To Gi Or Not To Gi

Tonight I attended JiuJitsu class #36. That is approximately a third of the classes that were available to me during that time. I suppose you could say I have been as diligent with JiuJitsu as I have my blog. I digress, I went tonight and that's what counts.

We had an open mat tonight which means instead of a formal lesson, we roll with different partners for 5 minute rounds, for the entire class period. If you've read my blog in the past you know that I learn more rolling then I ever do in a class. So it was a good night!

Here is what I learned at class #36: 1. My conditioning is better then I estimated it would be. 2. I am hard to submit and seldom give up a bad position. 3. Advancing to a superior position is a forced maneuver as opposed to an instinctive series of fluid movements. 4. Things I used to do in desperation (arm locks, for example) are now routine efforts that often end in failure. 5. I still hate being caught in scarf hold. 6. Even tall opponents complain about my long legs. 7. Choking people still feels awesome. 8. Letting my ego go still makes for a much better over all experience. 9. My fundamentals are weaker than they used to be and my bag of tricks I used to use to compensate is empty. 10. Did I mention my empty bag of tricks? 11. God put grappling in my life. Well, I didn't just learn that, but I was reminded of it.

Although I am discouraged about regression in my skills and missed opportunity to progress, I am cautiously optimistic about the future. Matt, one of the JiuJitsu coaches I often roll with, was recently promoted to purple belt at his home Gracie Baja school in Atlanta. It's strange how a piece of cloth can change my perception of someone's abilities. But it has. I guess it legitimizes his understanding of his art. I've long considered taking private lessons with Matt. My freaking amazing wife has even pushed hard to get me to do so. But tonight something in my heart prompted me to recommit. The picture in my mind is still a bit blurry in the detail department. But with perseverance and God willing, there might be a blue belt in my future.

That brings us to the title of my post. Belts in Gracie JiuJitsu are only awarded for gi practitioners. I know what I want my game to look like. It has little to do with the grips and nuances that the gi affords. But there is no doubt that rolling in a gi sharpens ones nogi abilities. They look funny, but so do rash guards. Ultimately my goal is to reach my full potential as a grappler. A grapplers skill is conventionally measured by his belt rank. There are other ways to obtain status, but competing that much is not in the cards for me. So I guess that's it. I want to train in a gi. When I get those details ironed out, I will let you know.