Coot Rules

I’ve figured out a lot of things about my body and exertion that I’m about to share with you.

Most of us have some kind of issues that we have to deal with. Mine is that my carcass is very old for any kind of activity more strenuous than chair sitting, and possibly a leisurely walk.

This causes conflict, as I am a student of Jiu-Jitsu. Something always hurts, or doesn’t work right, or makes internal grinding noises.

I’ve codified what needs to be considered about such a situation into a number of rules.

Rule 1 is to do a warm-up unlike what most people do. I must get my body prepared for the activity. This does not include push ups, or sit ups, or any nonsense like that.

Gentle, non-ballistic movement is good, as is gentle use of the appropriate muscles and joints. I can often be seen softly moving my arms and hips all about.

Rule 2 is that any kind of repetitious large motions are bad.

These pop up whenever we do a group warm-up. The instructor says what we should do, and we try. Sometimes I don’t.

Let’s say some kind of push-ups are called for. If I do even a single one, my left arm will be less able to perform at Jiu-Jitsu than if I do zero. This is too bad, as for most people push-ups are a good muscle building activity.

There is also tremendous pressure to remain part of the group, and to do the push-ups.

Instead. I put my feet out into push-up position, and extend my good arm. Then, tripod-like, I hold myself in place while the class does their exercise. My less able left arm is held to my chest, so it can’t get any ideas into its little arm-brain about getting involved.

I have a whole pile of modifications that I do. The point as I see it is to do some kind of beneficial posture, or movement, without rendering myself less able to do Jiu-Jitsu afterwards.

Rule 3 is to listen to suggestions, but to mostly ignore them.

The reason for this is that advice will often come from people who think they know what the situation is. Maybe they think that they’re really old to be in Jiu-Jitsu also, and base their thoughts logically on their own experience.

I’ve got a news flash, 40-year-olds do not have a clue what I, as a 61-year-old, am dealing with. I would never dream that my condition is the same as somebody in their 80’s.

It’s even worse when somebody in their 20s thinks they have something to share with me about how I should handle aging and exercise.

There is a Purple Belt woman down in LA training with the Gracies who is totally blind. Her experience is nothing the same as somebody who is legally blind, but who can see. I used to have perfect vision, but now have to wear glasses. Does that mean I have anything to teach her about her experience? I think not.

In Jiu-Jitsu terms, she is the equivalent of a Gracie when it comes to blind Jiu-Jitsu, and perhaps I am a Gracie when it comes to old-man Jiu-Jitsu.

Let’s say the warm-up thing is a string of back rolls across the gym. I don’t do that. Often, a youngster will explain to me that if I would roll over my shoulder all would be dandy. At that point, I want to kick them in the nuts.

I can do back rolls, and usually do them without any problem. I do them in training, when required by a technique. I do not do strings of them as a warm up.

Let’s say I do the 20 back rolls and manage to do so without issue. What have I gained? Let’s say I do almost all of them, and then do one slightly off kilter due to muscle fatigue induced by doing a string in rapid succession. I go slightly off track, my neck makes a noise, and I’m hooped for the next few weeks.

The upside was really nothing, and the potential risk very real. It wasn’t that I don’t know how to do them, as has been suggested to me several times by barely-able-to-vote youngsters, who have all interestingly happened to have less experience in Jiu-Jitsu than me, as reflected by their significantly lower rank.

That is just one example.

Even people who are older, perhaps in their 40s, often suggest some sort of strength-building exercise they like that is less stressful on the body. Very nice, but I don’t want strength-building exercises.

For me, exercise is to get my body ready to do the class which is about to start. I loosen, I move, I bend. I do not move quickly, or overload my muscles, or try and break a sweat.

Rule 4 act like a know-it-all old coot.

At my current age, I am willing to judge stuff, then act on that judgement, or not act. When I don’t do that, I have learned that there will be damage.

Therefore I judge everything I am asked to do. Some I won’t do at all, and others I change. I’ve developed a form of Three Stooges side floor run when a back roll is indicated, but not absolutely necessary. It does the job, and has the added benefit of making me look ridiculous.

Rule 5 is to have fun.

Do it right

Their are rules for every activity in the universe. Jiu-Jitsu is no exception. If you are not interested in that martial art, looking over my rules list might be useful for whatever physical activity you do.

Be clean

In Jiu-Jitsu you are going to experience close contact….very close…embarrassingly close…

Your crotch is going to be in somebody’s face, and theirs in yours.

I’ve had a couple of partners over the years that stank of shit. I bet they didn’t know, but everybody else did. Do you really want to be that guy? Mister Poo is such a lovely nickname.

If you are going to train, shower before, and again after. The first wash is so that you don’t stink all over your partners, and the second is to wash off all the awful things that you may have picked up. Every hear of a staff infection. I had a friend who came down with that big of joy after visiting another school that had dirty mats. Ringworm is a lovely fungal infection.

Washing after class reduces the chance that anything that got on your skin will make it into your body.

If you are going to a daytime class, and another in the evening, you should shower 4 times. I do this regularly.

When training in Los Angeles at Gracie University Headquarters, I experienced several days that had a 7am class, another at noon, and then one in the evening. I attended all three, making those days into 6 shower extravaganzas. The upside is that they have great shower facilities on site.

A subset of the rule about being clean is that you shouldn’t stink in other ways either.

By this I mean, do not wear any sort of fragrance at all. Use neutral soaps or wash or shampoo or whatever. Nobody wants your favourite smells applied on their unwilling body, which is exactly what would happen.

The good news about this is there seems to be good general awareness regarding this issue. I don’t think I’ve ever had a scented partner.

Do NOT wear makeup. If you do, it will dissolve in your sweat, and run all over the place. Even if it doesn’t, it will get ground into your partner’s gi and face. You will NOT be popular, and you’ll look really stupid.

So now that your body is all squeaky clean, how about checking it for things that put your partner at real risk. Check your toe and finger nails. If they are long, cut them short. I don’t care if you think you’re some kind of Hollywood diva, cut them. Nobody cares if their are painted, but if they are going to cut somebody.

Do not wear jewelry.

No bracelets, necklaces, or even rings. I suppose a plain metal wedding band with no stone wouldn’t bother me, but any of the rest would.

Imagine you have on a necklace, and somebody catches you in a collar choke. That metal decoration is going to be driven right into your neck. If you wear a diamond ring, just think about what will happen when somebody grabs your hand with gusto in what we call a 4-straw-crush. That stone will end up somewhere, and it won’t be welcome when it gets there.

Piercings are quite popular, but you better take them all out.

Imagine a nice nipple ring, properly hidden under your uniform, and somebody crushes down on your chest with every ounce of their weight, and then rapidly spins to your other side. That nipple ring will magically transform into a drill bit, attached to your nipple.

No navel studs, nose rings, eyebrow attachments, or ear rings. You will bleed, or I will bleed, or everybody will bleed.

The next category doesn’t really have a direct effect on me, so do what you want when you choose your hair style.

The length is what matters. Imagine somebody with hair clear down to their bum, with it all free and flowing, trying to train in Jiu-Jitsu. It will be almost constantly trapped, pinning the owner to the floor, and often getting ripped out.

Everybody with long hair seems to understand this, and so there is always great deal of braiding, and tying, to get it under control.

The problem with this is that hair often still gets trapped. It also seems to come undone regularly, needing frequent time-wasting attention.

Some formerly long-haired folk switch to styles that avoid this. Most gentlemen don’t consider it an issue, and almost all have cuts that avoid any possibility of interference.

Many women, however, don’t consider short hair to be an acceptable choice. That’s really a pity, as there are lots of very nice options that work perfectly on the mat.

If longer hair is the choice, please don’t use sharp or hard objects to contain it. Go with something that won’t injure either your partner or yourself.

How about what you will wear?

Most schools dictate what you are supposed to wear for any given class. 

Let’s say it’s gi day. That means you will be wearing a lovely uniform. I like schools that dictate the colour as well, as that usually means white-gi-only.

If other colours are tolerated, why would you pick anything other than white?

There is a nonsense myth out there that black makes big people look slender. New Flash; it doesn’t.

Black is a popular colour, as is blue. Those are the two semi-normal colours other than white. The only functional difference is that black and blue don’t show dirt and grunge as easily.

If I had a school, I would dictate white-only gis for that exact reason. I don’t want anybody being able to hide how disgusting their uniform is.

Uniforms need to be washed AFTER EVERY TRAINING SESSION. They pick up all the fungus and bacteria that show up just looking for a moist, sweaty pile of cloth to thrive in.

A good school washes the mats daily, and we’ve already established that you should shower after every class to get potential issues off your skin. Why would you want to get lazy now, and want to wear a sweaty gi that you had hidden away in a dirty gym bag.

Maybe you are even cleaner than me, and just want to wear a black gi. The only real difference for you then is do you want to wear a uniform that helps promote a clean environment, or one that suggests that you are trying to be dirty and to hide it. I know it’s awful when people make snap judgements, but that’s what they’ll think about you.

How about colours other than white, black, or blue? What are you; a circus clown?

And here’s a little suggestion for the comfort of all your partners; wear a rashguard top under your gi. Having a wet rashguard ground into your face when rolling is not very pleasant, but it’s a hundred times better than having a naked, sweaty, hairy man-chest crushing down in the exact same fashion.

Let’s say it’s not gi day, which means nogi.

On the bottom, you can wear gi pants, or shorts. You can choose to wear spats, which are really man-leggings. If you do, and you are male, be nice to everybody involved, and put shorts over top.

Instead of the gi jacket; some people wear t-shirts, but the normal attire is a rashguard. Needless to say, wash it after every use, and have a fresh one ready for next time.

Interestingly, the belt can be considered a separate item. Some wear them during nogi sessions, but usually not. The belt really goes with a gi.

Tradition says don’t wash them, and they don’t like washing machines and really hate dryers. As they can hold all the same cooties as skin, or gis, or floor mats, I wash mine occasionally. It gets sink washed with hand soap and cold water, and hung to dry.

The big belt issue is the knot. Watch any sparring session, and if there are 20 people rolling around, there will be about 5 belts undone on the floor. The ordinary martial arts knot just won’t do it.

Go on youtube and you can find videos of different methods of tying belts. Rener Gracie does a very good such video. My belt NEVER comes undone.

So it’s time for some instruction, and you don’t stink of sweat or poo, or of perfumed products. Your piercings are all stud-free, and your jewelry is safely put aside. Your hair is short, or under control, and you are wearing a clean gi with a securely-tied belt.

After class, you wash off any bacteria or fungus that made it onto your skin, just as the washing machine blasts it out of your sweaty gi.

All happy, healthy, and good.

Scott-free

I don’t much like getting hurt. That should be obvious, but perhaps it isn’t. I do Jiu-Jitsu after all.

The list of worst things that have happened to my body while training would include a startlingly dislocated thumb, a badly damaged finger joint, an assortment of broken toes, an arm wrecked in an arm bar, and a buggered-up knee. Nothing worse than that, but even so it could have added up to my being a seriously hobbled-up old fellow if any of them had been even slightly worse.

I could have been forced to struggle with a crippled-up leg, and an arm of very limited usefulness, with fingers and toes that would be better suited on a wicked witch.

Should this scare me off?

What have I gained from Jiu-Jitsu that could possibly compensate?

Well, for one thing, my training may have saved my life.

No, I was never attacked by a drunken assailant or anything like that. I was, however, almost murdered by my bicycle.

It happened while riding down the big hill right next to our home. My lovely folding bike decided that it would be an appropriate time to use its unique skill, and my handle bars suddenly collapsed.

I don’t recall the exact sequence of the crash itself. I was probably going about 20kph, so there was’t much time involved between the instant recognition that I was going down, and for the rough landing to all have resolved itself.

I was on my back, on the road, and quite all right.

There was nothing more than a little bit of pavement burn. My helmet was intact, but had taken some impact. The question should be, how did I manage to face plant off of my self-collapsing bike, at relatively high speed, onto a roughly paved street, and end up safely on my back with no real injuries at all.

Clearly I had to have tucked my head to my chest and rolled over my worst injured body part, my shoulder. If I had not, it would have been a real face plant directly onto a rather unforgiving roadway.

I did what we do at Jiu-Jitsu, without conscious thought being involved, and it went well enough that I emerged intact.

Consider what happens to most people in my age category when they fall down in more normal circumstances. On that basis, one would have to consider it quite remarkable that I got off scott-free from my little incident.

If, in fact, my training is what saved my bacon, every minute of effort, and injury incurred on the mat, has been more than worthwhile. There were no broken teeth from my bike crash, nor a fractured skull, nor any snapped necks or backs, or even any seriously hooped up shoulders.

I wonder when I will fall again. Everybody falls every so often.

I fall more than most. In fact, last night alone, I must have hit the ground several dozen times. Of course, it was in a controlled and padded environment. Over the past year, I’ve probably gone down several thousand times, and since my training started the total has probably reached 20-30,000 floor impacts.

Jiu-Jitsu might have just saved my life, without any fighting being involved in any way.

Mileage May Vary

Here’s the magic that my new car does.

Let’s say you have a 2018 Ford F150 truck, and your sister has a 2018, and your brother has a 2018 Prius, and I have my spanky red Prius Prime. What does it cost to drive around?

We all drive 80 kilometres. Around here current gas prices are about $1.35 per litre, and household electricity is $8.29-$12.43 per kilowatt hour depending on how much you use. My house has electric heating, so we pay the higher rate.

Or course, the big truck owner will pay the most to move his machine around. To go the 80 km, it will cost the truckster $14.94.

Sis, in her Corolla will get off much more cheaply. Her rate for the same distance will be $8.21.

The brother, in his gas-sipping Prius hybrid car will make the first two vehicle owners seem overly extravagant. The price to move one of those babies 80 km is only $4.86.

But I don’t drive a big Ford, or a Corolla, or a Prius. My car of choice is a Prius Prime. It is what you call a “plug-in hybrid.”

You plug into house current, and that charges an extra battery that can propel the machine happily down the highway at whatever speed you choose for a 40km distance without using any gas at all. Beyond that, it automatically and seamlessly turns into a normal Prius hybrid.

Taking that puppy 80km down the road will take exactly half the gas that the Prius burned. That’s a paltry $2.43 for petrol.

The funny thing is, when I talk about my car, people freak out about how much all the electricity must be costing. Really? Gas versus electricity. That’s why I did the actual math.

To charge my car up to cover the first half of our test distance costs me a grand total of slightly under $.75. Adding on the price of the gas for the second half of the trip and the bill for 80km totals $3.18. For somebody who qualifies for the cheaper electric rate it would be somewhat lower.

Now, I’m not saying a Prius Prime is the right car for everybody. For me it is. Let’s say you find yourself always driving very long distances, and would rarely be in a situation where you could plug in. In that situation, the 40km of cheap gas-less travel wouldn’t make a very large difference. Next winter we will be driving to California and back, and staying in hotels. Our Prime will then be the same as a regular Prius, which is already pretty great.

But, suppose you had a situation where you rarely needed to put in more than 40km at a time. For somebody like that, having a Prime would mean almost total electric use, and therefore cheap driving.

That’s pretty much how we live. The exception is that I drive to the neighbouring town about 4 times a week. Getting there and back is about 50km. Each time I do, my poor car is forced to use a few swallows of gas on the return drive.

We’ve had the car for about two weeks now, and have used about 1/16th of a tank of gas. At that rate, it should be 8 months before needing a fill up.

We could have bought a straight electric car, and avoided even that tiny gas usage, but then we wouldn’t be able to drive to California. We seem to have the best of both worlds; the economy of electric and the range of gasoline.

I suppose 80km in a true electric car would cost me about $1.50.

Legs

Today will be my first Vancouver Jiu-Jitsu class that is focused on Leg Locks.

I have attended about 180 classes in Los Angeles, a half dozen Gracie seminars, and about 30 more classes in Arizona and Palm Springs. None has addressed Leg Locks, except an hour or two section of a Rener Gracie seminar once.

I am no rookie to the subject, having covered the prescribed curriculum at home on the subject many times. I am, however, not confident in the topic.

I can handle any leg attacks that my local friends try on me, and haven’t run into much of such technique when travelling. I don’t try and execute these attacks much, as they certainly are not something natural for me.

And now in Vancouver they are just starting several months of non-stop Leg work.

It will do me a world of good.

The instructor there, Marc Marins, was a world-class competitor, and is as knowledgeable as instructors come. I cannot help but come away with a fundamentally changed Leg game, both offensively and defensively.

Part of both my hesitancy and fascination with Leg Locks is because of how incredibly dangerous they are. Many schools don’t teach them at all.

Students who learn the attacks are normally quite comfortable already with chokes, arm bars, and shoulder attacks. Applying a toe hold, or leg lock, knee attack, or heal hook with the same level tension can do major damage.

Students are also used to defending against upper body attacks, and have it ingrained to tap when the discomfort reaches a certain point.

With legs, that is far too late. The damage comes well before anything has started to hurt.

It is only safe when the attacker doesn’t really apply at all, and the defender is willing to tap super early.

Let’s say you get a heal hook on me. You shouldn’t do more than get your arms into position, and not apply at all, and I should immediately tap. I should then say that I want to try an escape, and you let me try while you attempt and maintain your position, but still not apply at all. During that whole exercise we should both accept that should you yank on my foot, my entire knee would disassemble most horribly.

What often happens instead is the heal hook is in place, and some pressure is put into it. Damage starts to occur, and the defender tries to escape, as it doesn’t really hurt yet, so the attacker increases pressure, and boom.....the knee collapses. Both attacker and defender are surprised, shocked and horrified.

It should all be taught under a highly-qualified instructor. At home, Shawn Phillips clearly outlines the danger and insists on safety first. Marc in Vancouver will likely take us deeper down into the rabbit hole, but in an equally safe manner.

I fully expect to come away fundamentally changed as a Jiu-Jitsu player.

As recently as two months ago, I foolishly thought I was pretty competent in Back Mount. Then came a few weeks of mat work at Gracie University in LA all focused on Back, followed by a month-and-a-half on the topic in Vancouver. My big discovery was that, while I knew the vast majority of the technique, I didn’t a have a clue as to what to do with it, either offensively or defensively.

I got rebuilt. Take my back now, and you’d better be good or you won’t have it long. If I get your back, you’d better know how to defend, or you will be promptly forced to tap.

I fully expect that my Leg game will change to something similar.

My Teachers

I have been extremely lucky both in Karate and in Jiu-Jitsu.

Having a good instructor is incredibly important. I have had such people arise at critical points during my journey.

I started out with a Karate instructor who skipped town over the Christmas vacation. I’d only been training for a few months, and it could have meant the end of the road.

Luckily, the local college found us a replacement in the neighbouring town. He drove for an hour to get to us in our little town of Fort Saint John, and an hour getting home again. He did this for years; never once complaining. He taught us well, in a caring fashion, and with infectious enthusiasm. He was my first great teacher. His name is Perry Foster.

The big instructor for our province back then was Yasuo Sakurai. We hosted him up north many times. After Helen and I moved south to Sechelt, I continued to train with Sakurai Sensei as much as possible. He was the second of my great teachers. His depth of knowledge is remarkable, and he is always striving to be a better and more flexible instructor. He is perhaps the most courteous person I have ever known.

After many years, my knees told me that continuing in Karate would not be a good idea, and I hung up my belt. I tried Jiu-Jitsu. Remarkably, my body liked it just fine.

The man who teaches at our local Jiu-Jitsu school became my third great instructor. He teaches in a very step-by-step manner, and is always thinking about his students’ welfare.

An example is how he handles my promotions. He knows I feel the pressure of time, being as old as I am. He accepts that I keep honest tallies of the attendance required for promotion. I don’t get kept waiting around once the minimum time requirement is satisfied. Many instructors insist on delaying so that their students never know when their next level will arrive. I suppose this feeds their ego somehow. Shawn Phillips seems happy to have the requirements clearly set out, and lets us fulfill them with hard work, which really should be the goal.

The latest of my great instructors, is a man I’ve only been working with for about a year and a half. Compared to my time as a student of Perry Foster (about ten years), Yasuo Sakurai (thirty years), and of Shawn Phillips (seven years), our association has been very brief. Marc Marins is a quiet and inspiring teacher. As I travel all day to attend his classes, he has refused to let me pay, which in turn has me  showing up in time to help out with the beginners class to pay him back somehow. He paid me forward, so that I pay him back. I say “pay him back,” but Marc gets nothing from me helping out. Rather, his other students do, with an extra tutor.

None of this is meant to indicate displeasure at many other excellent teachers I have knows. Rener Gracie, Chris Davis, Ryron Gracie, Andy Holmes, and Alex Stewart all spring to mind. The difference is, they have not become “my” instructors. It is fortunate to ever find one person to fill this role. More is a huge plus.

I seem to have four.

So far.

Know Something?

I hate people who join a discipline and think they know more than  they do.

It happens all the time in martial arts. Stupidly, everybody seems to think they know something about fighting.

Usually they don’t.

Let’s assume somebody shows up who actually knows something. Let’s make them somebody who has been a member of a boxing gym for a year or so. He certainly should be able to hit, and to block, and to move in a boxing context.

He knows nothing about fighting, and less than nothing about Jiu-Jitsu.

Let’s say he shows up on open mat night, and wants to spar with somebody. Let’s say that they find a willing partner who doesn’t even mind if boxing-boy wants to start standing, and allowing punches.

Boxer moves forward, but the finds he isn’t getting any closer. Boxers shuffle, and it’s easy to stay well outside of their striking range, at least for a while. A while is all it would take.

Jiu-Jitsu people understand the danger, and will move from far-and-safe to a tight clinch in a blitz. Don’t believe me? Watch any of the first half dozen UFC events; back before everybody turned into experts in striking, kicking, and grappling.

I dare you to show me a single instance of a high-level striker being able to stop or injure a grappler blitzing in. The evidence all says that our boxing friend will find himself either clinched, or double-legged straight to the ground.

Let’s say the grappler establishes a clinch, which means our boxer is still relatively safe and on his feet.

As he knows nothing about grappling, how long do you think he’ll be able to stay upright? It will be measured in seconds.

So now the fight is on the ground, likely with the grappler on top. What comes next? The boxer tries to escape, of course. Will he succeed in making up something on the spot that the Jiu-Jitsu person hasn’t practiced handling a thousand times?

This is where the lack of skill really shows. He will try futilely to escape, and will be totally exhausted in very short order, and this will be followed by a submission. He might just be too stupid to give up to a joint lock, and might get hurt, but maybe it will be a choke and he’ll quietly take a little nap.

In the early days after Gracie Jiu-Jitsu’s arrival in the USA there were a great many challenge matches. A cash prize was offered to anybody who could beat the Jiu-Jitsu representative, and the bouts filmed. The money never had to be paid.

Dozens of these fights are available on Youtube now. They are almost monotonous in how they go. I have perfectly described them all in my boxer example.

Sometimes they were boxers, or Karate people, or body builders, or wrestlers, or street fighters. It didn’t matter.

Remarkably, the fights were so short, and shocking to the loser that they wanted to try again. Usually the second attempts end faster than the first as the Jiu-Jitsu person learned what to expect from that first exchange.

That was all pretty much settled a very long time ago. Want to see an incredibly clear example of this?

Look up “James Toney vs Randy Couture” on Youtube. This fight happened in 2010 between a former World Champion Boxer and a former UFC Champion. At that time, the UFC had been in operation for 17 years, and you’d have thought Toney would have shown up better prepared.

Couture was cautious, and took his time. The takedown happened about 20 seconds into the bout, and the submission about halfway through the first round.

I find it a hoot that people claim that Toney was too old at the time of the match. He was 42 at the time, but they ignore that Couture was 47.

So what has the boxer in the example done? He has not only shown that he doesn’t know how to fight, but also that he doesn’t know how fighting should even be done.

But what if he were instead somebody who wrestled in high school? It wouldn’t matter, although the story would have gone differently.

Likely the wrestler would have been the one to have caused the takedown, after which he would have been wrapped up in the guard. Wrestlers don’t study or train in the guard, as it puts your back on the mat which means instant defeat in that sport. They also don’t train in any submissions, or in how to defend them.

Watch “Royce Gracie vs Dan Severn.” Severn was a world-class wrestler who outweighed Gracie by almost a hundred pounds. The match had no time limit, and went 16 minutes. Severn got caught in a choke and had to tap.

So if you show up at a Jiu-Jitsu class thinking you know anything, you are wrong. I showed up with a Black Belt in Shotokan Karate, and experience as a wrestling coach, and yet kept my mouth shut it.

Some skills did transfer, but not the ones that you might have thought.

Karate sparring is full of lightning blitzes, both in and out. Although not exactly as it is done in grappling, this movement was already second nature to me.

Wrestlers, like all grapplers, are comfortable with rolling around on the mat.

Both disciplines require comfort and relaxation during combat-like training, and I had this down pat, too.

Other than that, there wasn’t much that was directly applicable. I remember how exciting to work the first armbars I’d ever done, and triangle chokes were like voodoo.

In our little group, there are four people who hold Black Belts in other arts, and yet we all put on White Belts again when we started Jiu-Jitsu. We did this both literally and figuratively. The actual belts we started over with were white in colour, and we also accepted that we were fresh students who knew nothing and needed to be taught.

Does a tennis player think he knows how to play baseball?

Does being a basketball player get you ready to join the NFL?