Poor old David. He has spent the last few months trying to get BJJ classes off the starting blocks and had very limited numbers and inconsistent attendance. Then he naffs off to Brazil for a few months and everyone buys a Gi and starts training with Steve! It’d be hard for him not to feel swindled I think, but that said he is currently in Rio sunning himself and relaxing between bout of being tied in knots by burly slabs of pyjama clad South Americans... so maybe he deserves it! Meanwhile back in the UK we were considering the merits of wearing/not wearing socks as the mats were so cold. In fact not only did I get ‘white finger’ I also got one or two ‘white toes’ (I’m hard, I went sockless!).
So last night was the first proper BJJ class I’ve done since my visit to Simon McGovern last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Steve covered some basic half guard stuff, essentially escapes from bottom. I liked the way he broke down each escape into 3 or 4 basic ‘movements’ and linked one to the next, to the next and so on. The gi gives a surprising amount of grip and was an equal help and hindrance. The ‘handles’ are there which is oh so useful in some positions, they allow you to establish a much better, more solid position, but at the same time the added friction of gi on gi makes the grappling more tiring than no-gi... or so I found. Maybe it’s the specific nature of fitness that made the difference there? You can be much more slippery and explosive in no-gi, but with a gi there is much more static, isometric muscle involved. Certainly my forearms are feeling it this morning, though that may be more to do with me doggedly trying to finish Pep with a technically suspect Ezekiel choke than anything else.
Highlight of the evening for me was while rolling, actually managing to
pull off one of the half guard escapes Steve had showed us. Even better
was the fact that I went for one escape, my opponent adjusted his
weight to counter it so I switched to another. I was so excited that I
giggled as I passed to side control, paused and looked around to see if
anyone had noticed... I cannot tell you the unadulterated, child like
joy of seeing Matt sat at the side smirking and nodding his head. Of
course I couldn’t stop myself from telling everyone afterwards as well.
Steve just smiled and said in a loud, slow teacher-ish voice “yes...
well done Dave... we all saw it... very good...” I’m such a 5 year old
at heart I didn’t care I just carried on grinning. Little things please
little minds eh?
The gi from Naitiro ( www.naitiro.co.uk ) held up very well to its first proper outing. It was very comfortable and following a few washes has held its shape. Pep had bought himself a Tatami gi and we were comparing the two. The jackets seemed to be of comparable quality and weight, while the pants on his gi seemed much thicker. I have a feeling as we move into the spring and summer I’m going to appreciate the lighter weight of mine much more. I had a few problems with the gi pants, but I always do with any sort of trousers ‘cos I have short, thick legs and big bum. So rather than this being a design fault I genuinely believe my genetics are to blame... shopping for trousers is my worst nightmare, it takes forever. The jacket is a very good fit however, I’m a broad shouldered 88kg with some mud round my guts and a 72” reach. If you look in my last post’s pics you can see the fit. All in all after a trial run I’d say the Naitiro gi is a good quality buy, I’m waiting on some shorts and I’m hoping they’ll be as good as the gi.