Returning to BJJ: My Journey Back to the Mats and Lessons Learned

So I’ve been back in BJJ at Ronin Athletics for over a month now. Specifically, I’m in the sports jujitsu program called Master Cycle. Here, we actually roll, and it feels more like a “traditional” BJJ school as opposed to the Gracie Combatives program, which is geared more towards street and self-defense with no live rolling.

One thing I noticed right away is that I’m somewhat out of practice. But the more I train, the more I’m getting my hips and mobility back. Another realization—one that doesn’t surprise me at all—is how gassed out I am when doing rounds of rolling.

Today, we did three rounds of positional rolling followed by five five-minute rounds of free rolling. I completed five out of eight rounds. By the end, I was sucking wind like crazy, but we put in some good work, and I was calmer than in previous weeks. Still, I was drenched in sweat and completely out of breath.

One thing I’ve always known to be true is that the only way to get good at something—or to build the right conditioning for it—is to actually do it. All the cardio, weightlifting, and other training I’ve done don’t translate directly to BJJ conditioning. That said, if I weren’t already in decent shape, a day like today would’ve had me puking by round three. I didn’t puke, so that’s a win. I was exhausted, but it could’ve been much worse if I weren’t already fairly active.

Today, I pulled off an X-guard sweep, an Americana, butterfly sweeps, and a few back takes—all while starting from my back. One of my coaches pointed out that my guard game needs work, so I’ve been starting every sparring session from guard. This is an unnatural and weaker position for me. I’m much stronger on top, but on my coach’s advice, I’m forcing myself to start in disadvantageous positions to improve my escapes and guard retention.

I’ve also realized that with my injuries, I often have to abandon certain moves because I don’t have the neck strength to fight for or hold them. Today, I accepted that my new normal is letting go of certain positions, even if it puts me in a worse spot. From there, I have to work to regain position while protecting my neck and other vulnerable areas. This was an important realization, especially since some of my training partners didn’t hold back and used my neck as a handle while working. I didn’t mention my injury—I just tried to manage the situation as safely as possible. But I know I need to work on that because I can be pretty stubborn. My coach always says, “I gotta protect Angel from Angel.” He’s not wrong. I am my own worst enemy.

In any case, I’m loving being back in training. I’m excited to learn and try new things, like X-guard. I’ve also been experimenting with the leg and torso traps that Dagestani fighters use. I just hope my body keeps up with my enthusiasm.