I went to BJJ today–my second day in a row since the second week in September. It kills me. Let’s analyze my pattern:
So as you can see, I immediately fell in love with BJJ. The last week of June/first week of July was the only time I ever went 5 times in a week. I rolled over on my wrist on July 14 and it has taken…until NOW to heal. Ugh. Nearly 5 months. My tournament was on Saturday, July 17. The armbar I lost to also hurt me for around 4 months. It hurt so bad I could literally not move my arm without crying the first day. It took nearly a week for me to get around 90% range of motion. If I hyper extend my arm now I can still feel where it twinges. So, injuries kept me off the mat the last part of July.
Sporadic training in August, but my passion was renewed in time for my trip to Ukraine. The training the first two weeks was in Zhytomyr and Kyiv. The 10th is when I returned to my BJJ gym. There was a big ball of BJJ drama dropped in my lap and I really took it hard, only returning to my gym once.
October is when I started going to Jiu Jitsu world, but a combination of a friend leaving, still feeling upset over the BJJ drama, and getting sick, you can see what’s been going on.
I’m going strong so far. My passion is renewed. These past two days are the only times I’ve been this month, but I’m really excited about it again. I can’t wait to go back on Monday. My hope is to go 3-4 times next week.
So, what does YOUR BJJ calendar look like? Do you even keep track? I feel a bit like a marshmallow right now. A beat up, hurting marshmallow. I can’t wait to get the finger calluses, the bruised up legs, and even the mat burn. Bring it!
I’ll report back in a few months so you can keep me honest 😀
I train seven days a week. For one reason or another I will usually take one, maybe two days off a month. Usually I train:
Mon: 6:30-8a, 12-2pm (sometimes 6-9p)
Tues: 12-2p, 6-9:30p
Wed: 6:30-8a, 6-9p
Thurs: 12-2p, 6-9p
Fri: 12-2p, 5-7p
Sat: 12-3p
Sun: 9:30a-12p
Again, you are the picture of addiction. 😀 You’re the baseline for what I can point to if someone says I’m addicted. I can point to you and say “nuh-uh! THAT’S addiction”
It’s also what I love about you! 🙂
I usually train 6 times a week, but it has been less during these last few months due to the holidays. Been about four times a week in November and December.
Amen to all my addicted jiu jitsu sistas! 🙂
Yeah, we mere mortals will never catch up to Georgette/Leslie/Allie! 😀
I usually get about 2 kung fu classes and 4 BJJ classes per week. If it wasn’t for all the time taken up with the annoyance of WORK and the inconvenience of having to SLEEP once in a while (and- further vexation- you can’t multitask those; they each seem to want their own time slot!), it would be a lot more. When I was laid off, I was going twice a day, every day. Basically, if I’m not at work and if I’ve managed to slot in at least five hours of sleep in between two sessions of work, I *WILL* be at class. I’m really lucky in that I have BJJ classes available to me every weekday lunchtime and evening (plus Saturday lunchtime). My work schedule is weird, so it’s incredible to have that flexibility.
I had to cut back to only 4 BJJ classes and 3 open mats per week and one day of either weights or running, plus teaching the kids class. Before I was doing 6 BJJ classes and 4 open mats per week with 2 to 3 runs per week. It got to be a little too much after 3.5 months of that schedule.
And yes, I do have a full time job and I’m nuts like the other BJJ ladies.
LOL, we ARE addicted, and I’m so glad I’m not the only one. Kitsune, how the EFF do you manage another martial art on top of jits? I started out with kajukenbo, then added jits, and had to bail on kaju pretty quickly. Every moment on the mats in the other dojo was a moment I could have spent doing jits. You must be equally moved by both arts. Kudoes to you sista 🙂
Actually, it’s jits on top of kung fu. I have been doing kung fu for about five years. BJJ was originally an extracurricular activity to supplement things that I felt I wasn’t getting in kung fu. I still prioritize the kung fu in that the availability of classes is not as plentiful in my life, so if I have a choice I pick kung fu. But (again, because of the greater availabilty), I spend more time these days doing jits. I don’t know what I would do at this point if I had to pick one over the other.
My BJJ schools are sport schools- I enjoy that, and much of it crosses over- but I am a primarily defense-focussed MA’ist, and I don’t want to lose sight of that.
Also, traditional Chinese martial arts have a mystical, spiritual aspect that is important to me. I can bring some of that into my BJJ just by how I view it and approach it in my practice, but I don’t get much of those qualities prominantly displayed in my sport BJJ schools. They are two *very* different atmospheres. Some of the traditions and structures of TCMA are really cool. Anyway, they each have things that I can’t get from the other, so together they make something special.
There are definitely downsides, though. Sometimes I get conflicting instruction about things. And the time I spend dong BJJ has really eaten into practice time which is vital for me to really keep advancing in kung fu.
Last summer I was doing a solid seven classes a week, but from August to December, my college/work schedule only allowed me to go three times per week. Made me sad after the first month or two, so even though I constantly reminded myself that school was more important than BJJ, I’ll admit to having skipped several classes to hit the gym.
This next semester, I’ll be taking 21 hours in college, but they’re scheduled so I can do eight BJJ classes per week (in addition to two Muay Thai classes and one MMA class). Needless to say, I can’t WAIT for the next semester to start! 😀
During the summer I train crazy–
Mondays–morning and evening karate, and evening bjj
Tuesdays–morning and evening karate
Wednesdays–morning and evening karate
Thursdays–evening karate
Fridays–evening bjj
Saturday–afternoon karate
During the fall my training is awful–second job interferes:
Mondays–karate and bjj
Thursdays–karate
And now:
Mondays–karate and bjj
Tuesdays–karate and bjj
Thursdays–karate
You ladies amaze me. Sincerely.
I train a mere twice a week, at most getting four classes over two days (often just two from one day a week). But I do have a spreadsheet. ;D
Oh wow, that’s insanely detailed 😉
Wow! +1 to the Insanely Detailed comment!
what are the A/B sections for? I realize they’re for keeping track of hours, but why A/B? And the +? section?
What is the purpose of all this detail?
Heh – this is going to be rather off-topic, but as you asked and I always relish an opportunity to talk about myself:
A/B was originally for ‘advanced‘ and ‘beginner‘, which is how the classes were split at the Roger Gracie Academy HQ (they now also have an ‘intermediate’). It doesn’t always apply now, as some of the places I’ve trained don’t split like that, but the majority have something comparable.
‘+’ is for how many hours since the last promotion. I was trying to see if there was any regularity to things like stripes, which as far as I can tell there is (at least at RGA).
As to purpose, on the one hand, it’s an extension of something I wanted to do with the blog: track one person’s progress through BJJ, so somebody just starting out could see one example of exactly what it involves (in this instance, that’s just chronological).
On the other, it’s an exercise in vanity. I’m relatively obsessed with my own past (hence why my bookshelves are stuffed with cartoon box sets from the ’80s. I hoard the books I read/computer games I played/music I heard/films and TV I watched as a child, so hardly ever throw anything away), so this is yet another way of holding on to some of my own personal history.
Or more simply, I’m a huge geek, so I like playing with stats (which is weird, as I’ve always hated maths, but playing with stats is strangely enjoyable). The off-line version of that spreadsheet is way more detailed, with a bunch of other tabs, even graphs. 😉
[…] past year I’ve kept track of my training and my thoughts in various methods. I kept track of number of days trained on an app called Streaks – Motivational Calendar. Over the past year I realized I have […]
Hi there Julia,
Thanks heaps for your article and your encouragement, unfortunately my training has really dropped, I seem to have lost that desire these days, although I really still love Karate, do you have any ideas to boost me up again…apart from a kick in the butt
regards jeff
Hey Jeff! I don’t know what motivates you, but I’d first look in to that. I know for ME, one thing that helps is to start going again. Or to start reading forums or to join up with a friend.
It may also help to take a short break. Or to get yourself some kind of calendar.
You must rekindle your romance with BJJ. Start today. Light a candle. Read a blog. Whisper sweet nothings into her ear…oh wait.