My journey has already begun. Welcome to the place where I’ll note, log, and chat about my experiences as I practice and learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the gentle art!
Before we get started, I want to give a shout out to my school and team at Carlson Gracie Menifee, my coach Orlando Alonso, Tony Perez, Daniel Cid, and everyone else who has taught and encouraged me. We’re just getting started, and more on all these awesome folks along the way!
In early May, Tony Perez, my business partner, my road dog, and brother-in-law hit me up. He was very enthusiastic about a new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school opening up in the town we live in, Menifee, California. He tried talking me into going and checking it out, and at first I resisted.
You see, Tony has trained on and off since 2010. In fact, he had a few competitions under his belt already. By this summer, he was already what I consider a very technical white belt. He definitely knew more than me on the mat, still does in fact, and he executes very well. He had slowed down on his training for a while due to injuries mostly, but also because work schedules had been crazy, and the school he had been training at was in Temecula, about a 25 minute drive each way.
In any event, along with our other business partner Daniel Cid (Purple belt), Tony had been hounding me for quite a while to get on the mat. I had always pushed back, I would tell them I love BJJ and MMA in general, but as a spectator, not as a practitioner.
This time was different though. Along with Tony’s excitement and encouragement, my eldest daughter Hallie was also expressing interest in signing up for a martial art. As a fan of BJJ, I naturally encouraged her to try it out before anything else, she was hesitant. She was more interested in starting with striking which I can appreciate, but I felt it may not be the best place for her to start. With the positive pressure from the guys, and my daughters interest, I told her if she started with BJJ, I would too.
This was early May, and off we went to visit Carlson Gracie Menifee, and to meet Coach Orlando Alonso.
I have not only earned a couple stripes, I have lost 40lbs since I started, and I am in the best shape of my life at 36. My four eldest daughters are all practicing as well, making this our new family way of life.
Over the last couple months I have been thinking about starting this site to try and document as much of my journey as possible. Here we are on the eve of Thanksgiving, 2013, and I finally finished the logo, and I am actually writing the first post.
It has been an interesting 6 months on and off the mat, and I believe the next 6, 16, and so on will be just as interesting. I hope you find value in my posts, pictures, and videos along the way.
Don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you have questions, I would love to hear from you!
OSS!