Those of you who are following my fitness journey know that I’ve come a long way since I started back on my fitness path. I’ve dropped over 75 pounds and many inches since then. I’m still working towards that flat stomach though!
You may also know that I used to, and have wanted to return to Brazilian Jujitsu for some time now. I’ve trained with a few people, but I spent the most time at The Blitz Center with Marcos Santos and Jucao Ailson Brites (before he opened up his own school).
I wanted to train at what I consider a “pure BJJ school.” Many others are striking schools or karate schools that have a BJJ program as an afterthought with blue or purple belts as their top-level instructors. I wanted a real spot, and from all my research, in my immediate vicinity, UNABJJ is the place.
I’ve been talking to Fred Villarica, the owner, for over a year now trying to plan my trial. But I’d never actually gone in until last week Friday. I’ll be honest, I was intimidated after being out so long. I was pretty good when I was younger, for a beginner, and I know I won’t be the same after all these years. I was also concerned about getting hurt and derailing my long-term fitness goals.
However, I decided to push through and just went for it. I showed up in the pouring rain and refused to let that stop me. It was a battle between me and the weather. I accidentally took the wrong bus going in the opposite direction. I had to walk back and ended up getting some nasty blisters from my new rain boots. I quickly used up my one-hour buffer and arrived late. But I refused to go back home. It was a matter of principle that whatever was trying to stop me from going would not.
So anyway, I made it, and I stood around a bit. I nodded at the purple belt on the floor who appeared to be running things, Kevin. I didn’t know if I was allowed to get on the mats, so I began to change and just waited for someone to engage me. Eventually, Fred saw me standing there and said, “Get on the mats.” So I joined in the drills.
We did quite a few drills, some of which I had to modify due to my permanent wrist injuries, but for the most part I did everything they did. I can’t do any of those bear walks since my wrists don’t bend. I tried to do them on my knuckles, and I was successful, but it tore up and split my skin. This is not desirable, so I won’t do that anymore. I’ll adjust to work around my wrist injury.
The school is about the same size as many other schools I’ve visited and trained at. The mats appear clean and sanitary. The bathrooms and other common areas are also clean. The training is solid, but I knew this before I got there—I researched the school prior to arriving. Also, my buddy Allen Lee trained with them for a while, and he highly recommended them as well.
The folks I’ve met so far are all really cool. As I mentioned before, I was very intimidated coming back, but once on the mats and around the great group of people, I was all good. Truth be told, most of the people I’ve met in combat arts are cool. There is a camaraderie we all share as fellow practitioners. There have only been a few occasions where I met someone I didn’t get along with at a martial arts school. Most people are part of the team that forms the school.
I’m not looking to go back into underground fighting again, but I still decided to join UNABJJ after my trial was up. I want to work hard and maybe one day I’ll compete at a grappling-specific competition. No more punches, elbows, shins, or kicks to the head. They really hurt! LOL. Anyway, for now, I’ll just train and learn as much as I can. The rest will come as it comes. I even gave up my rank to start fresh. I don’t want to walk around with two stripes on my white belt if I’m basically a beginner after 13 years off the mats.
I still have my strength, HIIT, and Zumba classes to teach, so for now, I’ll only be going twice a week. I’m only human, and I’m not in my twenties anymore! This type of training is very different from any other form of training I do outside, and it’s really challenging for me at this point. To improve, I added some of the drills that I struggled with to the fitness classes I teach, selfishly, to make myself stronger at them!
You know what is a good indicator of a good martial arts school? If the guys are really good. Everyone I’ve rolled with is pretty impressive. Even the younger, smaller guys are very crafty. I don’t go very hard when rolling with the younger ones because this isn’t about tapping or dominating them, it’s about learning and moving. I pretty much become an uke (the person who “receives” a technique) for them. I allow them to work for position while providing resistance and using some of my weight. I’ll block them here and there, but eventually I allow them to get the dominant positions and execute their submissions. When those kids grow up, they are going to be amazing at what they do.
The adults are also skilled, and I’ve had some good rolls with some tough training partners. I’ve been getting worked over pretty good, but as my BJJ-specific conditioning improves, I look forward to contributing more to my training partners.
I’m a big fan of UNABJJ and definitely recommend that you check it out if you are looking for a real deal Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school.
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