I was thinking about my training today and I could not remember what types of exercises or things I use to do to stay in shape before I started training in BJJ. November 1st will be three years that I have been training BJJ at Roy Dean Academy, and since I have been training I have been exposed to a whole lot of different things, good things!

I have been away from training at Roy Dean Academy for almost six months now. Although, I have been blessed to be in a place where there is a Jiu Jitsu class, it is nothing like training at RDA. I have only been at my current location for just over two months. That means I was not able to do any BJJ training for four months straight. Of course my skills have been effected from the lack of training, but I will not give up on the journey.

I have heard both good and bad things about people’s experiences who were out of town and wanted to train BJJ. The bad usually goes something like, “yeah, I was the one everyone wanted to get a piece of and I did not like they way their training was conducted”

I just finished reading an article that someone from the Philippines wrote about his training in BJJ. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu just keeps growing and growing worldwide.

It is nice to see how fast this sport is growing. To my surprise, I read that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was not all that well known until the mid-nineties. Even in Brazil the sport was not all that popular.

Now I’m back and ready to get put some time on the mat. The academy that I train at has recently moved to a new location. Last weekend we spent time painting the place and setting the mats down. The new academy looks nice and has some nice mat space. I am not sure on the exact size, but it is big enough for 6-7 pair of groups sparring.

Conditioning is very important in any sport, and Brazilian Jiu jitsu is one martial art that will test your conditioning.

Training with higher belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will be very helpful to improve your skills and knowledge of the sport.

That is what I did last month. I took a month off after training consistently for over a year. It was a much needed break. I did nothing for a whole month. No practice, drills, watch any videos, or any kind of physical workout. It was a whole month of doing nothing!

I believe taking the time off was good for many reasons. One, it allowed my body some much needed rest. My body was aching all over and my joints were feeling it too. Second, this time off allowed me to get my mind back, so to speak. Just like any sport, it takes time to develop moves that become second nature. There is the defense game and the offense game, and sometimes your doing both. There is also the mental game as well.

If you have ever trained in BJJ then you know what I mean when I say it feels like you take two steps forward in progress and three steps back. Some days you feel like your doing good, and the next you feel as though you just got on the mat for the first time.

That is why I have titled this blog, “A Journey In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu”. I would encourage anyone who has not taken some time off to seriously think about doing so. Believe me, during this time off I was thinking of all my other teammates and how they were improving while I was gone. That was the ego part of me, but that is also part of the journey as well.

Who cares if they were improving their game. It’s not like they were not going to help me improve when I return. I train with some really cool guys, and it is a good place to train. It was also exciting to see some even compete while I was away. Their game has improved and it is awesome to train with them.

Are you ready to take some time off? Hey, even the best take some complete time away from training. After returning one of my training partners mentioned that I felt stronger to him. That came as a surprise to me, but after thinking about it, that reaffirmed that my body needed the rest. Think about it, and remember it’s a journey, just like life.