I know it's cliché and somewhat pretentious to name a BJJ blog Checkmate.... especially as a white belt. However, as a sport jiu jitsu competitor, I don't view BJJ as a means of survival or as a compliment to my striking capabilities. I approach jiu jitsu like I would any other game sitting in my living room closet.
I've never been one of those hyper-motivated people that can run 20 miles a day or bench press 800 pounds. In fact, I don't run or lift weights at all (more on that later). My biggest issue with any exercise is that I need to be mentally engaged as well as physically challenged. Interestingly enough, it took me 26 years to realize that mental engagement was what I was looking for.
As a teenager, I had studied Judo and a bastardized American form of Karate, but traditional sports (football/soccer/baseball) always took precedence. I don't really know why either. I never really liked any of the "school-type" sports, but I guess they usually offered more of a social outlet than attending Judo/Karate classes with an assortment of 6-year-olds and geriatric. However, by the time I started my senior year in high school, I was completely jaded .
After years of being physically inactive, my amazing metabolism finally gave up on me. I had ballooned 70 pounds since graduating college, and I needed an interesting way to keep me active. Down here in Houston, Texas, there aren't many ways to stay fit. It's usually far too hot for a Yankee like me to do anything outside, and most of the gyms down here are filled with women who make you feel like a serial rapist for casually glancing at them. So I decided to start searching for some martial arts classes in the area that offered a good workout.
I stumbled onto an advertisement for a local gym while looking up reviews on various search engines. They offered an assortment of things including: kickboxing, JKD, judo, cario, and BJJ. The breadth of their cirriculum (and a really nice intro offer) convinced me to check it out. At first I was doing the cardio classes, because I thought it would help me drop some weight. Soon after, however, I found that BJJ was one of the most physically demanding things that I had ever tried.
Four months and 40 pounds later, I was extremely satisfied with my progression in weight-loss. The best part was that BJJ didn't feel like a chore to me like other sports had in the past. I was actually having fun and feeling great!
That is when I decided to start taking jiu jitsu seriously. Despite my ridiculous lack of physical ability, I was excited to be in a one-on-one battle of wits with other people. It was very similar to when I used to play chess in college. Counters, sweeps, reversals, and attacks had all become pieces I could use in my game. All in the name of eliminating all options of escape for my opponent.
Checkmate.
Cool - I feel much the same way, as I always hated sports at school, and later found going to the gym really, really dull. BJJ is one of the few genuinely entertaining and engaging ways of getting fit, due to its seemingly endless depth.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading more of the blog! :)