bam02 said:

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Yeah, it's the one thing I've missed the most since switching to the home gym years ago. I love the sled.

I am only considering the one with wheels by torque fitness. It is expensive and kind of bulky, which is why I've been hesitant, but I do know I will use it so I will probably end up pulling the trigger. I kept hoping the one I want would pop up on marketplace for a good price.

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Those things are awesome, wish I could justify the price but that's a no-go over here.

Doesn't look like we'll have the All TexAgs BJJ Tournament in Reed Arena this year....

However, this one is coming up in Round Rock. I'm giving it serious thought.

What say you?

Austin Summer International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2024 | IBJJF

July 13 & 14

9 classes under my belt. Today I had to be reminded during drills to go 50% and "we aren't fighting". Kind of embarrassing and frustrating I keep forgetting. Hopefully I get past that quick. I feel bad because I get that isn't helpful from r drilling and learning.

bam02 said:

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9 classes under my belt. Today I had to be reminded during drills to go 50% and "we aren't fighting". Kind of embarrassing and frustrating I keep forgetting. Hopefully I get past that quick. I feel bad because I get that isn't helpful from r drilling and learning.

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Worry not man we have all been there

bam02 said:

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9 classes under my belt. Today I had to be reminded during drills to go 50% and "we aren't fighting". Kind of embarrassing and frustrating I keep forgetting. Hopefully I get past that quick. I feel bad because I get that isn't helpful from r drilling and learning.

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gotta learn how to drill before drilling becomes helpful. We have all had to go through it!

Dang it I jacked my shoulder up pretty bad yesterday. I don't know what the move was but when I landed on basically all fours, I knew I messed it up. it's been an off and on issue most of my life and it's been bothering me lately but I thought it would be fine. I plan to take whatever time I need to continue my home rehab exercises and wait for it to feel better before I go back to a class. Sucks.

Oh man, sorry to hear that. Sometimes those weird injuries just happen. I hurt my shoulder one time just rolling onto the mat from a mount position (demonstrating a choke from mount).

I hope a combination of rest and PT gets you back on the mat soon, and it sounds like you're doing the right thing (not going to class until it's better - which is hopefully soon).

Just curious....what kind of stuff were y'all working at the time?

Honestly I don't even know. I just do what I'm told lol.

I am not sure what it's called or if there is even a term for it, but basically I started on top and my partner had me in half guard and I had to pass his guard. Again, I may be using the terms wrong but this wasn't like a drill it was more like a roll in that it was full strength/speed.

My partner felt bad because I was clearly hurt but I let him know it was something already there and completely on me. I sat out for about a couple minutes but it felt better within a minute or two and I got back in and was fine, but as I left the gym and cooled down I was hiring pretty bad. I got busy and didn't ice. Dumb. Trying to sleep was a bewitch and every change in position was painful.

Today my arm has been basically useless. I hate shoulders.

Shoulder injuries are bad. Took a bad sode throw 10 years ago in judo, and that was it. I regularly hang to keep my grips and shoulders strong. Good luck.

Yeah, I have done a lot of shoulder hangs and band work over the years, but I really need to be more diligent.

When my semi chronic aches and pains go away, I tend to forget that I ever had them. I do remember this shoulder being so bad about five years ago that I had myself convinced I was headed for surgery. I got past that with just some PT eventually was able to go back to intense activity and heavy lifting without problems.

Remembering that gives me some optimism, but this is frustrating for sure.

That's the catch 22 with BJJ, it's both great and detrimental for your physical health. Joints in particular you have to watch out for. Both of my knees are in rough shape as well as my left shoulder and as luck would have it we were working on arm bars earlier this week. I tap super early on those because I don't have great range of motion. I know when I can defend and fight and when it's time to tap. Take downs are really difficult for me because I can't move explosively, my body just can't do it, those classes are always really defeating to me because I'm at a disadvantage. I try to be smart about who I partner up with, there's a couple of guys my age, size, and experience level and we're all respectful of each other's abilities and limitations. The main guys I try to stay away from are guys who are really young because they try to overcompensate for lack of experience with going too hard. I also steer clear of guys who are way too big, I can roll with some but any white belt who outweighs me by more than 50 pounds is risky, the higher belts that big are more trustworthy to be safe. I legit don't care if I win or lose to anyone, I just don't want to be injured and I have no problem sharing that with my partners. At my age those are the guys who end up leaving and not coming back, the guys that get hurt. I've seen plenty of guys in my 18 months have something happen and just stop coming.

After about 6 months of training it feels like everyone's pride has been leveled off enough that losing all the time isn't as bothersome. It's odd at first that it's easier to accept losing once you understand more about it. I never had any misgivings that I would pick BJJ up quickly, but the losing and not understanding can take a toll on you mentally.

I hope you heal up and can get back on the mats soon. Once you make it part of your weekly routine it's tough to go back.

I appreciate the insight. Very relatable.

Most of the 40+ guys in my gym are cool about making sure that no one gets hurt. If you tell them that you have an injury they will be sure to not "work" that area.

Telling your partner that you have an injury ahead of time always pays off as long as they are mature enough to be cool about it.

I'm 6 weeks in to a shoulder injury and PT only got me so far. Going to get a MRI in 2 weeks or so. Sucks

Of course yesterday at the end of sparring with a purple belt that outweighs me significantly I get hit with an arm bar that totally jacked my elbow. He's a cop and did that thing where they push your hand forward pretty hard to keep you from moving so he had my elbow being pulled backward and my wrist was going the other direction at the same time. TBH I'm pretty pissed about it. Literally in no class has there ever been any sort of instruction to do anything like that and I'm still hurting. With that wrist lock I was completely immobilized and he puts an arm bar on me to boot. Accidents happen but that was no accident, to put those two things together at the same time on someone you outweigh by 75-100 pounds was completely unnecessary. I guess I'll really find out tomorrow if there's an issue when I try to lift weights but it's not feeling great at all.

Damn. Hope it's nothing too serious!

I've learned my lesson with cops on the mats. First time the guy didn't know the rules, i pulled guard, got slammed SEVERAL times, got turned on my stomach with a wrist lock. Never rolled with one who took it easy. Sorry, if you're in the force it's on.

Ha the guy I was going against when I hurt my shoulder last week is a cop. He didn't do anything out of bounds, though.

I'll give law enforcement a little extra business this week just for you guys

There's several officers from different departments that train at my gym. One about my experience level outweighs me by about 40-50 lbs has been a solid partner when I've rolled with him, definitely stronger than me but he didn't lean into that, he gets it. The one I rolled with yesterday was helping explain things to me during class and I appreciated that he was trying to slow things down. But when it was time to spar I don't get why he flipped a switch, he could easily tell during drilling I'm a 44 year old white belt who he outweighs by a significant margin, I'm not a threat . Rarely am I the larger guy when I'm rolling but on the occasion I am, I try and focus on technique and timing. Just hoping it's nothing that lingers.

I held off lifting yesterday morning to give my elbow more time to heal up so I just stretched in the morning. I went to class last night and was able handle everything. I had to make an adjustment for how I secured my partner's leg to the mat because I can tell my mobility was impacted, but I was able to handle the instruction and didn't notice anything significantly impacted during sparring at the end.

Side note to those that are newer at BJJ, something that's held true for me is that whatever my preconceived notion is for a class, it ends up being the opposite. I was worried about my elbow that even as I got into the parking lot I considered going back home to not risk anything but I made myself go. I had a good class when I was worried about a lot going in. Conversely every time I go in after a good day I get humbled. For some reason BJJ never lets me get too high or too low on myself, one of the reasons I keep going back.

I got my instructors blessing on entering the Austin Summer Open in Round Rock, in July.

Entering the Masters 5, Medium-Heavy division.

So, it looks like I'm going to be living on the mat for the next few months

good luck