REDDzone wrote:Not sure if anyone still reads this thread but for those interested, I received my brown belt in brazilian jiu jitsu last weekend.
I remember posting on this board before I even started training over a decade ago and Susan is the one who actually pointed me in the direction of the gym I ended up choosing even though I was intimidated by it. I have since moved on, but it was certainly the best choice for me at the time.
It's been a long road but very much worth it. I encourage anyone to start if you are thinking about making the leap.
I was a 21 year old white belt and Scott (RZ's old coach) would come down from Milwaukee once a week to train with Comprido (who would shortly afterwards go on to train Brock Lesnar in BJJ) because he was the best in the area. Scott was always so gracious and helpful towards me and BJJ at that point helped change my life in so many ways. I was working a deadend warehouse job, partying on the weekends and a two time dropout - but I made sure to come through every week when Scott was there because I knew he was a real one. Who knows where I would have ended up if BJJ didn't stick with me, but I'm glad it did.
I'm now 35 years old and back into running (doing the Chicago Marathon in a few weeks here, ran in HS and was a huge runner nerd back in the day) and don't think I'll ever train BJJ again but I wanted to tell that story. The impact you can have on somebody is far from minimal RZ.
Congratulations my man, it's a shame we never got to fight one another on the mats but at least we can continue to argue over the merit of the UFC having the 125 lb division until we're old men.
