10 Years of BJJ - My Jiu-Jitsu Journey - Part 13 (Swimming in the Deep End)

(If you haven't read the previous part, you can find it HERE)

I just got wrecked in the Welsh Open by a guy half my size. F***! Never mind, back to training I go.

Me and my brother went back to training for a week or two, and then something happened which at first kind of shocked me. However, it turned out to be one of the best experiences if life. My instructor asked me and my brother if we would like to move into the adult class. Man, I was a little shocked to say the least. Bear in mind, me and my brother were only 14 years old at this point. Heck, my voice hadn't even dropped. 

To be honest, we didn't really think about it. We just said yes. At this point, there was nobody our size in the kid’s class and now we would be going into an environment where everybody would be stronger and bigger than us. That aspect of it I didn't really care about. If it would make me better and get me closer to green belt, I would do it. 

The whole day before my first adult class, I was so nervous. I'm talking like competition type nervous. I don't even know why, but I was shitting myself. Even though I had trained in the kid’s class for years, I didn't know what to expect from the adult class. 

When we arrive, there were about 20 - 25 people there. In those days, there were hardly any blue belts on the mat at one time. You would be lucky to have five on the mat at the same time. If I remember correctly, there were about 3 blue belts there on that day. 

The warm up was pretty much exactly the same as the kid’s class. Obviously, it was a little harder, but it wasn't too overwhelming. 

I remember the technique we did like it happened yesterday. We covered de la riva guard with some sweeps and the transition to the back. I remember just sitting there being so baffled. In all my years of doing Jiu-Jitsu, I had never seen de la riva guard before. It was like I had been eating from the same menu for years and then suddenly somebody took me to a buffet where there was so much more variety. I was exposed to a whole new world.

Man, I've never had so much fun doing a technique. It took me a little while to get it, especially the correct angle, but man it was a blast. I think that is one of my most memorable moments in Jiu-Jitsu as crazy at that might sound to some people. 

After doing technique for about 30 minutes, we got onto rolling. The first roll was just with my brother, so nothing unexpected about that. The next round was with a guy called Chris, who at the time was a one stripe white belt. Actually, he wasn't really that much bigger than me, but he was super skinny. In short I got absolutely wrecked by this guy. But honestly, I had so much fun! I realised that everything from now on would be a challenge. There would be no easy rolls. 

Next round, same thing again, I get totally trashed by this bald headed short guy. I didn't even know his name, but he just completely schooled me. I still had a blast though. I finally realised here that I couldn't just use my size to my advantage like I did in the kid’s class and just bully everybody. No, now I had to really develop technique if I was going to stand any sort of chance with these guys, or I would just be smashed every time. 

At the end of that session, I finally 'got it'. I realised why people loved Jiu-Jitsu so much and why it consumed their lives. As a kid, I would hear adults all the time say they loved Jiu-Jitsu and they were obsessed with it. However, I couldn't really understand that. There were times where I hated Jiu-Jitsu, and I didn't want to do it anymore. Even during times where I liked Jiu-Jitsu, I was never completely in love with it and it didn't consume everything I did.

But that evening, I got that Jiu-Jitsu 'bug' which infects all of us. I got to experience firsthand what Jiu-Jitsu was. It was like I had been living in a black and white world, and finally somebody showed me a world of colour. That was one of the best days of my life and something I will never forget. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this part of 'My Jiu-Jitsu Journey', and the next part will be uploaded soon.   

Catch you later,

Giordano