My minister at the church I go to mentioned that our drummer was a Ju Jitsu teacher. I know I had tried it before and wasn't exactly on fire, but I have always liked the idea. If I could skip forward 4 or 5 years to when I receive my black belt I would be over the moon. But I can't, and I don't know that the journey has enough pace for my enthusiastic puppy-dog attitude. I also can't get away with being a big bloke - technique is king :)
Anyway, I went to their 2 hour class (http://www.jitsufoundation.org/jujitsu.asp?page=jujitsu_club&clubid=Leicester_Jitsu_Club) yesterday (instead of a kick boxing session with urbanmartialarts.com) and I was pleasantly surprised.
We met in St Matthews Center in Leicester in a generic rented room which temporary mats put down.
There were only four other students (blue, orange and white and another beginner), which made the class quite intimate. The class started with a blue belt taking us through a warm up which was fun, but after which I was utterly knackered. 18 odd stone has a lot of kinetic energy! Oil tankers are not designed to change direction at speed :)
Anyway, the class started with the usual ritual of saluting the instruction (bowing), who is a 1st Dan black belt. The white belt and myself were then led through left and right break falls and forward and backward roles. I used to be able to do this without thinking - now I couldn't do the back roles at all :( Very disappointing.
After that we came back together and the instructor demonstrated some escapes from a knife attack from behind. I am always sceptical about whether this would really work - wouldn't you just wet yourself? :) Anyway, the technique was effective and it was explained and demonstrated well. We then split into pairs (or threes as there was an odd number) and took turns.
The level of instruction was nice - enough to make progress, but not too much so there were 49 things you were trying to think about. I felt I picked up things quickly, which was nice. I was encouraged that the instructor never had to tell me the same thing twice. Actually, that is a lie. I *always* get told to bend my knees and not my back. At around 6 foot 2 inches this is a persistent issue I have.
So, the ever present question - will I continue. I am in two minds. It was good fun, hard enough to be interesting but in a nice relaxed environment. The instructor was also adamant that they do 'more than just the locks and throws' and they do cover strikes, which is my nagging issue with the 'softer' arts. The problem is I only have 6 hours (3 nights) *at most* to train and I really want to do the other two (TKD and JKD). TKD for the fitness and patterns, JKD for the effectiveness/therapeutic semi-contact sparring. A dilema.
If I could jump into the future, I would cherish a black belt in Ju Jitsu, TKD and then JKD in that order, I just don't know if I can commit to 4 or 5 years of Ju Jitsu training. Does that make any sense?
I could go to one of each class each week (Mondays JJ, Tuesday TKD, JDK any other day) but that might be spreading myself too thin.
Arrgggh, what to do?
Anyway, pros and cons of this class:
Pros:
- effective and accurate teaching
- it is true what they say about JJ - belts there are higher than equivalent belts in other arts
- nice social aspect to it
- level of detail was great
- investment in this class would pay dividends
Cons:
- probably the least effective at increasing fitness - not a biggie, but to be noted
- I have *no* flexibility in my joints. I felt pain watching other people's locks :)
- going here removes a class from TKD and JKD making it very expensive
- grading is 3 monthly - although I am not sure I will progress faster
- do I really want to do this class? I think I do....
Oh, the indecisive mind :(
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