Intro

I'm going to try and keep this as real as possible, and while it might seem like a lot of self-absorbtion, it is very much about my own progress in the sport of BJJ. If you've found this page it's probably because I personally told you about it. If you're training a lot and think you might like to contribute, let me know, because it's nice to get as many perspectives about training as possible. First of all, let me introduce some of my training partners, because I'll be referencing them a lot:

Henry

- Purple Belt, BJJ

He is a solid BJJ purple who got me into this game, and has won a lot of tournaments. Won. He medals a lot when he doesn't win anyway. He's bigger and stronger than me and has better technique than me, and could probably make rolling with him a lot more mierable than it already is. That aside, he's taught me almost all of what I know and I thank him for it. Getting me into the game wasn't an act of altruism though -- he needed a training partner so he made one!

His strengths are:
- Half guard attacks and escapes
- Top game

His weakness are:
- Open guard
- Bottom game

OK, when I say "weaknesses" let me qualify that by saying that it's against people of equal or better level than him, because he can annihilate me in either one. I can kind've hang if he let's me pull open guard on him, which he does a lot for practice, but my life sucks when he denies it.

Steve

- Black belt Judo
- Black belt Sombo
- Blue belt BJJ
- Wrestling coach

Steve has more mat time than anyone I know. He's about 5'8 and about 220, and I've never been able to choke him or tap him out. He has a combination of old man/former powerlifter/had-been-rolling-for-the-last-35-years strength, in addition to mean submissions. He's always been incredibly patient with my little hissy fits, probably more patient than I'd be when dealing with a spaz such as myself.

Lee

- White belt BJJ

Lee is on our little crew that trains here and continues showing up pretty regularly. I feel bad for him sometimes because after Steve and Henry make me feel like it's my first day on the mat, Lee tends to find himself on the business end of my re-affirmation that I know how to do anything whatsoever. Still, it's good to have someone around that you can actually try stuff on. He's about 5'8 and a little heavier than me I think.

There are a lot of others who I will be mentioning throughout, but I just thought I'd start with the "local rolling crew" that consistently comes on Mondays.

At the time I write this I'm 5'9 @ about 178 lbs.

If I refer to a rolling session as "local", it's taken place around my home with one or more of the above crew (and maybe some others). If I say Axis, it's at Axis Academy in Tokyo, my rollage home away from home, where I was awarded my blue belt.