Finally, it begins.

[Dannicus]

Hey guys,

I know I said it prior, but I finally decided on a school. I begin my first class tomorrow morning at 10 am. Seriously, I've never been more excited but at the same time, I feel like such a newb. I went and signed my paperwork today, got my gi and my pretty little white belt. I realized when I got home that despite the fact that I consider myself an intelligent individual, I have no idea how to dress a gi. With no real tag, I have no idea which way is front on my pants. I don't know how to tie the belt (though I found a website with detailed instructions on the belt tie), and man...I just feel like an infant. It's like the first time I wore a tux at my junior prom. I'm all fidgety.

That being said. I'm going from armchair jiu jitsu expert to full fledged rookie jiu jitsu player tomorrow morning!

Advice? Tips? How the fuck do I put my pants on? :)

Dan

[prodigypenn]

if thers any patches they generally face front, otherwise look for a loop or loops to tie ur pant strings through that way is front, cuz u tie ur pants in front
as for belt tying ill explain like i explain to the new ppl and young kids at my other school.
the easiest way prolly is to find the center and wrap it around ur waist, below ur bellybutton not over ur stomach, bring both ends to the front, then stick 1 end under both loops of the belt against ur gi, and then grab that and place it over the other end, 1 end should b a little longer so that when u tie ur belt, ur belt wont b lopsided. now grab the pieve on top and pull it through the loop between both ends and pull tight, and ur done
hope that helps

[Dannicus]

Figured it out finally! :) I think the pants are too big. When I got my gi. We just fit the top. Probably a mistake on my part. Where exactly should it fit to. right now, for the legs not to bunch up around my ankles, they fit a bit higher then my belly button. It seems like it fits ok that way. I did somersaults in my living room to test whether they would fall down, etc. And they seemed snug enough. Hopefully I won't embarrass myself too badly and have them fall down when we do whatever it is we do tomorrow.

I was sitting thinking about class tomorrow. I assume that it will probably be mostly position training for a while?

Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect at first?

Hmmm. I may keep a blog about my training experiences. Could be fun.

Dan


--- Edit: I started a blog. You all are more than welcome to read and comment and share this experience with me. My BJJ Journey (http://danbjj.wordpress.com/)---

[Ghosted3]

Some of the best advice I can offer, is listen well to what your instructor says, be patient. Some people can pick up a move in 2 or 3 attempts, some people it takes hundreds, and could be completely opposite on the next move. Breathe....I know it sounds simple enough, but I just recently started breathing the correct way. Try to remain calm, never try to be a hero and by that I mean, if you are in a position to tap, tap. Lastly, have fun. If you have any questions, drop em here there are pleanty of us more than willing to help you out with anything you need.

*Edit* - as to what to expect, I cant speak for every school as the same, but we have about 15-20 min of warm up exercises, learn and drill 3 moves, and then specific training for the rest of the class. That would be like start out in half guard, guy on top has to get to side control, mount, or tap out the person on bottom. Person on bottom has to sweep, submit, or take the back of the person on top. The specific training varies every few weeks. Hope I helped.

[Tom Gavrilos]

Congrats! Stay patient and listen and you will do great I promise

[Herm]

and most importantly HAVE FUN! Oh and remember what Ghosted3 said about being a hero otherwise you will end up getting injured and not being able to train for a while like me :(

[Ari Bolden]

Dan:

Good Luck and just be there to listen!

Don't pull any crazy stuff and tell them you saw it on Submissions 101 (although, just 'casually ask if any of the guys have heard of the site...I'm curious...you'll be our mole!)

Look forward to reading your blog!

cheers
Ari

[visi0n]

Congrats on your joining!

i actually started about a month ago so i'm a n00b myself...
lol and yes i was googling how to tie my belt as well...
it's pretty funny.. but it seems i'm about the only one who even ties it that way... yet i do it just because it looks neater..lol.

first day i went i started with a friend of mine but we spent so much time looking around trying to understand the move that we ended up splitting up and working with more advanced people...
first day i learned spider guard to triangle to arm bar to bicep crush..
it was a whole lot for a first day, but it just depends when u pop up.

as it was said a few times before... when u get caught in something, dont be too proud to tap... this is just a learning experience... the more u get caught the more you'll learn to see it coming and you'll be able to defend it later.

take your time... i find that white belts like myself waste a lot of energy rushing, muscling through things and wearing ourselves out pretty early.

[Dannicus]

Friends, my first official class is in the books. Go to My BJJ Journey (http://danbjj.wordpress.com) to read about my adventures. Gotta say, I feel pretty good right now. I know that tomorrow, i will probably curse Jiu Jitsu for my sore body though. What do you guys do as preventative maintenance on the body between classes?


Oh and Ari, I asked Eric if he had heard of Submissions 101. And he said he had. No more was said about it. I will keep my eyes peeled and my ears open though.