What I've learned

It's been a while, over two years, since I've written on this blog. I can't promise you (I say you with the pretentious notion that I'm speaking to someone other than myself) that I will update regularly but having the app on my phone will certainly help. I have been trying to compile this list for a while now. Adding bits and pieces as I think of them and somehow hoping they will form something resembling a cohesive thought when I'm done. I don't think I managed anything cohesive but I do have a list so read it and enjoy!

Here's a list of some of the things I've learned in my short time in jiu-jitsu:

• The worst answer to the question "How do I get out of this?" is "Don't get there."

•  "Don't get there" is a perfectly acceptable answer to "How do I get out of this?"

• Establish dominance with new people otherwise they will always think they can beat you if they just go harder.

• Never, ever trust a whitebelt to not hurt you.

• Belt promotions are the worst thing that can happen to you. Your friends become thirsty for your freshly belted blood and the big goobers go twice as hard to catch you in the muscle-cana.

• Politics run rampant in jiu-jitsu. Stay out of them. You won't be able to but try anyway.

• Training in the heat is miserable but training in the cold is dangerous. Toes don't like cold mats.

• Rolling is the most important thing you will do in class. It is what separates bjj from all the other martial arts. What we do is only effective if you can do it while rolling.

• Sport jiu-jitsu is very different from self defense jiu-jitsu but that doesn't mean a sport jiu-jitsu practitioner couldn't defend themselves on the street.

• Jiu-Jitsu has peaks and valleys. Better put, sometimes you're the hammer other times you're the nail(Renzo Gracie). Though I've always found my game to improve after a week or two of getting beat up.

• It is a higher belt's prerogative to stop any submission they may be caught in, explain why you would never catch them in said submission, teach them the "right" way to do it, then escape and punish them for trying to submit you. 

• Knee on face/neck is only a jerk move if done by a lower rank than you. 

Last and maybe the most important...

• Always get the underhook...unless you shouldn't

These are just some of the things that I've discovered. They may not be true for everyone, your mileage may vary as they say but probably not.