Last week I joined a Jiu Jitsu club - NYC Machado Jiu Jitsu, the the official East Coast representative of the Machado brothers and the premier Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy in Manhattan. Overall, the tone and attitude of the school is professional yet relaxed and humble. The bit of informality is refreshing and not something I saw when I took Tae Kwon Do or Aikido.
I've been to four classes so far and I know I am going to love this more than I ever did Aikido or Tae Kwon Do or Judo. The instruction by Prof. Marcos is fantastic. He is very knowledgable, patient and concerned about his students. The other lead instructor, Marcos' brother, Marcio, carries himself in the same way. The one assitant instructor I have met, Rene, is also a great guy. In other words, its a fantastic environment to learn one of the more effective arts out there. Its a family and I look forward to becoming a part of it.
Its funny how you can just feel comfortable somewhere and with certain people. Instantly, you feel accepted and welcomed and like that you can fit in. In my younger years, I certainly learned what it was like to not feel accepted. So, when I get such a positive vibe from a place or a person, I really appreciate it.
Travel wise, its easy to get there - just a short 30min train ride from White Plains to Grand Central and a 10 minute walk to the school. Its cool to get down into the city again, even just for a little bit and get to soak up the energy down there. I get to see the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Grand Central and the New York Public Library on my short walk and the lighing at 5pm in June in NYC just makes everything look better.
Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ)? Why not go back to Tae Kwon Do or Aikido. Well, for one thing I'd seen first hand how effective BJJ could be in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and later on in Pride. All the really good strikers -- people skilled in kicking and punching got eaten alive by grapplers. The attitude of most traditional martial arts is also a bit backward for me. At Fordham, they used to teach their students to spar with their lead arm up, exposing their ribs "to present a target" for their partner. Those were the same guys that I looked forward to fighting back in 1988 at the WTA National Tournament at West Point. It was too easy. Of course, as fate has it I wind up at Fordham and suffering through their classes. I was actually told not to go after brown belts (as a purple belt) very hard because I needed to show them respect. I was like -- WHAT?!!? Oy. Suffice it to say that my time at Fordham Tae Kwon Do was short lived. Too much attitude, not enough skill.
Aikido is super, but its a very difficult art to learn. I suppose from a self defense perspective you could master a move or two for all the different types of attacks in a realatively short time, but then getting them to work in a combat situation with a person not the same size you are used to is again --- difficult. Nothing against Aikido, I love it and respect it but I am looking for something that is a better workout and trains closely to what a street fight situation might be like. That's the benefit of BJJ, you train against people struggling very hard, and you do so on the ground where most fights wind up by chance or by design. Get a great workout, lose weight, get in shape and learn to defend yourself. Sounds good to me.
Naturally, when I told my mother about this she was a little apprehensive. She was asking if it was like Tae Kwon Do. I told her it was more like wrestling. Of course, her mind lept immediately to people jumping off of ring ropes and hitting each other with chairs and all things WWE. Oy. After that I could not really get her to grasp the idea of it. Oh well, in the meantime she can think I am donning a mask and cape and calling myself the "Masked Maruader". Sheesh.
Weight: 204 Resting Pulse: 73
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