So did you like it? What can a newbie white belt expect? Why did you stop?
I did it while I was in the Army. A lot of buddies convinced me to sign up at one of the Royce Gracie schools in Hawaii. I did, and I was okay. I did a tournament and thought I was going to lose in the qualifier, but went on to the quarterfinals and lost in the first 20 seconds LOL. I might have some pictures stashed away somewhere on standard 35mm prints. I also had some martial arts influence growing up, so that helped. There are hundreds of these Gracie schools, and I didn't get to see or meet Royce, but his family pretty much run the schools. I forget the stories, every one of these spots has some story to them, but to me, it sounded more like inflated pride than actual landmarking. Actually, the most help I got, was from someone else I served with, who also was an Olympic hopeful in GR wrestling at some point. He was really good, weighed a buck ten, and could kick everyones ass. Also one of the nicest guys I ever met.
I left when I went to the Q, and pretty much stopped after I went to Ranger Bat. We were getting deployed so much, it was impossible to stay serious.
Oh, and belts... psshhhh. Belts really mean jack shit. Unless you're going in with the goal to be an instructor or a lifer, belts are a formality that have lost a lot of their meaning in most martial arts thanks to dojo masters making them into an incentive to keep paying for classes. I know quite a few multi-degree black belts that might shine in sparing, but get their asses handed to them by nobodies outside of a referee. If you like BJJ, then that's all that matters. It's a great workout, the techniques are very helpful, and it's addictive. Have fun with it. If you go in for belts, then all I have to say is, SUCKER!
