8:45-10:40a

8:45-9a: I was the first one out in front of the University of Jiu Jitsu this morning. To be perfectly honest, my stomach was in knots I was so nervous. Before long, another student walked up and waited. We struck up a conversation by my car. Katsu is from Japan. Studies BJJ back home and has been in San Diego three weeks. Today was his last class before returning to Japan. He saw "The Gracie Way" sitting on my front seat and got really excited. Said he'd love to read it some day...so I gave it to him. I only had the chapters on Royce and Renzo left and can get another one much easier than he can. The doors opened and I learned black gis are no good. Blue or white only. So I borrowed a white gi, changed, and hit the mats to stretch.

9-9:15a: First observation...the mats are nice! Same mats we use at NOLA BJJ, but they are suspended and somewhat bouncy. I would do judo here! Second observation...stretching is up to the individual. No one led stretches. We sort of sat around the mats and stretched. Also, the Professor who taught this morning is Brazilian. His english is very good, but he's clearly Brazilian.

9:15-9:35a: Warm-ups / drills: Very similar to NOLA BJJ, but no core and no push-ups. Familiar is good (especially on a first day when I was so nervous!). Led by a very young blue-belt (I think he's 16 'cause others congratulated him on getting his driver's license). Not sure who he is, but he opened the studio this morning (had a key) so he obviously has Saulo and Xande's trust. Drills were almost the same as NOLA BJJ, except we monkey walked back from the end of the mats (almost like bear crawls) and they added a hip escape to elevator drill. Also did this head over heal drill with a partner. Sort of like paired cart wheels where the partners use each other's momentum to roll like a wheel. My partner and I got it fairly quickly. Others struggled a bit. I don't think most in the class had seen that before.

9:35-9:55a: Drilled a step around technique from north south when partner is in turtle position. Required lots of balance since the Professor encouraged us to avoid the natural tendency to place a knee or hip on the mat as we transitioned around the back. I tired quickly and didn't make all 20 on each side. Next the Professor taught two arm locks from side control when opponent hip escapes to create space using almost the same walk around technique. If timed right, these locks can be quite effective.

9:55-10:05a: Full speed spars from side control, but fists closed (no grips). Bottom opponent tries to escape. Top person tries to advance position or attack. When bottom person escapes or top person submits opponent, partners switch. I gassed. My partner, Andrew, is about my height and clearly very fit. He seemed to escape my side control at will and I couldn't do much of anything from bottom. Bleh.

10:05-10:40a: Rolls. Wow. Three 10-minute rolls, but I sat out the middle roll. I'd only done 6 minute rolls before and we had an odd number of students. First roll was with Andrew (no-stripe white belt). Started from knees. He poured on the pressure. He caught me in an armbar from seated mount. He pulled it off so quickly I couldn't employ Saulo's seated mount escape or armbar escape. It was a very smooth submission. At one point I had him in guard and managed to break his posture ok. Shot an omoplata and almost pulled it off, but he immediately rolled out. Nice. Another time I was in his guard and left one arm extended slightly. Andrew shot a triangle. It was so quick, I still don't know how I escaped. I'm thinking, "No way is this kid a beginner as suggested by the no stripes..." It was a pretty intense roll and I was gassed.

Professor asked me to sit out the second roll. I didn't complain. Not that I would have verbally complained at all, but my body/mind didn't protest. ;-) 10 minutes at full speed with a strong 20 something was crazy tough.

Got Katsu for my last roll. Katsu is 5'9" or so and I bet only weighs 130lbs. He's also a no-stripe white belt. We rolled light. I swept him a couple times and allowed reversals so we were always moving and we alternated between attacking/defending. I enjoyed this roll, but even though it was 10 minutes long, I didn't get very tired.

Overall Impressions: Nerves notwithstanding, I really really enjoyed my first day. It's familiar enough, but slightly different and very demanding. There are a lot of "big" guys there too, which will test my survival skills. Can't wait until tomorrow's class.