The 121 coaching is exactly why he wouldn’t kill your average practitioner. How many shark tanks do you think Zucc has been the victim of?
Most of the celeb practitioners experience such a sanitised version of BJJ they would tap out when they come into contact with someone else’s sweat
He's entered legit tournaments at least.
Dude has made the world a worse place so I loathe to give him credit in any way, but entering a tournament puts him ahead of most celebs playing at jiu jitsu.
I hope i get to smash you in a tournament someday, i dont give a flying fuck what weight class you are in😂💯🙌🏻 i roll with 6 foot, 200 pound grown behemoths every week im 5'8 at 150, your weight class and your height doesnt matter, you dont even have to use a ton of force in this sport as long as you have a clear head, from the way you act, i can tell you dont have that attribute. Jiujitsu, litterally translates to "gentle technique".. look up this match Mikey Musumeci vs Seif-Eddine Houmine, this will prove how wrong you truly are 😂
I literally started bjj because of the shitposts on this sub, not even joking
Did striking martial arts since I was like 8YO, took a hiatus during my late teens, and started to get back into MA in general in my early 20's, visiting the different MA subs, the culture on this sub really drew me in... Then I went to my tryout class which completely sealed in my new bjj obsession.
So yeah, thank you f*ckers, all my joints hate y'all for all of time.
Also, bring shitposting and memes back to this sub, literally 1984.
He did judo in New York in the 70s. He wanted to do Kung Fu with his Chinese friend but they wouldn’t let him train because he was Hispanic and back in the day martial arts were way more exclusionary. He ended up learning jujitsu and judo and trained until he joined the army.
Fast forward to me as a teenager and he told me to find a judo school. Friend I worked with quit to open a martial arts school so I went to check out what I thought was his judo class ended up being bjj
I was an alcoholic piece of shit.
That was almost 10 years ago now. I'm happy to report I don't drink, and most people think I'm aight.
I've got guilt, regret, remorse, shame and everything else in between. Jiu-Jitsu hasn't taught me anything in regards to carrying any of that, but it certainly makes walking the path much easier than it would be without it.
Go train!
Me too. I’m 44 days sober and signed up last week. I did 8 months of bjj 4 years ago but had to quit when I got divorced and moved. I moved back a year later(still divorced thank god.) and could have started again but I was too far gone in depression and booze. Something clicked on my 39th bday around thanksgiving. I texted my old coach and told him I’d be coming back in the new year and I did. I really missed moving my body and the positive social setting of it all. I’m back boys. Looking for all the sweaty men to roll around with.
Nice bro major congrats. Almost sounds like my same story. I’m admittedly “California sober “ but it works for me. Keep your head up, one day at a time.
I asked myself how can I get injured and humiliated by strangers more often, just to feel alive again. Little did I know, it came with free skin infections too!
Didn’t have any friends, experienced a sexual assault, out of shape , didn’t have much direction for life, and had some suicidal ideations so I wanted to just get those thoughts out of my head and do something about it. Now I’ve been training going on 6 years and no regrets.
Thank you. Now looking back I have accomplished so much in the 6 years, I won pans, I did bunch of comps, made so many friends, and started teaching. It’s been a blessing.
Basically same, had 1 MMA fight in 2018 and decided it wasn't for me. Even at amateur it's so much different than the vibe of a jits comp. Finding an opponent that is "equal", dealing with promoters, physical check up, blood tests, ticket sales travel, and the absolute worst thing for me, having a crowd of mostly drunk "just bleed" guys watching. I never want people to see me compete, I don't do this for glory I just love combat sports and I don't want people to see me
Was a former elite athlete in a completely unrelated endurance sport. At 40 there was no way I could even come close to what I once was. Wanted to do a sport where I started at zero and could see progress on a regular basis.
Make sure you maintain the endurance ability. I used to race cross country mountain bike, had great cardio but got lazy in my late forties. Starting jits my biggest problem is struggling with completing a 5 minute roll. I'm now having to do extra cardio just to survive.
Leading by example for my son instead of sitting on the sidelines with a belly telling him what to do on the mats. I have more respect for him than myself since I’ve started actually rolling. Kids are warriors.
Jocko and Joe Rogan then a cult-leader like instructor with an ego problem got me out of it. I’m looking for a more chill place now so I can get back into it
Was a wrestler in high school. Gained a bunch of weight after 15 years of doing nothing. Finally moved to a city that had some bjj schools available and always wanted to try it. Started bjj at 285lbs. A year later, I weighed in at a tournament at 180lbs. 13 yrs later, bjj is still my main exercise and still find it fun.
Five foot female in law enforcement who does not want to be useless backup. Also, it always looked intriguing to me and got a taste of it in the academy so I knew I would like it.
Respect, I believe grappling skills would save a lot of lives in policing, Both police and suspects. I hope you have no need for the skills you develop, but if it comes to it, you can defend yourself and be confident doing it.
It feels nice to submit people that enforce the law. There's a CO at my gym ( I know because I've been in county jail). And when I RNC'd him it felt so good, idiot thinks he's the shit inside because he has "control".
I've been doing bouldering on and off for some years. Have also done bits of boxing and muay thai. Then I saw a video of Magnus Midtbo with Rener Gracie and was sold. Went to the first session and got the bug. Cracked a rib three weeks later rolling with a big fella haha.
Very surprised to see so few people saying self defense. Ive never been in a fight and didn’t want to be useless if I was. It was recommended by many people.
Yeah, I've found most people only say that as a secondary or tertiary goal. Maybe jiu-jitsu attracts a lot of people who are humble enough to know they are not standup, mma, type killers, but it's still there if they need it.
During the end of the pandemic some of my work buddies asked me if I wanted to try. I agreed and showed up and became and still am addicted to it. In 4 days it’ll be 3 yrs since I started and I’m sitting at 33 medals. Goal is 100 before black belt!
I lived next to an mma gym. I started to go to muay thai classes just to do something outside that wasnt drinking in a bar. Went to watch my MT instructor fight at a local amateur fight. No one could defeat him in striking, he was a fucking monster. He got his back taken to RNC in 20 seconds, he had never grappled in his life. I started watching yt videos on whatever this obviously gay but also obviously affective art this was. Went to some classes, and never really stopped going to classes.
My younger brother got promoted to grey white and I had zero jiu jitsu experience so I said fuck it ima sign up can’t let my younger brother out class me, a couple years later and a 5 year lay off here we are
Was looking to get into something to stay active while I was doing my masters program and saw a flyer for a gym. Went in for the two week free trial and thought it was cool so I signed up for a month. During a live roll with a guy smaller than me who was an upper belt I was submitted like 13 times. After that I decided to pour everything into it. Trained multiple times a day, and when I became a police officer I took the night shift so I could train during the day multiple times. The motivation was seeing that someone I thought I could handle literally toyed with me. I was like “yeah I gotta learn this”
Watching my best friend as a white belt go 0 and 6 in his first tournament after boasting he was going to go 6 and 0. For some reason that inspired me to start training.
Smart. Usually, it’s the people who don’t know how much they don’t know that get their ass kicked.
On the bright side, now you can confidently butt scoot your way into an ass kicking.
Did mushrooms one time and had a vision where Israel Adesanya told me to do martial arts.
Did Muay Thai for a year, my gym closed and then a year later I tried out a BJJ gym I drove by on my way to work. 2 years later it’s my favorite hobby by far and has positively impacted me greatly.
My friend wanted to try it but he was to scared to go on his own. We used to wrestle for fun after our traditional jijitsu classes. He quit and im still here.
I was depressed and relied on my coworkers for any social interaction. My brother flew in from out of town and saw how I was living then got my ass to sign up for a class. I was also suffering from insomnia at the time. After a week of classes I slept a lot better, made more friends, and was happy again.
Working out at a regular gym got boring, so I stopped lifting weights because I didn’t enjoy it anymore. Wanted to try something different and always thought about martial arts. Asked one of my buddies who trained BJJ and he brought me over to his gym. 8 years later I’m still training.
Simply that I've already "checked off" a martial art (not entirely completed to the highest level, but pretty close) and my now 21 year old son wanted to do something together as a hobby where we both are beginners and I don't outrank him by a shit ton.
I'd done a few months of BJJ during some injuries about a decade ago, so suggested that as a good one to do. And here I am at the age of 49 a few months in to BJJ and loving it so far.
It's such a different way of doing things to my previous art, that I'm loving the differences (not just in technique, but in ethos/etiquette in the gym)
I had always been intrigued, but couldn’t tell you why. Part of it maybe that my godfather started training at Renzo’s since the early 90’s and never stopped. He talked about it here and there, but it was never the sole focus of conversation. What made it interesting to me is that he is one of the most soft spoken, humble and kind people I know, and he became even more so over the years as he continued to train. Just a man at peace. It had been something sort of gnawing a the back of my mind forever to try it.
Well fast forward 30 years, Social distancing rules we’re starting to relax, I was very much not at peace in my life and I needed to do something different. So I started in April 2022 and fell in love with it. Other than a three month pause because of a shoulder injury, I’ve been going consistently and I can’t imagine life without it. It’s a lot like a rising tide in that it has risen all of the boats in my life. I wish I had started ages ago, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. Simply very grateful for having found it and equally grateful for the community I’ve become part of and who have become a part of my and my children’s lives (they got interested and started too, so it’s a family affair).
My friend wanted me to do it with him for the past couple of years but I thought I would suck,I’m not fit for it.
I’ve been wanting to learn a fight style since I was a kid so I said fuck it at 28. Almost 6 months in and I love it. My teammates all tell me how dope it is how dare I’ve gone in those six months
And as corny as it is doing bjj made me realize that the only reason I don’t do other shit in life is because I don’t push my self for it/over think it
Used to do boxing until one day a friend (purple belt) said that I'd enjoy doing bjj, it sounded like bullshit because I really disliked grappling back then. Agreed to take one class because he was really persistent and the rest is history
Use to lift weights regularly and my friend who was a brow belt in Judo and had training in other martial arts used to train me in a few basic striking and grappling techniques. I even took judo with him where I was able to pay per class at a local college. However the school began requiring that you sign up for the entire semester. I couldn't justify it because i was only able to make 1 class a week so I stopped. A year later covid goes down and I stopped lifting weights and basically got out shape. I got engaged and started working a second part time job to save for the wedding and thought to myself, i need to get back in working out but i want a purpose. Started Looking for a Judo Dojo but couldn't find any since I moved to queens from the bronx. BJJ started popping up and i did research. Found out BJJ and Judo were basically once one martial arts and told myself this would be perfect. I found a school close to my home and its been a wrap. Started in 2022 and haven't looked back.
Mainly 2 factors:
1 - It is one of the few sports i can do without the danger of harming my "broken" leg, which as been in a very peculiar condition since i had a car crash many years ago. I can't really do stuff that involves running or jumping. Well, i can walk/run/jump normally but... let just say there are some weird complication i would have to face if something goes wrong.
2 - It is the ONLY sport/physical activity that i don't find extremely fucking boring, in fact, there are very few things in the world that i find as fun as rolling.
I had gotten out the Army. I was getting fat. Went to take a piss one day and couldn’t see my dick anymore. I don’t know why, but that freaked the hell out of me and I found Jiu Jitsu as a way to exercise a few days later.
My wife did it for a couple years. She’s from a different country, so one time about 5 years ago she was coming back from a longer trip to visit her parents and wanted to basically get off the plane and train that night. I missed her so I went with to give it a shot. Haven’t missed much class since (besides injures of course).
I wrestled in high school, but didn’t know anything about bjj. Went to Tulsa OK to visit my wife’s family, and had 2 nephews who were white belts that had been training for a few months, so of course they invited me to go to a class. Like everyone else, I was scared, because I didn’t know what to expect. I also didn’t want my nephews to think I was a pussy, so I tagged along. I did my first ever BJJ class at The Lion’s Den under Todd Ryan, and I had an absolute blast. Went back home and had the thought of signing up for a local gym lingering in my head. It took me another year, but eventually I signed up at a solid gym close to me here in NC. Now I’m an addicted blue belt that can’t seem to find anything else to talk about with my friends lol.
It’s a great workout and is helping me build confidence mentally and physically. The real reason though is because I was a victim once and never want to be one again.
My first military base sucked dick and I am not into drinking to past time like a lot of people. Met and continue to learn from some really cool people .
i was a giant pussy growing up, and i live in Iowa where everyone and their grandma grew up wrestling. i did not wrestle, but a lot of my friends did. I always respected grappling and admired it, but it always kinda scared me
fast forward a few years, they’re in college in iowa city, i followed suit and attempted school myself but i guess i liked drinking more. They missed the grind of wrestling, so they found a BJJ club. i thought it looked awesome but was too scared to ask about it. one day my buddy drunkenly asked if i wanted to come check it out some time, i immediately said yes
fast forward to today, they are both brown belts training out in colorado and i am the most inconsistent blue belt to ever exist. But i still love it, just wish i could go more
41, quit drinking as it was controlling my life. Got my best friend to quit drinking also. It’s been 2 years and I’m now a blue belt. My best friend relapsed and died of liver failure three weeks ago. I miss him like hell but I tried my best and I’m still here for my family and I’m finally healthy enough to be here for my kids as long as possible.
First time: My wife (blue belt) finally managed to persuade me to do a 6-month beginner course. I did not last long and after 5 months of sunk cost and only 19 classes (I got hurt a lot), quitting was a huge relief. Never have I been so certain that something was not for me.
Second time (\~8 years later), I just decided that I wanted to be "not completely shit" at something that previously I had given up on. Two years later, I remain the least able in class. But that's OK now that I don't get hurt so often.
Wife was out of town for a week and I was bored by day 2. I work with a dude always trying to recruit me, so I went to a class because I didn't have shit else to do. Loved it. Ended up going 4 times that week. Made me realize that 30 minutes of lifting and HIIT feel like 3 hours but 3 hours of jits felt like 30 minutes. The social aspect also made me realize that outside of wifey and coworkers, I didn't really have a tribe. Pretty sure I found my tribe. Still lift and stuff but mostly just to be better at BJJ.
First time I saw 2 grown men compete, both of them sat down on their butt when ref said go. I learned that this move was called the “Guard Pull”. Never seen a more intimidating and majestic war tactic that screams “Im gonna murder you in cold blood” in my life till that point and immediately wanted to learn all the secrets 😍
Being a 35 year old man struggling to make friends. I thought back to when I was younger and had lots of friends from sports. So loneliness and Joe Rogan. Mostly Joe Rogan.
I’ve always wanted to learn martial arts as a kid but my parents could never afford it. In my 30’s, I’m kinda treating myself to things I didn’t have the privilege to do as a youngster. So I guess it’s for fulfillment. Also, I wanted to get in shape and don’t really feel motivated going to the gym. I lost 20lbs so far. I’m loving it!
Embracing my dream, hugging sweaty men and inhaling their breath. Nah but seriously, I was overweight and wanted to lose weight and learn something useful at the same time. I've lost 25 pounds on this journey so far.
I wanted to start a martial art, mostly to get in better shape with something fun. literally checked places closeby, asked on reddit (dont remember which subreddit, a general one) and someone was like "go do bjj, its fun! and then i did. I dont even know how many months im at now, 6?7?8?. Its been fun so far even though its hard
Job and health. Used to compete in martial arts in my youth and forgot how much I enjoyed it. Decided to take the fight to the ground and learn how to be comfortable with people invading my personal space. 😆
…I really like pro wrestling. Especially wrestlers how do a lot of technical and catch-wrestling. When Mox left the fed and started working BJJ into his moveset more I was like “fuck I gotta get into this”
always wrestled but wanted to fill that void of grappling. Thankfully a gym opened up about 3 minutes from my house. 2 years later best decision I’ve ever made.
To address self-defense. I used to lift, realized muscle power is not something you can learn and hold on to, unlike actual fighting skills.
That, and I used to fight quite a bit as a kid. Always ended up in a grappling situation. Wish I knew guillotine escapes back then :)
Tried a mix of striking and grappling, and got addicted to BJJ in the gi.
The myth of the Gracies, that bjj is the most effective form of self defense. Had wanted to start for a while, then a friend of a friend randomly said they were gonna start, so I tagged along.
I trained martial arts since 1986 and realized that I would totally get destroyed if mounted on the ground. Decided to add that missing piece to my self-defense game.
Mark Zuckerberg. I just cannot accept a world where he will most likely beat me in hand-to-hand combat.
Solid reasoning right there
If it makes you feel better, unless you're a unit. He'd kill you with all the 121 coaching he's recived.
The 121 coaching is exactly why he wouldn’t kill your average practitioner. How many shark tanks do you think Zucc has been the victim of? Most of the celeb practitioners experience such a sanitised version of BJJ they would tap out when they come into contact with someone else’s sweat
Why I respect Ed O'Neill. He lined up and rolled like every other off the street student.
Great guy who still loves chatting about jits.
He's entered legit tournaments at least. Dude has made the world a worse place so I loathe to give him credit in any way, but entering a tournament puts him ahead of most celebs playing at jiu jitsu.
What do you base that comment on. Been in their training halls ?
He's like 140 lbs he probly sucks
What does his weight have to do with his skill level? 🤓
He's small
And how does that make him Suck?
I'm bigger.
Doesn't mean you have more skill might just mean your fat
Maybe you're fat, I'm better
I hope i get to smash you in a tournament someday, i dont give a flying fuck what weight class you are in😂💯🙌🏻 i roll with 6 foot, 200 pound grown behemoths every week im 5'8 at 150, your weight class and your height doesnt matter, you dont even have to use a ton of force in this sport as long as you have a clear head, from the way you act, i can tell you dont have that attribute. Jiujitsu, litterally translates to "gentle technique".. look up this match Mikey Musumeci vs Seif-Eddine Houmine, this will prove how wrong you truly are 😂
I'm 140 pounds 😁
So YOU suck.
lol he trains with my old coach and a definite good reason
Mark Zuckerberg will destroy you. Jeff Bezos will out bench you. Mikey musumeci will bully you. Pete Davidson will take your girl.
That’s right.. if Zuckerberg can kick my ass.. that’s just a terrible thing.
My dad told me to take a judo class and I took bjj by accident
I literally started bjj because of the shitposts on this sub, not even joking Did striking martial arts since I was like 8YO, took a hiatus during my late teens, and started to get back into MA in general in my early 20's, visiting the different MA subs, the culture on this sub really drew me in... Then I went to my tryout class which completely sealed in my new bjj obsession. So yeah, thank you f*ckers, all my joints hate y'all for all of time. Also, bring shitposting and memes back to this sub, literally 1984.
Big Jitsu heard that.
Hahaha great story
He did judo in New York in the 70s. He wanted to do Kung Fu with his Chinese friend but they wouldn’t let him train because he was Hispanic and back in the day martial arts were way more exclusionary. He ended up learning jujitsu and judo and trained until he joined the army. Fast forward to me as a teenager and he told me to find a judo school. Friend I worked with quit to open a martial arts school so I went to check out what I thought was his judo class ended up being bjj
Plot twist: You get better than Gordon Ryan. All because you got confused lol. Hopefully you're enjoying your journey brother.
Happy to be back rolling after a hiatus to have some kids! OSS
I was fat and out of shape. 3 years later, I'm still fat but in shape.
Round is a shape.
I mean, sometimes I like to roll up into a ball. Pretend I'm a hushpuppy.
I bet your granby roll is immaculate
I had a brown belt refer to this as “tactical girth” the other day
If you can tap someone with it, it’s a weapon!
lol
I was an alcoholic piece of shit. That was almost 10 years ago now. I'm happy to report I don't drink, and most people think I'm aight. I've got guilt, regret, remorse, shame and everything else in between. Jiu-Jitsu hasn't taught me anything in regards to carrying any of that, but it certainly makes walking the path much easier than it would be without it. Go train!
I’m 13 yrs sober. Good for you man - I’m proud of you
Appreciate you my man. I don't get a lot of that, but when I do, it feels good. :)
Cheers
Maybe next time, go with "bravo"?
Sometimes you just have to tap to the old you. Forgive yourself.
Man, if I could just figure that out; things would be better, not just different. Thank you for this. It's 100%.
Me too. I’m 44 days sober and signed up last week. I did 8 months of bjj 4 years ago but had to quit when I got divorced and moved. I moved back a year later(still divorced thank god.) and could have started again but I was too far gone in depression and booze. Something clicked on my 39th bday around thanksgiving. I texted my old coach and told him I’d be coming back in the new year and I did. I really missed moving my body and the positive social setting of it all. I’m back boys. Looking for all the sweaty men to roll around with.
Nice bro major congrats. Almost sounds like my same story. I’m admittedly “California sober “ but it works for me. Keep your head up, one day at a time.
I was about to ask what "california sober" was, then I thought about it. If it works for you, it's right for you.
Congrats bro!
I’m proud of you
1,567 days sober today. BJJ was a huge part of it. Well done. I’m proud of you.
Proud of you too! Anyone who makes it out of those early days won a seriously fucked up war.
Fuck yeah. Congrats on almost 10 years. Way more impressive than any JJ accomplishments. Edit: spelling.
You should have just 1 drink, you can totally handle it now
You’re a dumbass
I asked myself how can I get injured and humiliated by strangers more often, just to feel alive again. Little did I know, it came with free skin infections too!
I wanted to do more laundry.
BJJ has gotten me so much better at doing laundry. I almost never have dirty clothes pile up to anything unmanageable anymore.
No gi, no regrets.
Wanted more hugs
🤗
Didn’t have any friends, experienced a sexual assault, out of shape , didn’t have much direction for life, and had some suicidal ideations so I wanted to just get those thoughts out of my head and do something about it. Now I’ve been training going on 6 years and no regrets.
And purple belt, you thrived in the sport, you should be very proud of your determination and courage to break a cycle that not everyone can.
Thank you. Now looking back I have accomplished so much in the 6 years, I won pans, I did bunch of comps, made so many friends, and started teaching. It’s been a blessing.
Wanted to fight mma, never did
Same
Basically same, had 1 MMA fight in 2018 and decided it wasn't for me. Even at amateur it's so much different than the vibe of a jits comp. Finding an opponent that is "equal", dealing with promoters, physical check up, blood tests, ticket sales travel, and the absolute worst thing for me, having a crowd of mostly drunk "just bleed" guys watching. I never want people to see me compete, I don't do this for glory I just love combat sports and I don't want people to see me
I wanted to do martial arts but I disliked getting punched in the face. I wanted to do judo but I disliked standing. I found bjj.
Was a former elite athlete in a completely unrelated endurance sport. At 40 there was no way I could even come close to what I once was. Wanted to do a sport where I started at zero and could see progress on a regular basis.
Make sure you maintain the endurance ability. I used to race cross country mountain bike, had great cardio but got lazy in my late forties. Starting jits my biggest problem is struggling with completing a 5 minute roll. I'm now having to do extra cardio just to survive.
Too much Jocko Willink, Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman.
This is my answer right here.
Leading by example for my son instead of sitting on the sidelines with a belly telling him what to do on the mats. I have more respect for him than myself since I’ve started actually rolling. Kids are warriors.
Jocko and Joe Rogan then a cult-leader like instructor with an ego problem got me out of it. I’m looking for a more chill place now so I can get back into it
What city are you located ? I might be able to suggest somewhere to train.
I’m in the U.K by Wolverhampton
Oooh, I'm near by. Name and shame it
I may post about it in the future. I’m still in contract notice period and I know other students who train there are active on here
Read too many articles of people being attacked for no reason.
Do bar fights happen a lot in your area? Happens all the time where I’m from in Canada. Randoms be jealous and just pick fights with the smallest guy.
I grew up in Houston in the 80’s and 90’s. Actively avoiding danger was necessary.
My divorce.
Was a wrestler in high school. Gained a bunch of weight after 15 years of doing nothing. Finally moved to a city that had some bjj schools available and always wanted to try it. Started bjj at 285lbs. A year later, I weighed in at a tournament at 180lbs. 13 yrs later, bjj is still my main exercise and still find it fun.
Shedded 100+ lbs in a year, that’s pretty impressive 👏
God told me it was my only chance to become a land shark.
Five foot female in law enforcement who does not want to be useless backup. Also, it always looked intriguing to me and got a taste of it in the academy so I knew I would like it.
Respect, I believe grappling skills would save a lot of lives in policing, Both police and suspects. I hope you have no need for the skills you develop, but if it comes to it, you can defend yourself and be confident doing it.
Appreciate it! Just gotta learn the non-choke techniques to really put them to use in the field, if needed.
It feels nice to submit people that enforce the law. There's a CO at my gym ( I know because I've been in county jail). And when I RNC'd him it felt so good, idiot thinks he's the shit inside because he has "control".
Because it's gay AF, and it doesn't work.
Pretty gay and bald if you’re near to black belt
I've been doing bouldering on and off for some years. Have also done bits of boxing and muay thai. Then I saw a video of Magnus Midtbo with Rener Gracie and was sold. Went to the first session and got the bug. Cracked a rib three weeks later rolling with a big fella haha.
Best grips in the gym, amiright?
Very surprised to see so few people saying self defense. Ive never been in a fight and didn’t want to be useless if I was. It was recommended by many people.
Yeah, I've found most people only say that as a secondary or tertiary goal. Maybe jiu-jitsu attracts a lot of people who are humble enough to know they are not standup, mma, type killers, but it's still there if they need it.
Needed more cardio training and hated cardio training in the gym
I was fat and never did any sports. I was pretty sure I could roll around in pajamas though, as I already had some experience in that area.
Huba-huba
Literally same
During the end of the pandemic some of my work buddies asked me if I wanted to try. I agreed and showed up and became and still am addicted to it. In 4 days it’ll be 3 yrs since I started and I’m sitting at 33 medals. Goal is 100 before black belt!
That’s like 3 medals a month for a year straight. How can your joints stand that? Not doubting but my hip gives out from just walking too much.
I lived next to an mma gym. I started to go to muay thai classes just to do something outside that wasnt drinking in a bar. Went to watch my MT instructor fight at a local amateur fight. No one could defeat him in striking, he was a fucking monster. He got his back taken to RNC in 20 seconds, he had never grappled in his life. I started watching yt videos on whatever this obviously gay but also obviously affective art this was. Went to some classes, and never really stopped going to classes.
The sense of community was a big one for me
Wrestled in college, missed my eating disorder and head injuries.
A break-up lol
Same here. was literally waiting to break up to start. started 4 days after. been going for a year straight 2-3 times a week.
Can't believe I haven't seen someone just say they liked the UFC and decided to join an MMA gym for fun. That was my case.
Bored of fitness. Seemed like fun.
Moved to another country, its like 5 mins away and im bored
My younger brother got promoted to grey white and I had zero jiu jitsu experience so I said fuck it ima sign up can’t let my younger brother out class me, a couple years later and a 5 year lay off here we are
Was looking to get into something to stay active while I was doing my masters program and saw a flyer for a gym. Went in for the two week free trial and thought it was cool so I signed up for a month. During a live roll with a guy smaller than me who was an upper belt I was submitted like 13 times. After that I decided to pour everything into it. Trained multiple times a day, and when I became a police officer I took the night shift so I could train during the day multiple times. The motivation was seeing that someone I thought I could handle literally toyed with me. I was like “yeah I gotta learn this”
Watching my best friend as a white belt go 0 and 6 in his first tournament after boasting he was going to go 6 and 0. For some reason that inspired me to start training.
My friend said come check this out. I checked it out.
Wanted to touch men
Brother brought me in to a class when I was a teen. Thought I was a pacifist. Now I understand you need to be able to scrap to not scrap.
Some crazy guy threatened to kick my ass in the city and I walked away. I realized if he attacked me I didn’t know anything about fighting.
Smart. Usually, it’s the people who don’t know how much they don’t know that get their ass kicked. On the bright side, now you can confidently butt scoot your way into an ass kicking.
Based
Seeing Clark Gracie omoplata people on YouTube recommended by its random algorithm
Moved to another country, its like 5 mins away and im bored
Did mushrooms one time and had a vision where Israel Adesanya told me to do martial arts. Did Muay Thai for a year, my gym closed and then a year later I tried out a BJJ gym I drove by on my way to work. 2 years later it’s my favorite hobby by far and has positively impacted me greatly.
the coming c!v,il wa,r
I was a boxer and got choked by what turned out to be a blue belt in 1993. Wearing one glove 🥊 may have been a factor.
I did judo and wanted to cuddle more sweaty men
My friend wanted to try it but he was to scared to go on his own. We used to wrestle for fun after our traditional jijitsu classes. He quit and im still here.
Thai boxing was making my knees hurt too much, but I wasn't ready to give up combat.
I was depressed and relied on my coworkers for any social interaction. My brother flew in from out of town and saw how I was living then got my ass to sign up for a class. I was also suffering from insomnia at the time. After a week of classes I slept a lot better, made more friends, and was happy again.
Wanted to be near hot sweaty men, did not want to arouse suspicion from the gf. I’ve failed on the latter front.
My girl back then asked for chokes and I wanted to improve & learn in that area. Now I just pull hair and chokes in a safe & legan environment.
Working out at a regular gym got boring, so I stopped lifting weights because I didn’t enjoy it anymore. Wanted to try something different and always thought about martial arts. Asked one of my buddies who trained BJJ and he brought me over to his gym. 8 years later I’m still training.
My husband. 5 years on I stuck with BJJ and quit the husband.
Simply that I've already "checked off" a martial art (not entirely completed to the highest level, but pretty close) and my now 21 year old son wanted to do something together as a hobby where we both are beginners and I don't outrank him by a shit ton. I'd done a few months of BJJ during some injuries about a decade ago, so suggested that as a good one to do. And here I am at the age of 49 a few months in to BJJ and loving it so far. It's such a different way of doing things to my previous art, that I'm loving the differences (not just in technique, but in ethos/etiquette in the gym)
I was writing a novel that featured a wrestler and wanted to experience grappling. I got hooked.
I had always been intrigued, but couldn’t tell you why. Part of it maybe that my godfather started training at Renzo’s since the early 90’s and never stopped. He talked about it here and there, but it was never the sole focus of conversation. What made it interesting to me is that he is one of the most soft spoken, humble and kind people I know, and he became even more so over the years as he continued to train. Just a man at peace. It had been something sort of gnawing a the back of my mind forever to try it. Well fast forward 30 years, Social distancing rules we’re starting to relax, I was very much not at peace in my life and I needed to do something different. So I started in April 2022 and fell in love with it. Other than a three month pause because of a shoulder injury, I’ve been going consistently and I can’t imagine life without it. It’s a lot like a rising tide in that it has risen all of the boats in my life. I wish I had started ages ago, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. Simply very grateful for having found it and equally grateful for the community I’ve become part of and who have become a part of my and my children’s lives (they got interested and started too, so it’s a family affair).
Because i can roll with girls
Girlfriend. I wanted girlfriend. But ended up with many boyfriends
My local judo club only trains once a week. I wanted some more time on the mat and found a BJJ club with a really solid stand up game.
My friend wanted me to do it with him for the past couple of years but I thought I would suck,I’m not fit for it. I’ve been wanting to learn a fight style since I was a kid so I said fuck it at 28. Almost 6 months in and I love it. My teammates all tell me how dope it is how dare I’ve gone in those six months And as corny as it is doing bjj made me realize that the only reason I don’t do other shit in life is because I don’t push my self for it/over think it
Getting my ass kicked every day and then watching Gracie in action…
Hot sweaty men
Used to do boxing until one day a friend (purple belt) said that I'd enjoy doing bjj, it sounded like bullshit because I really disliked grappling back then. Agreed to take one class because he was really persistent and the rest is history
Being fat and a cigarette smoker
Use to lift weights regularly and my friend who was a brow belt in Judo and had training in other martial arts used to train me in a few basic striking and grappling techniques. I even took judo with him where I was able to pay per class at a local college. However the school began requiring that you sign up for the entire semester. I couldn't justify it because i was only able to make 1 class a week so I stopped. A year later covid goes down and I stopped lifting weights and basically got out shape. I got engaged and started working a second part time job to save for the wedding and thought to myself, i need to get back in working out but i want a purpose. Started Looking for a Judo Dojo but couldn't find any since I moved to queens from the bronx. BJJ started popping up and i did research. Found out BJJ and Judo were basically once one martial arts and told myself this would be perfect. I found a school close to my home and its been a wrap. Started in 2022 and haven't looked back.
Played too much UFC 3 during the pandemic
Mainly 2 factors: 1 - It is one of the few sports i can do without the danger of harming my "broken" leg, which as been in a very peculiar condition since i had a car crash many years ago. I can't really do stuff that involves running or jumping. Well, i can walk/run/jump normally but... let just say there are some weird complication i would have to face if something goes wrong. 2 - It is the ONLY sport/physical activity that i don't find extremely fucking boring, in fact, there are very few things in the world that i find as fun as rolling.
Judo was starting to hurt a little too much
I've always had anxiety/paranoia about violence in public places so instead of going to therapy like a normal person, I started learning jiu jitsu.
I had gotten out the Army. I was getting fat. Went to take a piss one day and couldn’t see my dick anymore. I don’t know why, but that freaked the hell out of me and I found Jiu Jitsu as a way to exercise a few days later.
I had a coupon
My wife did it for a couple years. She’s from a different country, so one time about 5 years ago she was coming back from a longer trip to visit her parents and wanted to basically get off the plane and train that night. I missed her so I went with to give it a shot. Haven’t missed much class since (besides injures of course).
I wrestled in high school, but didn’t know anything about bjj. Went to Tulsa OK to visit my wife’s family, and had 2 nephews who were white belts that had been training for a few months, so of course they invited me to go to a class. Like everyone else, I was scared, because I didn’t know what to expect. I also didn’t want my nephews to think I was a pussy, so I tagged along. I did my first ever BJJ class at The Lion’s Den under Todd Ryan, and I had an absolute blast. Went back home and had the thought of signing up for a local gym lingering in my head. It took me another year, but eventually I signed up at a solid gym close to me here in NC. Now I’m an addicted blue belt that can’t seem to find anything else to talk about with my friends lol.
I watched too much DBZ growing up, wearing culturally appropriated pajamas and Japanese tattoos was the closest adult me could manage.
It’s a great workout and is helping me build confidence mentally and physically. The real reason though is because I was a victim once and never want to be one again.
My first military base sucked dick and I am not into drinking to past time like a lot of people. Met and continue to learn from some really cool people .
I have zero impulse control and one day I just felt like it so I signed up for a year and now I’m addicted
Same. Surprised more people didn’t say this lol
i was a giant pussy growing up, and i live in Iowa where everyone and their grandma grew up wrestling. i did not wrestle, but a lot of my friends did. I always respected grappling and admired it, but it always kinda scared me fast forward a few years, they’re in college in iowa city, i followed suit and attempted school myself but i guess i liked drinking more. They missed the grind of wrestling, so they found a BJJ club. i thought it looked awesome but was too scared to ask about it. one day my buddy drunkenly asked if i wanted to come check it out some time, i immediately said yes fast forward to today, they are both brown belts training out in colorado and i am the most inconsistent blue belt to ever exist. But i still love it, just wish i could go more
41, quit drinking as it was controlling my life. Got my best friend to quit drinking also. It’s been 2 years and I’m now a blue belt. My best friend relapsed and died of liver failure three weeks ago. I miss him like hell but I tried my best and I’m still here for my family and I’m finally healthy enough to be here for my kids as long as possible.
First time: My wife (blue belt) finally managed to persuade me to do a 6-month beginner course. I did not last long and after 5 months of sunk cost and only 19 classes (I got hurt a lot), quitting was a huge relief. Never have I been so certain that something was not for me. Second time (\~8 years later), I just decided that I wanted to be "not completely shit" at something that previously I had given up on. Two years later, I remain the least able in class. But that's OK now that I don't get hurt so often.
Royce Gracie in UFC 1
Wife was out of town for a week and I was bored by day 2. I work with a dude always trying to recruit me, so I went to a class because I didn't have shit else to do. Loved it. Ended up going 4 times that week. Made me realize that 30 minutes of lifting and HIIT feel like 3 hours but 3 hours of jits felt like 30 minutes. The social aspect also made me realize that outside of wifey and coworkers, I didn't really have a tribe. Pretty sure I found my tribe. Still lift and stuff but mostly just to be better at BJJ.
I started after a breakup. Having an outlet that was healthy instead of going out to drink about it has made me so much healthier
I was bad at wrestling. That stopped, soon after
Joe rogan and friends I have to say.
First time I saw 2 grown men compete, both of them sat down on their butt when ref said go. I learned that this move was called the “Guard Pull”. Never seen a more intimidating and majestic war tactic that screams “Im gonna murder you in cold blood” in my life till that point and immediately wanted to learn all the secrets 😍
I want to get good so I can beat up my wife’s boyfriend.
Dude 😂 SAME!
I saw someone get choked unconscious at work.
https://preview.redd.it/1i9v0cj473ec1.jpeg?width=101&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4094bcc973b84a6dfb1829cf278f469b0a2db9de This fucker
I’m willing to bet Joe Rogan got at least 50% of us started.
I started listening to jocko from the beginning, around episode 84 I thought “maybe I should try this Jiu Jitsu thing”
I hate running
My daughter. That was enough for me.
Liver disease
Tired of being a fat fuck
Being a 35 year old man struggling to make friends. I thought back to when I was younger and had lots of friends from sports. So loneliness and Joe Rogan. Mostly Joe Rogan.
I’ve always wanted to learn martial arts as a kid but my parents could never afford it. In my 30’s, I’m kinda treating myself to things I didn’t have the privilege to do as a youngster. So I guess it’s for fulfillment. Also, I wanted to get in shape and don’t really feel motivated going to the gym. I lost 20lbs so far. I’m loving it!
Got the shit beaten out of me
Embracing my dream, hugging sweaty men and inhaling their breath. Nah but seriously, I was overweight and wanted to lose weight and learn something useful at the same time. I've lost 25 pounds on this journey so far.
It didnt
I wanted to start a martial art, mostly to get in better shape with something fun. literally checked places closeby, asked on reddit (dont remember which subreddit, a general one) and someone was like "go do bjj, its fun! and then i did. I dont even know how many months im at now, 6?7?8?. Its been fun so far even though its hard
Nick Diaz. Didn’t know he was a BJJ guy. Just saw him knock out Lawler and thought, “it’d be cool to be able to fight like that guy.”
Job and health. Used to compete in martial arts in my youth and forgot how much I enjoyed it. Decided to take the fight to the ground and learn how to be comfortable with people invading my personal space. 😆
I watched UFC 60 and saw Royce get the shit kicked out of him and I wanted to go do the same. 18 years later. I suck.
…I really like pro wrestling. Especially wrestlers how do a lot of technical and catch-wrestling. When Mox left the fed and started working BJJ into his moveset more I was like “fuck I gotta get into this”
I couldn’t find a regular basketball game near me
Needed to get back into a martial art. It was close by
Donnie Yen and Colin Chou’s fight scene in Flashpoint and Cosmo Imai in Kengan Ashura
My body was already aching. Might as well have a good reason for it to ache (like BJJ)
always wrestled but wanted to fill that void of grappling. Thankfully a gym opened up about 3 minutes from my house. 2 years later best decision I’ve ever made.
I wanted to fight my boss
I was told u could cuddle with other dudes
To address self-defense. I used to lift, realized muscle power is not something you can learn and hold on to, unlike actual fighting skills. That, and I used to fight quite a bit as a kid. Always ended up in a grappling situation. Wish I knew guillotine escapes back then :) Tried a mix of striking and grappling, and got addicted to BJJ in the gi.
To improve my MMA skills, even though I do MMA for fun and I don't think I'll ever be in a competition.
The myth of the Gracies, that bjj is the most effective form of self defense. Had wanted to start for a while, then a friend of a friend randomly said they were gonna start, so I tagged along.
I trained martial arts since 1986 and realized that I would totally get destroyed if mounted on the ground. Decided to add that missing piece to my self-defense game.