When did you start taking BJJ

[onlyme]

Since I really don't belong on this board since my actual MMA knowledge is very limited, I thought I would ask this question cause I think may have started it before most of you.  I first took it from Rorian back in 1986 or 87.  Not exactly sure but it was one of those years.  There were no other Gracie Academy's anywhere in the US at this time.  We trained on old wrestling mats in his garage.  It was $20 per hour one on one sessions.  He liked us to wear different clothing to some classes so we could learn in different situations wearing different clothing and shoes or whatever.  After class we would hang around sometime and eat food his wife or girlfriend made.  I would also like to think I helped them greatly to get Worldwide exposure with the article in Playboy magazine. 

[gracie bjj]

im jealous as hell ;Dyou trained when not many people knew what the hell submission grappling/bjj was,you where really fortunate to hook up with those gracies back then,must have been cool doing moves on your buddies and choking them out or armbarring them and have them look at you in amazement,like what the hell was that,i want to learn that stuff they prolly said,lol.plus you did security/bouncing in clubs back in the day and you knew how to escort someone outside without really hurting them cause alot of times its just some drunk ass dude trying to act tough in front of his boys.thats the beauty of bjj,you dont have to mawl someone if they get out of hand,ive worked some security/bouncing back in the day also,im 43 years old and once i got married years back and had my son my wife asked me if i could stop doing that type of work.it was great when i was younger cause i would train at renzo,s academy in new york during the late morning hours then go home and sleep and get up around 630pm or so and get ready for working at the clubs,i worked 3 days aweek and made around 500$ aweek,i wasnt getting rich but it paid the bills and i was single and having a good ole time with the women and the fringe benefits that come along with that job .i got to hand it to you bro youve been around.back to your question big guy,i started off wrestling in jr high school and all the way through high school,i graduated in 83 and then just pumped iron till 94 or 95,once i seen the ufc on cable tv i said i got learn that royce stuff,all i found was a judo school run by a japanese guy who was awesome,i stayed there until 97 or so,i got up to green belt after competing in afew tournaments then joined a shootfighting school in the area,it was one of bart vales guys.i enjoyed it cause the judo gave me a great base standing up and setting up nice hip throws and stuff.but i liked the shootfighting better cause they taught alittle of everything,mostly mauy thia,bjj and western boxing,the guy who taught the bjj was a renzo purple belt so he was pretty nasty and slick on the ground,our muay thia teacher was a old guy from thailand but man that guy was awesome.for wrestling we had a guy who was a all american in college so he knew his stuff.unfortunatly the school closed down in 2000.while i was at the shootfighting school i used to travel to renzo gracie academy in new york once or twice a month just to get in a really sick workout,them guy used to toy with me,humbling experiance.then once the shootfighting school closed i joined the renzo academy and my game got so much better in such a short time i was amazed.thanks for reading this everyone

[danielson]

Since I really don't belong on this board since my actual MMA knowledge is very limited, I thought I would ask this question cause I think may have started it before most of you.  I first took it from Rorian back in 1986 or 87.  Not exactly sure but it was one of those years.  There were no other Gracie Academy's anywhere in the US at this time.  We trained on old wrestling mats in his garage.  It was $20 per hour one on one sessions.  He liked us to wear different clothing to some classes so we could learn in different situations wearing different clothing and shoes or whatever.  After class we would hang around sometime and eat food his wife or girlfriend made.  I would also like to think I helped them greatly to get Worldwide exposure with the article in Playboy magazine. 

He had both?

[Bluto]

Good stories guys.

[americanbulldog]

First started training off and on with Carlos Valente in 1992.  (You remember him, Keith)  Then a couple of years later, Relson, Rorion and Royce show up to our Kung Fu kwoon in chinatown.  The three of them took everyone down, submitted everyone with very little effort.  Became a Relson student then. 

[SinCitysmallGUY]

Just started training JJ three years ago.. Before that I trained in a few arts. My first was Kenpo Karate which was good as I was just 10 years old. Since then I have trained in some Judo, song Moo Kwon (TaeKwonDo), Some Tai Kick Boxing, and then just trained everything all together with my cousins and a few other places. Can't wait till my little girl is old enough to walk, then she will be coming to the gym with me...

[George Whorewell]

This is a dumb question, but I wanted to ask some people who would know. I do jiu jitsu, not BJJ. Is there that big a difference? From what I can gather goshin jiu jitsu, or any jiu jitsu that isn't BJJ has more stand up technique and judo stuff where BJJ is mostly fighting on the ground. I've been doing it about 5 months and its the first grappling art I've gotten into. All the MMA guys I see seem to be exclusively versed in BJJ or some kind of greco roman wrestling.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

This is a dumb question, but I wanted to ask some people who would know. I do jiu jitsu, not BJJ. Is there that big a difference? From what I can gather goshin jiu jitsu, or any jiu jitsu that isn't BJJ has more stand up technique and judo stuff where BJJ is mostly fighting on the ground. I've been doing it about 5 months and its the first grappling art I've gotten into. All the MMA guys I see seem to be exclusively versed in BJJ or some kind of greco roman wrestling.

Never done anything buy BJJ in the ground arts. Couldn't tell you what they do as I only know what we do? I know on the nights we train BJJ we don't do much on our feet. We might start from a stand up, but it never lasts but the first few seconds and someone shoots or takes you down and then your in class.. haha. I still find BJJ to be my favorite form I have trained. I go home beat after every class and thinking damn why couldn't class last a few more hours.

[onlyme]

He had both?

I wasn't sure what she was.  There were alot of people there and girls.  They all kind of took on domestic roles like cooking and cleaning and laundry.  I wasn't sure who was who.

First started training off and on with Carlos Valente in 1992.  (You remember him, Keith)  Then a couple of years later, Relson, Rorion and Royce show up to our Kung Fu kwoon in chinatown.  The three of them took everyone down, submitted everyone with very little effort.  Became a Relson student then. 

Oh yes I remember Carlos.  I just could never get it in my mind that the Carlos I knew and how he was, was the same Carlos who is so good in BJJ.  Did you see when Rickson did the exhibition in downtown with the FBI agent.  I remember Rorian challenging the Navy Seals.  When Rorian and them came with the Ultimate Fighting Championships they wanted to showcase Gracie Jiu Jitsu.  That is why at the beginning there were hardly any rules and it was outlawed in so many places.  They wanted to show that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was the best martial arts against any situation and that size didn't matter.  I do not think they thought it would take off so much as it has. 

[MisterMagoo]

Since I really don't belong on this board since my actual MMA knowledge is very limited 

i can't fight my way out of a wet paper bag, i just really like watching the sport. i don't buy the notion that you have to participate to enjoy watching. i'm far too pretty to let my face be messed up anyway. 

[americanbulldog]

This is a dumb question, but I wanted to ask some people who would know. I do jiu jitsu, not BJJ. Is there that big a difference? From what I can gather goshin jiu jitsu, or any jiu jitsu that isn't BJJ has more stand up technique and judo stuff where BJJ is mostly fighting on the ground. I've been doing it about 5 months and its the first grappling art I've gotten into. All the MMA guys I see seem to be exclusively versed in BJJ or some kind of greco roman wrestling.

Big difference.  I got a buddy who is a third degree Kodenkan Jiu jitsu practicioner.  They do all the same ne waza a BJJ practicioner would do, but do not emphasize the positions, transitions or spar as lively (randori) as does a BJJ class.  Consequently, when he does show up, he gets subbed by some of the good white belts rather easily.  Of course, he always counters that they'd already be dead because he would strike them fifteen times in rather sensitive areas.     I don't think he gets it. 

[americanbulldog]

Oh yes I remember Carlos.  I just could never get it in my mind that the Carlos I knew and how he was, was the same Carlos who is so good in BJJ.  Did you see when Rickson did the exhibition in downtown with the FBI agent.  I remember Rorian challenging the Navy Seals.  When Rorian and them came with the Ultimate Fighting Championships they wanted to showcase Gracie Jiu Jitsu.  That is why at the beginning there were hardly any rules and it was outlawed in so many places.  They wanted to show that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was the best martial arts against any situation and that size didn't matter.  I do not think they thought it would take off so much as it has. 

Saw Rickson's seminar at Kaiser......He tapped 125+ people easily, well within a minute each.  Didn't break a sweat.  Turtle does not work against him, fyi.  Kron is in town, and will do a seminar at our academy.  Yea! 

[gracie bjj]

This is a dumb question, but I wanted to ask some people who would know. I do jiu jitsu, not BJJ. Is there that big a difference? From what I can gather goshin jiu jitsu, or any jiu jitsu that isn't BJJ has more stand up technique and judo stuff where BJJ is mostly fighting on the ground. I've been doing it about 5 months and its the first grappling art I've gotten into. All the MMA guys I see seem to be exclusively versed in BJJ or some kind of greco roman wrestling.

ive trained with a japanese kid who recently moved here from japan,we talked and he told me he does jiu jitsu also,we rolled around alittle and to my suprise his techniques and style was very similer to bjj,he knew all the holds,chokes,armbars ect.they just called them by different names in japanese.what was interesting though was that his style was geared more toward combat rather then sport,i was impressed.alot of people dont realize that some schools focus more on sport bjj rather then combat bjj,theres a difference.i remember royce stating in a seminar i read that his family believes in training students for both sport and combat/street/war ect.the japanese kid also really emphasized his throws and takedowns,he said its good to have a little judo training for a beginner cause to many non gracie schools here in the states like to start rolling from their knees,he beleives thats a mistake doing that all the time,he did say he understood that sometimes the mats where jammed with students and it was kinda hard to start from the standup position and all,he said starting from the knees is okay but you just cant do it everytime.thats why i was glad i got my green belt in kodokon judo cause when i started the bjj i felt relaxed in the standing position and didnt have to worry about pulling guard right away.it seems like most schools are realizing that also,thats why the gracie affiliated schools always do awesome in tournaments cause they are big believers in starting from the feet rather then the knees.to be honest,i enjoy starting from the knees sometime cause if im focusing on armbars or triangles ect that day its alot easier imo,also if i have a tournament coming up i would cut out the starting from feet thing 2 weeks out so i didnt risk getting injured going into my match,im sure most of you would agree with me on that aspect of trying to throw guys and trying alot of other takedowns increases the chance of pulling a hamstring or your back out,and ive landed on my neck afew times and it wasnt fun,lol.maybe im just an old geezerd and getting wimpy in my old age(43),ill be 44 march 11.i know yous older guys understand what im saying about the aches and pains that come with years of lifting iron and doing some mma/bjj.back to the japenese kid,he told me his style was used in the ancient japanese wars were mamming or killing an enemy was the main goal,he showed me little variations of traditional bjj moves that turned the move more harmful and devasting then it already was.renzo told me his family was taught that style in the beginning but dont really teach that to noone except gracie family members.he did say that his family teaches  are armed forces alot of the old style,deadlier and mor combat suited style cause of the type of dangers they face on a daily basis,god bless are troops.them guys over in the middle east fighting for us are true american warriors,thanks for reading and keep the cool stories coming,i enjoy reading about everyones experiances in the mma/bjj world

[George Whorewell]

damn that was a lot of info gracie lol. Jiu Jitsu is very similar to BJJ because BJJ originated from Jiu Jitsu. The biggest difference I can tell is that JJ stays more true to its japanese judo roots while BJJ takes its own unique approach that is more ground oriented- JJ came from Judo and changed it and BJJ came from JJ and changed it.
  After warming up,where I train we have to start fighting standing, out of the different hold down positions, out of the guard, from our knees, etc. Usually in an almost round robin type format where you roll for five minutes each then move to the next guy and then the next and then the next until the very end of class where Sensei will call out two guys he wants to see fight while the whole class watches. From what you were describing, it seems that to be a more well rounded fighter you need some sort of judo/ or standup training. Me personally, I hate fighting out of the guard (probably because I'm still a beginner and suck at it) and prefer starting from my feet or knees. A lot that has to do with my technique being so bad- When your on your back or fighting from the guard, you need good technique to consistently be successful- Stand up and from your knees you can rely more on strength and intensity to get into a favorable position and make your opponent tap.

[Hedgehog]

Since I really don't belong on this board since my actual MMA knowledge is very limited, I thought I would ask this question cause I think may have started it before most of you.  I first took it from Rorian back in 1986 or 87.  Not exactly sure but it was one of those years.  There were no other Gracie Academy's anywhere in the US at this time.  We trained on old wrestling mats in his garage.  It was $20 per hour one on one sessions.  He liked us to wear different clothing to some classes so we could learn in different situations wearing different clothing and shoes or whatever.  After class we would hang around sometime and eat food his wife or girlfriend made.  I would also like to think I helped them greatly to get Worldwide exposure with the article in Playboy magazine. 

Go too Malmo and look up Mona Frank.  Her family owned a chocolate factory there.  Tell her hi for me.

No I really only knew west coast guys and really only in my weight class.  I didn't socialize with the guys much.  When I needed money I competed.

Yes I was doing an appearance there in conjuntion with Toys R Us and McDonalds.  And yes I got free food.  But I also got free food at Hooters
I didn't think anyone could beat me when I was at my strongest.  And a few people would agree.  But, in armwrestling anyone can beat anyone at anytime.  I was not the fastest but I was pretty strong.  That guy looks unreal but a young John Brezenk at 190 lbs would have destroyed that guy with no doubts. 

I spot a pattern here.

[Benny B]

I spot a pattern here.

hahaha 

[onlyme]

I spot a pattern here.

Hey what can I say, I like food.

[Hedgehog]

Hey what can I say, I like food.

BTW, to answer the thread - I've yet to take any Brazzie Jiu Jutsu.

I've only done striking various striking sports.