journeyjjbluebelt

The morning after lesson 8, guillotine defense no. 1, I had a bruise on my left elbow. How? I was thrown four times to my left side. Apparently, I was late on the break fall slap. My elbow struck the ground first. My error was not practising my left side fall enough. Also, I had the same problem when I was put in a standing head lock from my left side and I had to defend against the punch with my left hand. As a blue belt, we need to practise being attacked from the left as much as from the right side.

Something important I learned on the blue belt journey. To stay fit for Jiu Jitsu training; especially, if your older like me,  you need to train within logical limits.  If you are injuried in a fundamental class, why push your body’s limit and go to a sparring class the next day?, the same with throwing class? If your back is injuried, why risk getting thrown?  It is okay to wait a few days. Heal up so that you can keep coming back. 

Since I created my 2012 jiu jitsu goals back in January, I have changed my blue belt training goals. I attend all the fundamental classes; however,  I am only attending one class a week of either
throwing or sparring. Throwing and sparring in the same week is a lot of wear and tear on the body to do both.  Sometimes I don’t know my body state until the next morning. Second, I am avoiding advanced class to focus on fundamentals class, at least until the Helio Gracie Tournament in October. My goal is to make it to the second round. If I make my goal, I will start taking advance classes regularly.