Hi all and welcome to my blog.
My journey through BJJ has been interesting.
I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when I was 32 years old. At the time, my main reason for taking up the gentle art was to get in better shape. I was unfortunate to have had a very minor heart attack at the young age of 29. Being a former United States Marine, it was quite a shock to have a doctor tell me that I had some major clogged arteries. I had kept in decent shape after the Corps, but a drinking and junkfood lifestyle combined with some truly crappy herediatry gifts got me two stints in my chest nonetheless.
After the heart attack, I made some serious lifestyle changes and resolved to get as healthy as possible. There was a part of me extremely pissed that despite playing club soccer and regularly going to the gym, I had lived a life that had led to a heart attack at such a young age. Getting on a fully regimented health and fitness program helped me immensely however it was just not enough. There was still a part of me that needed to prove to myself that I was still the "Alpha" that had made it through bootcamp, made it through the School of Infantry as a heavy machine-gunner, and into Marine Security Forces as a member of the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company.
Enter Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
My first school was located in a Chuk Kuk Do academy. The BJJ program eventually split up with some people remaining and others going to a newly opened academy dedicated to BJJ. I stayed with my instructor, however with the introduction of new ownership to the academy, the program was practically gutted in favor of Krav Maga. Fortunately, the founders of the Chuk Kuk Do program moved on to open their own academy and offered my instructor a place at their new location to continue teaching a few months later. Bad times were still ahead however.
Due to recurring injuries from training, my instructor was forced to retire from martial arts completely and again I was without an academy. I spent almost a year out of BJJ, only stopping in at different academies in Tucson to roll during open mats. It was a trying time in BJJ for me as I had friends at many of the places or made new ones with each trying to convince me to make one of their places my new home, but I just did not get the right vibe. Don't get me wrong as these people are all great people with great schools, there was just something that was lacking for me personally.
Fast forward to the end of last year and I get a call from my retired instructor with the news that a new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program would be starting under Sal Flores at the new Chuk Kuk Do academy. My elation over the news was only doubled when based on reccomendations from my former instructor, I was asked to be part of the new program as a coach for the kids class. Considering that I love teaching the fundamentals and was tasked with helping new students many times previously, I found my new home with Pallaton Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
So here I am now. I have been training on and off in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for almost four years. I have competed on and off over those fours years, predominately in the IBJFF tournaments in Arizona with a trip to the Pans in 2009 as a white belt. While I do not know everything, I hope that I can pass on some of my experiences here that will either help newcomers to the sport or provide some laughs/introspect to any practioner of the sport.
Talk to you soon,
Rich
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