what was your goals/reason getting into BJJ

[nitrayn]

Since this is my first week training, and also am new to the board, figured Id share why i joined and curious to hear why you all did.

mainly, all my life(i am 29 now) I was interested in joining martial arts, and never did...when I was younger I considered it all Karate like most people do I guess.

A few years back, I sniffed out a local place that offered Kickboxing and what they called submisson wrestling..didnt know what it was at the time, but I figured since I never wrestled in school, I better not try that, lol.

So as the growth in UFC/MMA and I have become a big fan, I learned the differences in all the different forms of MMA. My desire to learn one grew all the time and I finally decided instead of wishing my life away, to step up and try it. I wanted to go with BJJ, because I am intrigued by it, figured it was best suited to my personal strengths/type of athletisism also. So I joined Gracie Barra last week.

Mainly, I am joining because I want to be able to call/consider myself a martial artist. I want to get in shape, gain confidence, and get better at BJJ every class. I really have no aspirations to fight MMA at this point, being that i'm 29 for 1, and it's just not something I would have the proper time in my life to dedicate to. I will hopefully compete in some BJJ tournaments along the way however.

[Insidious]

Hmmm always was interested in joining martial arts then my lifestyle changed and it was suddenly a real option(girl left me for a tribal tattooed f*ckface and I wanted to kill him with style )

Of course that all changed soon as I realized the gold mine I had stumbled across in Jiu Jitsu, It's where I met my fiancee and in very short order I honestly forgot why I started as long as classes didn't stop.

[The Don]

dude.. you should check out my blog.. It explians it all.. and good luck with the training...

[360OmApLaTa]

i started at 13 i proclaimed till the to be a master you know the kid who watches blood sport then goes and practiced the stuff then found my gym and it has changed my life i eat breath and drink jj im a walking encyclopedia if any body i know ask a question about any martial art in know it

[Rufio]

I wanted to keep fit and have something to do physical to take the stress away from college. Happened to stumble across the bjj club at my university and since it was free, jumped right in...

[matzah]

Saw a youtube video thought it was the coolest thing I've seen in the world.

Love at first sight

[gregoplata]

Been interested since 93 when I first saw the UFC. At that time I was in Karate and sure that my karate bretheren were going to walk through everyone, including that tiny brazilian dude. What a suprise for me. I knew at some point I was going to have to start taking BJJ. It has now become the focal point of my life (other than my wife and kids)

[viliauvinen]

A drunken promise to my friend to take one class with him at MMA. Schools style was officially called Amanuut Krav Maga, which is basically kickboxing and jiujitsu with different name. I was so shocked with the skills these few guys showed, so bought my Judo gi the same day and kept going with the sport.

Not long after I had watched all the UFCs to the date, but more importantly had decided to move to the capital of the country (Helsinki, Finland) where I still live. So had to find a new school, started off with few judo schools but couldn't really feel at home cause easy practises (physically). In the previous we went 100 percent.

So saw advertisement of one basic course of the only Black Belt Brazilians that was in the country that time. Decided to enroll. He kept the most physically challenging practices of my lifetime. Now I've stayed nearly two years with him, and going to stay for the next 50 years.

[jclark2011]

I started taekwondoe when I was 4. I earned a black belt in two different styles, and did pretty well in organization tournaments (Nothing big). All of this changed one day when I landed bad from a simple jump kick that I had done a million times before. I strained my knee and hip(no big deal) and injured my lower back (very big deal). Two of my disks smashed together and greatly damaged the nerve that ran into my right leg. I lost the ability to walk, and even control my leg. It would just start shaking. I was routinely in so much pain that I would pass out. Whats even worse was that I was on vicodine(sp?) morphine, and patches that had some medicine 100x stronger than morphine. Needless to say I became addicted, so I begged the doctors to take me off the meds. I was in withdrawl for about two weeks, and still suffer migranes because of the damage to my brain. Pain meds are the devil. As far as my leg goes, doctors told there was nothing they could do and that I may never walk again. By the grace of God, a different doctor found and fixed the problem. It took me a whole year to recover, but I did. When I was ready to get back into martial arts, I viewed this as a time to start fresh and try something new. I tried bjj, even though I was going to the same gym for boxing lesson. Long story short, I almost got choked out and I fell in love with the sport.

[jclark2011]

By the way, the above happened 2 weeks before my 15th birthday, and I am now 16.