At first this video was hard for me to watch because I never realized how much I sucked -and I mean REALLY sucked. But after a few minutes, I got over myself and it just made me laugh. Of COURSE I sucked. I had been training at my school for only a few weeks, after training at a McDojo for a couple of months before that. So I knew nothing. But the scary thing is, folks at the McDojo told me I was good...and I actually believed them! And now I have very clear evidence to the contrary.
And yes, as my instructor said, I probably learned a thousand things when I first watched this video. But watching it years later, I learned a few more things:
1) Super cool head gear never goes out of style. These days I so casually flirt with cauliflower ear on a regular basis. But I still have the awesome ear protection in my bag, should I ever need it. Better safe than sorry!
2) I had zero natural aptitude for jiu jtisu, martial arts, or generally moving my body on land. Left to my own devices, I would still flop around on the mats like a giant tuna out of water.
3) With regular training, you will inevitably get better. I'm a lowly blue belt, but I am a whole lot better than I was in this video. Regular practice (at a legitimate gym, with a good coach and good training partners) can overcome any amount of spazziness!
So how do you feel when you watch your early matches? Were you a spaz like me? Or do you see some spark of natural talent?
I definitely cringe watching my early matches. I think I started out with a lot of "body awareness" because of my previous martial arts training, but being on the ground was totally new and I definitely did a lot of flailing. It's great that you can look back on these old videos and gauge your progress!
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