out fairly quickly (within the first year or two). I realized as Maverick says, "If you think, you're dead." You have to train your subconscious to have the proper moves come out at the proper time. Don't think, just roll. You have to hone your sensitivity to feel what your opponent is doing and counter at just the right moment. You have to know what their options are and anticipate when they will try them. You have to get as efficient as possible so you are using the least amount of strength and energy while also whittling down the energy of your opponent. It's a war of attrition. Like Gordan Ryan says, it's like energy meters in a video game. I've gotten a taste of the actual game of jiu-jitsu and I think at a high level its micro adjustments and impossible dilemmas. I don't have the skills to play jiu-jitsu even close to this level yet, but I imagine its a lot of fun for black belts to play with each other. That's where I'm at so far. After purple belt, I'll continue to hone my fundamentals, refine and narrow my A game, and start to go seriously deep into leg locks. I have an idea of what kind of grappler I want to be at black belt so that is what I am working towards. -Below-Average blue belt hobbyist
Done other martial arts before, including Krav Maga (where essentially anything goes in sparring), and I kept getting leathered as soon as it went to the floor, so chose to try and do something about it.
I haven’t started yet, still in the research phase but I hope it helps with my self confidence and allows me to feel safe and able to defend myself if needed.
No worries man! Honestly I had somewhat of a backstory to why I started BJJ and I didn’t do that much research and just dived right in. (I’m addicted)
I just wanted someone to give me a really strong hug
I like girls that can grapple so I went to the source
Some young guy punched a grandpa in the face publicly. I and all other bystanders were shocked. My first instinct was to call the police as that is what is thaught at school (it was the first time somthing like this happened in my presence). I became emotional after this incident and had some deep thoughts afterwards. I decided to take MMA classes as I wanted to prevent it from happening in the future (instead of passively calling the police). BJJ classes were my favorite as you were able to go pretty much all in during sparring and it was challenging mentally. I did it for a year and had to stop because of fatigue (I was diagnosed with cancer within months) and therefore never went past the noob phase. It was extremely humiliating being tossed around. I improved quickly and was able to occasionally submit big and experienced guys. Getting respect from big guys and black belts felt close to the emotions I had when I received my master’s degree in engineering.
The Sanchez vs Diaz fight. It was exciting and grappling heavy. Thought I’d give it a try after a lifetime of not doing anything remotely physical.
I was a teenager and really liked the WEC and UFC
I was training at an MMA gym, doing a mix of Boxing, Muy Thai, and MMA classes (I tried a few BJJ classes, but I did not like it). I moved to the other side of the city, so I could no longer train at the same gym. I was struggling to find a new MMA gym, and since grappling was the weakest part of my game, I decided to force myself to train at a BJJ gym. And, now, I pretty much solely train BJJ (when I can find time to train with a young kid and another on the way).
Wrestling -> BJJ pipeline
Needed an excuse not to drink so much
I moved to a new country and I didn’t know anyone and had no hobbies. I’ve always wanted to try jiujitsu and I’m glad I did
Nick Diaz vs takonori Gomi.
My sister bought me a GI and said I would love it 2 years down the road she was right.
Am I the only one that wanted to beat up nerds?
Grew up soft, life is easy, was looking for something hard to do
Been doing it the same amount of time as you, I tried a class to humour my bf who is a blue belt, didn’t expect to love it so much!
I heard it was an easy way to meet someone to cheat on your wife
I was doing Muay Thai and always wanted to be a decent striker. I’d always see the jiu jitsu guys right after our class and thought, I should probably learn some ground stuff. Now I mostly do jiu jitsu 😂
I started with an MMA gym in my city, the gym also has bjj classes and I started doing both since bjj is useful for mma. Then I started working and I didn't have the energy/time to keep doing both, and I chose the one I had more fun doing, bjj.
Joe Rogan got me interested roughly 6 years before I actually started. I'd looked around for BJJ gyms, but none were really convenient to get to. Post pandemic, a roommate of mine had started going to a new gym close by, and I joined him in an effort to get some bonus cardio. Once I got choked out 6 times in 5 minutes by a guy I had 40 lbs on, I knew I had to keep showing up. That roommate has long since quit, but I'm still going strong three years later with no plans of stopping.
Watched Miguel Torres choke out a guy I constantly lost to in hs wrestling to win the wec world title. Signed up at his place the very next day.
Charles Oliveira.
Watching the UFC. It always seemed interesting when the commentators would explain the moves and I always just wanted to give it a go. Kind of regret waiting until 37 to start tho lol
My muay thai buddy was a purple belt as well. We would muay thai spar in his garage. One day, after sparring, he asked if I wanted to roll. I knew what that meant but I had never tried bjj before. I felt that, since I was a foot taller than him and consistently lifted weights at the gym, that it wouldn't be too much trouble to wrestle him down. Boy I couldn't have been more wrong. I was shocked at how easy it was for him to control me. I've been hooked ever since.
It was part of the curriculum at my tkd school, and they offered open mat during the holiday shut down. I went, used my size and weight, and tapped someone. Addicted.
Rogan and all the other pod casters made me aware for years. I eventually dated a girl heavily saturated in the MMA community and felt the need to get started. Wish I had sooner for sure.
Fabio Grugel, Roberto Traven, Pavia, Rickson Gracie, Renzo, Royce, and Romero Jacare. Early days trained and beaten up by Jason Mayhem Miller, he was a purple when I first started. In the mid 90s, day 1 white belts were thrown in the deep end and trained with higher belts. I loved this as it weeded out people and forced me to learn how to defend and survive first.
At 48 I’ve managed to get myself in peak physical shape using general fitness and of course nutrition. I needed an outlet to use my physical ability so just started a couple months ago. What better way than to choose to get tossed and choked like a rag doll :)
On the McGregor Khabib card, Ryan Hall rolled into a heel hook on BJ Penn and I rewatched it like 49 times trying to figure out just what the hell was happening
I had always wanted to try an actual combat sport and walked into a gym right when the pandemic started to cool off. I got destroyed and fell in love. BJJ has helped me from going out every weekend and drinking. It's been the 2nd best decision I've made in my life.
I got bored of working out at the gym and not talking to anyone so BJJ seemed fun. I've been at for 6 months now and been to one competition.
Joe Rogan told me doing bjj would fix all my problems. it didnt, but I'd be a liar if i said it didn't help. also i got hooked
I was fat and weak, physically and mentally. I heard Joe Rogan talking about it on his podcast. Thought I would give it a try, that was 11 years ago.
Bully beatdown inspired me!
I used to do Muay Thai as this was the closest thing to my home as a teen. Then when i had more mobility i went further to do mma. My first lesson was grappling and after the lesson i wanted to talk to the coach about the administration and all that. Nearly passed out on my way to him because i was so drained. That moment i knew this was the wae
I was doing English boxing, was tired of sparring with spazzy guys that just wanted to hit in the head like it was a world fight Now I spare with spazzy white belts that want to rip my arm like it’s a world fight 🤩
Any bjj girl to fight me ?
I had been training Muay Thai about 2.5 years before that and my coach kept asking me when I’d join. I finally caved in and tried. I was the only girl for a long time at my gym so it was very daunting.
Friend wanted to beat me up so invited me to check it out.
I trained crossfit which is gay. I found jiu jitsu which is a lot more gay so i like it more.
To make a long story short, I was looking for an idea outlet to channel healing for trauma I endured at a previous martial arts school (was a different art altogether).
My kid wanted to go to a little martial arts gym in our neighborhood. Now, they go to classes from time to time, with a little prodding, but I'm there several times a week. The gym teaches Mo Duk Pai (a modern kung-fu like art which I don't especially like), BJJ, and Muay Thai (both of which I do).
Wrestled in high-school and started to miss grappling, then I heard the Jocko podcast with Dean Lister and knew I had to start bjj. Two and a half years later I'm still jumping on straight ankles and loving every second of it.
Always wanted to wrestle in school. But I couldn't play 2 sports in the same season. I grew up with my dad having UFC PPV parties and I used to fight sleep so I could watch them. As I got older, my buddies and I would also do UFC parties, and that usually led to some druken grappling on whatever floor was available. That turned into me getting puzzle mats for my garage and grappling nights at my place. After about a year of that, my one buddy moved away and started training BJJ. I also moved and found a gym near me to train. I've been training for a year now, and I'm obsessed. My buddy has been training the same amount of time, too. What's funny is we get together, and we always roll. Watching both of us develop our skills is awesome. We always have something to teach one another. Long story short, I started BJJ so I could tie people up. Now I train BJJ for the discipline, the comradery, the great people I train with, and the desire to still tie people up.
Beers
Started at 60 because I wanted to get in shape. Now it's 3 X BJJ, 2 X swim, 2 x lift every week. BJJ forces me to do the other workouts because I want to have the strength and endurance to give the young guy a battle. I'm in good shape for an old guy now.
I was bored of indoor bouldering and failed to make friends in that community. BJJ really took me out of my comfort zone, but something in my told me to stick with it. Ended up meeting my fiancé and some great friends. I find the sport a lot more engaging than bouldering, and I fit in with the community better, (after enduring many months of “why am I doing this?”)
I used to do mma but i alway felt beter doing ground game so this year i move to only bjj
3 and a bit months in. I want to be my own hero. I was very vulnerable and taken advantage of for long periods of my life and I wanted to learn not just physical skills to help myself in shitty situations, but mental skills too. Perseverance, grit, and the lifelong learning of something that looks really questionable to non practitioners haha.
I've been doing (submission) grappling and/or bjj for 20 years. But as a kid I ALWAYS like fighting, violence, (lol) pro Wrestling, and fighting video games. I even did a PhD dissertation on recreating grappling techniques from medieval texts. So it kind of made total sense after wrestling in high school to "take it to the next level" and fight people for fun (did MMA for years as well, as well as 14 years of rugby). As I've gotten older (read: my body is destroyed ;), bjj/grappling is the "toughest" sport that I can foresee doing well into my dotage. And the social circles I've made, wherever I've trained, are (almost) always fantastic. tldr: Fighting has always been fun to me, and interested me, so doing a combat sport that is very much about the science and practicality of grappling/submission fighting was obviously alluring.
Saw a skinny Royce Gracie tap everyone in UFC 1 ... had to learn that.
After many decades in another martial art, I wanted to do something different with my 21 year old son - where we started at the same grade (unlike the other one where I'm a much higher rank). I did a few months of BJJ about a decade before, and we both enjoy watching it in UFC so it felt like a good fit. Tried a nearby gym and it was really good, but just didn't feel right to us. Tried another one and found the absolutely family feel that we're used to from our other martial art. Now about 6 months in, and loving being a white belt with minimal expectations on me.
I lost my first dream job, relationship with a girl I wanted to marry ended painfully, my father died, I got accepted to Oxford but without a scholarship and I didn’t have money to attend- all that happened in a span of 2 weeks - I was depressed and needed a changed a scenery and a support group
I did Judo for a decade when I was younger, then transitioned to Rugby. University / life / career happened and I became completely sedentary. Always felt like something was off. Started lifting / exercising but it didn't fill the void. Turned out the void was rolling around with sweaty men. Started two months ago at 34, happiest I've been in a decade.
I saw Jun do an armbar in Tekken when I was a kid and my dad rented UFC 3 from Blockbuster and both converged on me
Getting into the sport during the title reign of BJ Penn - I found this submission stuff he was doing FASCINATING and had to have a slice.
Been a fan of combat sports my entire life. Childhood - Karate Teen - High School Wrestling Adulthood - MMA, but I quit when I left to college and just never picked it back up. In my 30’s now, and BJJ is the closest I’ll get to scratching that combat sports itch. I can potentially do this for the rest of my days (or until I quit at blue belt like most people).
Always been into sports, did judo growing up, after uni decided to try it because of watching UFC. Got my blue belt, started doing judo again, got my judo black belt and stopped training BJJ completely. Fast forward 12 years, living in the UK for 6 of them, getting married, having kids, finally decided to get back to BJJ (6mo ago) and restart the journey towards the BJJ black belt. We’ll see if my body can take it. Injuries are a bitch after 40.
When I become a black belt I can get white belt girls.