DSTRYR/SG EXCLUSIVE: THE QUICK AND DIRTY BJJ BEGINNER'S PRIMER by MATT KIRTLEY.

Time to take your first class. Wear shorts with no pockets that tie off with a good draw string and a t-shirt you don't mind getting ruined. You may be given a loaner gi to wear.

Show up a little early to meet the instructor, sign a waiver and check out the space.

When class starts, pay attention, follow instructions and just try to do whatever everyone else is doing.

The class will likely go like this:


1.warm-ups,
2.learn and drill 2-3 techniques (you may get your own special first lesson at this point),
3.live drilling
4.and maybe sparring (not all gyms let people spar day one.)

If you get paired up with someone for drilling, don't worry about "wasting their time" because you're a white belt. Everyone has to help everyone and if you're eager to practice and drill, no matter how awful you are, then you aren't wasting their time.

Sparring time. Watching MMA might make you feel like you've got half a clue but there is an ocean of difference between watching and doing.

If you ever saw someone tap to a "lucky" choke or armbar in MMA and thought "Why did he tap!? I wouldn't have tapped!", now is your time to find out why yes, he really did need to tap to that.

If you "almost get" a move on a colored belt, they let you and they are just being nice to the new white belt.

How to not make enemies on your first day:


•Don't pick anyone up and slam them.
•Don't try any leglocks you saw on Youtube.
•Don't just crank on necks.
•Try not to spaz too hard.
•Don't brag about anything.

You are allowed to spaz a little because you are a white belt and no one expects any better out of you. But you should work to replace spazzing with real technique as you train more.

This class will be a blur and you will likely forget everything you learned. That's normal. It takes learning and drilling techniques many times over many years to really get them.

You are likely now aware of muscles in your body that you never knew existed before as they scream at you as you roll out of bed the following morning. That means you did it right.

The best way to deal with anxiety, feeling stupid, being out of shape: realize that everyone (except genetic freaks) went through this too and stop worrying about it. You don't know this stuff yet and that's why you are here to learn.

Claustrophobic? Prepare to take confront your fears head on. This phobia will go away as you get exposed to it and learn what to do.

If you smoke, quit now. It's bad for you, it's bad for your BJJ and you smell awful to your training partners who can't avoid breathing in your musk.

Finishing your first month. Most people don't even take a second class, so you're doing better than most people. But most people also don't finish 6 months to a year, so you're not better than them by much.

Time to get into a rhythm. Keep coming to classes, be eager to learn and drill and don't be afraid of asking questions.

How many times a week should you train? Work up to at least 3 times per week as soon as your body can handle it. Here's a rough guide to classes per week:

1: You will be a white belt forever and barely learn anything.
2: This will barely maintain your skill level and progress slowly.
3: You will make headway and still have recovery days.
4: Now you're getting serious. You are becoming a fixture in the gym.
5: You will see big improvements but get more injuries.
6: You probably don't have a job.
7+: You probably don't have a job or girlfriend. But your BJJ is going great!

Finishing the first 6 months. Your body is probably getting into much better shape than when you started. You should take a look at your diet and sleep habits and try to improve them. This is good for you, good for your BJJ and will even help prevent injuries.

Ready for your first tournament? Of course not. But do one anyway. Everyone should try it at least once. You will probably be very nervous. That is normal. The only way to overcome this anxiety is to compete so much you get over it. Unfortunately that's not a possible solution for your first competition.

Competing as a white belt is good too because the pressure to perform and "prove your belt" is much worse once your belt has a color. No one expects anything impressive out of a white belt so you are free suck and no one will hold it against you (except Youtube comments on your tournament video.)

I would tell you to not worry too much about getting your blue belt and you will likely say you don't really care about your belt. But I also know you're probably secretly coveting it anyway.

What you should be working on as a white belt:


•Regular attendance. This is the most important skill you can have because I could leave the rest of this list empty and you'd still get better by going to the gym.
•Getting in shape. You need to be able to handle a whole class from start to finish and never quit sparring because you're tired.
•Remembering techniques. Drill a lot and maybe keep a written journal.
•Defense and escapes. As a beginner you will spend most of your time in bad spots so naturally this is the main area to improve your technical performance.

Keep that up and you'll get better and eventually earn your blue belt.

How much time does it take to reach your training goals?

I just read this from Scott Sonnen's Facebook.

When asked by a young man to certify him because "there's nothing you do that I havent already learned, so you should certify me to teach", Sonnen, a Sambo black belt said this:

"My teacher in Russia told me it takes about 10 years to master the basics. Twice as long if you're in a hurry. Twice more if you already feel you know the material. Eyes on the road. Focus on the next step. You can't shortcut the journey but you can certainly make it MUCH longer."

When you get discouraged, and/or feel like you know it all and you are getting so much better now and you feel that you are well on your way to a world championship, just remember that quote. BJJ, just like any other learned skill is parishable. You need to constantly be working JUST TO MAINTAIN your skills, and then keep trying to find incremental improvements in your game to keep evolving.

Times they are a changin' !

It has been a long 10 yrs training, and this is just the beginning.

When I first began, it was under the tutelage of Chris Martin (white tiger martial arts) and Clint Watts (Lion's Den). The training was intense as far as contact, and extremely basic, but you were immediately hooked. We spent all our time just doing trips and ankle picks for takedowns, and went for the standard RNC and key-locks for the top, and the ugliest arm bars from the bottom that you have ever seen....but it worked.

The game was different then, and those things worked. The only other place that had quality BJJ anywhere near Midland/Odessa was Pittman's BJJ in Lubbock, which we traveled to frequently for seminars.

After a couple of years of this, (spent sparring full-speed, doing the wrong techniques at the wrong times, but having a great time while doing it) our group now consisted mostly of myself, Jaime Lara, Jackson Burcham, John Bargas, and Tanner Hayes. We eventually sought out the help of Judo Black Belt, KC Windham, who came in and helped with takedowns and began to train BJJ as well with us.

This new group proved to be pretty successful. With the help of Clint as our main "MMA" coach, I won more MMA fights than I lost, and we won alot of grappling tournaments. I spent more time on MMA with the addition of Joe Wesley and David Lee, plus random appearances of various "aspiring cage-fighters" that came to training.

By this time Jaime had asked a co-worker to bring his brother, Juan Perez, to town to help us start training to get belted in BJJ. Juan was a purple belt under Klay Pittman, who had trained for about 13 yrs, so he had alot of experience with the Gi, and had some knowledge of formal classes that we never had. This seemed like a decent fit and Juan began to teach us in 2005 at a spot I had secured for us at a local gym. I continued to go fight in unsanctioned MMA events in New Mexico (by this time having scored the fastest victory in history by verbal submission win at 0:00 of Rnd 1 - if you don’t believe it, ask Jason Leigh on Facebook!). The high point of this time was my 1st place in the Intermediate (I was only a white belt) heavyweight at the Smack-down in H-Town in Houston Texas, followed by a 2nd place showing at the same tournament in the absolute division against brown and purple belts (all no-gi). I lost on a judges decision in triple overtime because my opponent, a Team Caique fighter, pulled half guard, which I guess showed aggression. (??)

For some unforeseen reason, Juan said that my focus on MMA was dishonorable and that was not the direction that KC, Jack, and Jaime wanted to go, so I was kicked out of my own training facility and left to go my own way. SO I gathered a random group of tough guys and wanna-be's and trained on the wrestling mats at Midland College. This wasn’t too bad for me, as I still continued to win more than I lost at shows and always placed top 2 at regional grappling tournaments in Texas.

During this time I got ALOT of now "famous" local guys their start in MMA. I began to convince guys like Brian Pierce and his buddy DJ Hayes to get involved in MMA. It took alot of convincing, because they weren’t great at it to start, but I told them they had potential and needed to stick with it. Now Pierce is a successful coach for Ruffhouse MMA in Odessa, with a couple amateur champions to his credit. Along with these guys, I also got submission ace Rick Salazar his start.

Another guy I had to fight to convince to get into the sport was Maurice Jackson. Maurice was 6'8 260 lbs of super athlete, who already kick boxed. I stuck on him and really got him to give it an honest try and he got alot better in our training.....now he trains in Vegas and won the IFL tryout (now defunct MMA org) and was on a K-1 under card.

While I was doing this, Jackson, KC, and Jaime decided to take a trip to Brazil to a Brasa camp to train. When they came back, they were ranked under Felipe Costa and Comprido. They came back with a ton of technique and quickly left Juan Perez to start their own program. Since he was already in town, Juan then started up his BJJ school and quickly went from purple to black belt in 2 yrs under Klay Pittman and now has a school in Midland.

In May of 2005 I moved to Houston with my wife JoAnn to really give fighting a chance and re-connect with some family. I spent days with Saul Soliz, Yves Edwards, Leonardo Xavier, and a majority of time with Mike Altman and his fighters - Randy Hauer, Lee King, Sarah Ponce, Terrol Dees, and others at Tx Kickboxing Gym. After all this training I realized that I would not be a high level guy, and that with Braeden on the way and those old family ties being officially messed up, we moved back to Midland, where I reconnected with Tanner Hayes.

As soon as I got back, Tanner and myself started West Texas MMA. This also started my association with Joao Crus and the Carlson Gracie Team. Joao gave me my blue belt, and we began an association and trained a small group of guys in Midland. Although he was a great guy, I never got the "family" vibe from Joao and we ended the association, just as I then reconnected with Jackson and KC to pull our 2 groups together and start one big West Texas MMA gym. This time also signaled the arrival of Rex Richards, a BJJ brown belt whom I started to coach and got him, with the help of Mike Altman, into Strikeforce where he went 2-0.

After a while of teaching I had the pleasure of managing more fighters including Clay Hantz and Jarret Jones locally. Also during this time Rex moved to Abilene for work and started his association with Draculino and Jeremy Henderson under Gracie Barra. Rex eventually was awarded his black belt under Drac and Pittman, and then one day surprised me saying I was ready to be a purple belt after talking with Draculino.

After a long time of moving around, I finally felt like something was a good fit.

Due to my work schedule as a police officer, and having a son, my time at West Texas MMA just wasn’t fitting my day to day plans, so I left the gym and just rolled at the MPD range. Eventually I began to teach at Stonegate Fellowship as part of the men's fitness classes.

The Stonegate group has been a blessing as they have all grown tremendously in such a short period of time. These guys only get a few times a month of actual class time, but they are devoted to it and are constantly improving.

Now that I have this consistent group and the help of fellow purple belt, and long time best friend, Tanner Hayes, as well as my own blue belt, Caleb Hudson, things are moving forward. Rex is still one of my instructors, but due to the constraints of his job, and his own training being limited, he is encouraging me to find as much help and support as I can from quality people.

So now, here we are. Myself, along with Jarret Jones (who runs J Jones Strength Gym in Odessa) are now affiliated under Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao 3rd degree BB) out of Octagon. Our 2 facilities will be the West Texas affiliate of Bruno Bastos Team through Rhino BJJ. Bruno has proven himself to not only be an outstanding instructor and competitor, but genuinely cares that all his students become better people. He believes that a student learns real life lessons from the time spent on the mat. Bruno is notorious for saying "WAAARRRR" on his Facebook. He told me that it gets people excited because they think he means competition and battle in MMA/BJJ, but Bruno said it means more than that...."War means my family. I will fight for all my students" as he told me the other day.

So this is where I am at now. I welcome all newcomers to join me on this journey and make a story of your own.....but hopefully one that learns from my mistakes and "trial by error" ways, and that you can be a part of a family.

RHINO! BRUNO BASTOS! NOVA UNIAO!!!