Grappling and all that Jazz: From the Kwoon to the Cage

Welcome to yet another blog on grappling.

I've avidly competed in both Judo and BJJ over the course of the past 7 years, as well as fought in MMA. I intend to cover some of the things having competed and fought has taught me regarding grappling in general and life.

I'll regularly update with observations, thoughts, and experiences regarding Judo and Jiu-Jitsu and more specifically combining the two. At their heart(s), they are one and the same. Due to rules, and sporting restrictions and a host of other reasons, they have grown quite apart.

In the meantime I'll plug some grappling-related wear I've designed b/c not only am I a grappler, but I'm a T-Shirt whore at heart. One of my saddest memories was attending the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials in New Jersey and being told by an event official they had no T-shirts for sale. Then was the winter of my discontent.

Cheers and let's get rolling.

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Roughly 10 years ago, the guy living across the hall from me in college interrupted me either watching porn or playing Playstation to tell me there was a Wing Chun school downtown, walking distance from our dorm. He was excited. He'd done Karate most of his life, and wanted me to go with him. I obliged, less than enthused but mildly interested as I'd grown up in southern California splitting my afternoons between Kung-fu Theatre and hot chicks on Univision Spanish Soap Operas.

We went.
We worked on our basic stance.
We learned the first form.

It felt old school. It felt and looked like Kung-fu in the movies. I didn't know much about fighting, minus having tricked my mom into renting me some UFC's from the local Blockbuster, but it was what was available at the time, so I began training.
A couple years later, I began live sparring with some local Karate guys and the like.....