Disclaimer — Written from a knucklehead white-belt’s perspective.

Jiu Jitsu was something that I had always heard people mention, but never really knew what it was all about. As a fan of watching UFC fights and listening to podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience and The Fighter and The Kid, I had heard the term thrown around a decent amount. From Rogan’s podcast especially, I’d heard about all of the benefits he gets from training Jiu Jitsu and thought, “shit, should I give it a shot?”

The only problem was I really didn’t know where to start. My friend Kyle Leonard and I decided that we would try it out — but in all honesty, talked about it more like a couple of bros talking about opening a bar together after a few beers. “Dude, let’s do it! It’s gonna be sick!”

It wasn’t until I saw a post on Facebook about the BJJ 101 course from a school on Mississippi St. called Renzo Gracie Portland. The Gracie name sounded sort of familiar to me, but to be candid, I really didn’t know much about the Gracie family the time. This was enough, however, to build enough credibility in my mind to say “Screw it, enough is enough — This is a good school. It’s time to just go for it”. The 101 class looked like the perfect entrance into BJJ. An introductory course. Fairly mellow. And (I hoped) filled with more students just like me, trying BJJ for the first time.

March 2nd, 2015: BJJ 101— I walked onto the mats at Renzo Gracie Portland for the very first time. Nervous as hell but excited about trying something new. I remember the first class like it was yesterday. We drilled one sequence over and over again. A simple trip take-down to the back, and finish with a rear naked choke. I did my best throughout the class trying to balance looks to my coach as to appear like “Ok, I’m tracking you” and actually comprehending/applying his instruction. As if appearing like “I’m listening” was something I should be doing. Idiot.

We wrapped up the first few classes with some pushups, body squats and sit-ups. I remember think “Holy shit, I’ve gotta get in shape if I wanna keep up here.”

Picture taken after my first BJJ 101 class

The 101 class @ RGA PDX lasted 2 months and proved to be exactly what I was hoping for and SO MUCH more. It was the perfect way to enter the world of BJJ for a knucklehead like me that knew basically nothing before beginning. Both from a technical perspective (actually learning techniques) and also a social perspective… you make friends and get to know everyone at the school. I know I’m not alone when I say that the people you meet in Jiu Jitsu are some of the nicer and more welcoming/helpful people around.

One of the main reasons I made it through the 101 class and am still training today is because of the instruction from our Professor, Aaron Milam. Aaron is patient, articulate, and made the class easy to understand for us beginners. It seems like it would be easy for him to get annoyed with idiots like me who don’t always pick up on a move after the first time he explains it. However, he always came around to make sure everyone was on the same page when learning new techniques. Aaron is the best. Top notch professor. Top notch person. I’m truly lucky to train under him.

In tandem with Aaron, I think it’s important to call out guys like Tim Dalbey and Carsten Carlsen. Both of these guys helped me out in the 101 class and still do to this day —Both are amazing teachers in their own right. They are also killers on the mat. Wow.

After the conclusion of the 101 class, we were given the option to join the school or part ways. The choice was easy. I was hooked. I joined and haven’t doubted that decision once.

Life after BJJ 101

After I completed the 101 class, I almost had this sense of “Okay, I know a few moves, what’s next?” (dipshit) So I decided to take it to the next level and go to the 7pm class — Or as some of the upper belts call it, “The Slaughterhouse.” Man, was I in for a rude awakening. This was the first time that I was exposed to what live rolling is like. Needless to say, the term “Slaughterhouse” turned out to be a very fitting name.

I was in over my head and decided to run through most of the 101 class again before coming back. Over time I kept attending more and more of these slaughterhouse classes and simply realized that it’s okay to get my ass kicked. In fact, it’s a good thing. I learned this after a roll with one of the upper belts who recently received their brown belt. I apologized to him for essentially sucking so bad during our roll… his response was classic — In a partially joking tone — “Dude, it’s all good! You think I don’t like destroying you?” The people at Renzo’s are awesome.