What am I?

I’m generally not into labels. However something I’ve been thinking about lately is…what do you call someone who “does” jiu-jitsu? I’ve heard all kinds of things, with no real consensus: bjj player, bjj practitioner, “jitz” guy. “Martial artist” may be the most accurate, if not entirely descriptive. Heck, I’ve been called a “ninja” or asked about “training UFC”. Judo has a special name for their practitioners, judoka, but they have a special name for everything.

In any case…last night we drilled the half guard position we’ve been working on some more. Mongoose was back, so we partnered up. I was having some real trouble with it. I don’t know if it’s because he’s so quick, but when we started, he’d get the topside underhook, and have it so tight to my body that I couldn’t re-weave for anything. With some help from Damian, I figured out that things would be okay if I abandoned the underhook and concentrated on controlling his head, keeping him flat, and then working the passes.

After class, we continued working the same position and techniques, just using them as a starting spot for sparring. Our first one was pretty quick, I started on top, he got the hook, and rolled me, but I triangled him. The others were alot longer, back and forth battles. I’m glad the Mongoose is back, he’s a good training partner.