BTT Canada
I have finally got off my ass and into the gym. I have been taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Fabio Holanda of Brazlian Top Team Canada. The classes and the gym are both great. The facilities are awesome and the class is full of pretty talented people. Stand out members of Brazilian Top Team Canada include Patrick Cote, Steve Bosse, and G.S.P. (although I have yet to see G.S.P. in the gym, I believe he trains somewhere else as well.). There is a ton of younger guys who could be people to watch for in the future as well. All in all, I’m really enjoying it.
I have been taking BJJ for almost two months now, and I’m pretty happy with my progress. I seem to be picking it up pretty quickly, although I know my technique is generally sloppy. Regardless, in just this short time I have come very far. I have been taking a mix of classes with and without the Kimono. Although I probably prefer the classes with the Gi, I have been taking more without lately. This is primarily a scheduling thing, but it looks like it might work out better anyway. There is a tournament at the gym on July 25th which I think I will enter. It is a no Gi grappling tournament, so I am going to try to focus my training in that area for the next two months. I would be entering the 0 – 12 month division with about 4 months experience at the time. I don’t have really high hopes for advancing very far, but I find it is important to have goals to make the most of training. Plus, it will be nice to get the butterflies out of the way now for future competitions. Unfortunately for me, the weight classes put me at a disadvantage. I’m 160 lbs. The lowest division is 147lbs which I have no interest in cutting too. The next step up is 170lbs. Considering that people do cut for these, I could be going in at least 15 lbs lighter then my opponent. Not exactly ideal for my first time. Oh well. As I said, it is more for the experience anyway. That said, our gym has a very good record in tournaments, so it is possible I might win a match or two.
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