Here goes nothing

So I am in my mid thirties and am just entering into the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I have always been affiliated with a gym or competitive sports, but lost my mojo after a series of basketball injuries that resulted in reconstructive surgeries on both knees. It didn't take long to realize that the gym was always a good supplement to basketball and baseball, but didn't work for me as a stand alone. I would find myself going to the gym consistently for a few months, then getting bored. I would try to kick start my enthusiasm by joining a different gym or trying a different routine, but in the end I would eventually stop going.

After much self reflection, I came to realize that my problem was that my progress was literally being measured in inches. My goals were to lose inches in certain places and gain inches in others. My benchmark was my former self.  I felt I was my own worse enemy. Gone were the days of  trying to improve my batting average or turnover to assist ratio. My knee surgeries and a rotator cuff injury, derailed my ability to do the activities that kept me in shape. It derailed those activities that made me want to go to the gym and get better. Not because I wanted washboard abs or wanted to star in a Calvin Klien commercial. But because I knew that putting the time in at the gym would  be an ends to a means. It would mean that I would have the stamina I need to play a 40 min game of basketball. It would give me the agility I needed to split 2 defenders and hit the center in the low post. I would give me the power I needed to hit a line drive into the gap.

I realized I needed to be competitive. I started looking into martial arts, boxing, muay thai, and kickboxing, but I was not sure which one I wanted to dive into. I discovered that one of the best MMA gyms in the south was in my neighborhood, and offered all of the classes I was interested in (except Judo) so I joined Knuckleup Fitness. I started with kickboxing fitness classes to get my stamina back. My shoulder could not handle 3 - 4 days per weeks on the heavy bag so I cut back to 1 day and started doing Brazillian Jui Jitsu the rest of the week. This blog will track my progress in the world of BJJ, act as a reference, as well as serve as a sounding board for new techniques learned.

Lets do this!!!!!