Jiggly & Half-Baked. My BJJ Journey at 500 Classes

Rex Kwon Do (Napoleon Dynamite)

Before starting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu two and a half years ago, I held a deep suspicion that it might be a kind of performative self-defense scam. You know - like breaking corrugated boards on a stack of bricks with your elbow. Belt ranks seemed like faux participation trophies for people who were willing to shell out requisite dough to their local McDojo. This was all before I was summarily dispatched by a much smaller female who choked, arm-barred, and "crucified" me within a 6-minute timeframe.

You can understand my misapprehension given my martial arts exposure was limited to Bruce Lee movies, Ralph Macchio as the Karate Kid, and Rex Kwon Do (Napoleon Dynamite). And in all fairness - who doesn't need a little Aikido ala Steven Seagal in their life? I know I do.

And yet, here I am writing another BJJ blog at my 500 class milestone. If only I was writing in star-spangled pants and matching bandana, my transformation would be complete. One can dream...

I still can't resist joking that my current belt rank (2-stripe blue belt) is more attendance-based than skill-based. If you put me up against another blue belt, the results will vary widely based on the age-size-aggression of the opponent. But I think it is very fair to say that I am no longer a beginner-level white belt (most of whom I can handle) and I am also not an intermediate level purple belt (all of whom handle me). So I guess my blue belt rank fits. I'm a non-beginner / sub-intermediate practitioner of the art. Is there a word to describe that status within a particular discipline? Let me know if you come up with one.

The metaphor that comes to mind is my weekly breakfast egg casserole that I meal-prep on Sundays. The beginning stage is to put the components together and get them in the baking dish. And when it initially goes in the oven, it looks like chunky liquid because it is. Sometime in the baking process, the mixture looks like it is coming along nicely - but when you give the pan a shake you can see that the middle has not "set" yet. It is jiggly and half baked - just like my BJJ.

The flaw in this particular metaphor is the inference that there may be a defined end-point in one's BJJ journey. BJJ is infinitely complex and there is no "fully baked" practitioner. Multi-stripe black belts who have practiced for over 30 years often marvel about how they keep learning new techniques and details. So I'm not pretending to say that there is ever a definite destination, like when my delicious breakfast casserole enters my mouth. And I'm also not saying that my BJJ is actually half or 50% of the way to anywhere in particular. What I'm basically saying is that the basic components of my BJJ practice exist and are baking in the oven.

A short time ago, I didn't even KNOW the basics of BJJ. Now I know a fair amount of techniques, but I don't usually EXECUTE them very well. And the only thing that is going to change that is more "mat time." Five hundred more training classes won't necessarily solve for the problem I face. Five to ten thousand more live sparring sessions are what the recipe calls for. I figure about 20 sparring sessions per week, 50 weeks out of the year = 1,000x/yr. So five-ish more years at that pace should help firm things up. Ay yi yi... "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

Okay - so that's overall the gist of things. Here are some more granular reflections as I consider what lies ahead:

1. Life Beyond Spazzy: There's a truth-infused joke in BJJ that the most dangerous belt to roll with is a white belt. That's often because white belts who don't understand grappling fundamentals will resort to raw strength at an unsustainable pace seeking dominant position or some injury-producing submission attempt. The scientific-technical non-Japanese term for this behavior is, "spazzy." And I think it is fair to say most of us have been there. Not out of ill-intent, but because our nervous system goes into fight-or-flight mode when under attack. But as you get into blue belt territory, your nervous system generally calms down and you're not as much of a random spazz-ball. I think I've safely moved beyond this stage, but it has led me to the following dynamic...

   
   

2. Volume-Intensity Continuum: I've been training 5-6x / week for over a year now. The only way to keep up that volume of training at my age has been to turn down the intensity of each sparring session. Instead of rolling super hard, I try to keep things pretty flowy and slow to the degree I can pace things. I would even say my goal has been to operate at about 60% of max effort. This has been a blessing because it allows me to think more deliberately instead of being physically reactive, but I can tell it is handicapping me when I spar with someone who is going full-tilt. When my sparring opponent goes into high-paced and heavy-pressure kill-mode, I tend to retreat into tight defenses, rather than responding in kind. My plan is to turn the sparring intensity dial up a bit and the training volume dial down. Stay tuned.

   
   

3. Bottom-to-top: BJJ is a paradox because on the one hand, it is all about taking your opponent to the ground and the fight doesn't stop when you are on your back. Quite the contrary - you learn to fight from your back. The mission, however, is generally to get off your back to get "top control." Because I tend to initiate at about 60% of max effort, I generally end up losing the opening battle for top control and in many instances, I almost literally give it away from the start. This is good because it has taught me how to defend well. But it is bad because I spend an inordinate amount of time being smashed-trapped on bottom. I'm going to have to focus more on the initial battle for top control and reversing/sweeping from bottom to open up more lines of attack.

   
   

4. Details Matter: One of the interesting things about BJJ is that the success of many techniques is often a matter of fine-tuning. So now, when we review a "basic" technique, I am not tuning out - thinking, "Oh, I know this already." No, I'm leaning in and wanting to know what little detail I am missing in hand position or weight distribution or whatever... Because what I have found is that the gross motor movement is really just a framework, not the skill itself. It turns out that technique is more technical than that. The small refinements come with big payoffs.

   
   

5. No Eye Contact Rule: I don't mean to tempt fate or the universe, but I have been fortunate to not suffer an injury that has taken me off the mats for long. Don't get me wrong, my chiropractor and I have developed a pretty tight relationship. I've had my share of bumps, bruises, scrapes, ringworm, and staph infections. So to keep my healthy-streak alive, I'm more committed than ever to self-enforcement of the "no eye contact rule." What is that, you ask? Simply this. When I go to an open mat for live sparring and I see another white-or-blue belt who is 225# plus and over 6' tall... I'm establishing no connection with said person. That dude is invisible to me. There will be no nod of the head or wave of the hand to begin the festivities. Sorry, big boy. You're gonna have to feast on younger flesh. It's not no. It's "hell nah."

Five hundred classes in, my BJJ’s a jiggly casserole, not a Rex Kwon Do masterpiece. And I suspect the next milestone may be farther off in time than this one was. But who knows? Maybe some other BJJ milestone will happen and I'll get the itch to write again. Until then, my friends, OSS.