So, there I was, cooped up and itching for something new. You know how it is. I’d always been curious about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – looked like a real thinking person’s game. But getting to a gym? Life, schedules, all that jazz. So, I thought, why not try learning it at home? Seemed straightforward enough. What could go wrong, right?
Getting Started with Grand Ideas
First off, I decided I needed a proper space. Shoved the sofa against the wall, rolled up the good rug. The living room suddenly looked a lot bigger, and a lot emptier. Then, I dived headfirst into the internet. Watched hours of videos. Guys in gis, guys in no-gis, explaining armbars, chokes, sweeps. It all looked so smooth on screen.
I told myself, “I can do this.” I grabbed a few old pillows to act as my unwilling training partners. Poor things. I tried to follow along with the videos, pausing, rewinding, playing it again in slow motion. I attempted to drill the basic movements – shrimping, bridging, technical stand-ups. My cat just stared, probably wondering if I’d finally lost it.
The Reality of Rolling Solo
Let me tell you, it’s one thing to watch someone demonstrate a kimura, and a completely different thing to try and figure out the mechanics on your own, with no one to correct your (many) mistakes. I twisted myself into some very odd positions. I pulled muscles I didn’t even know I had. I wondered constantly, “Am I even doing this right?”
There’s no feedback. That’s the kicker. How tight should this grip be? Is my hip placement correct for this sweep? Am I going to accidentally teach myself a terrible habit that’ll get me folded up like laundry if I ever try this for real? I imagined I was doing great, a real silent assassin in my living room. But deep down, I knew something was missing. A big something.
I even bought one of those grappling dummies. Cost a fair bit, that thing. Felt a bit silly wrestling an inanimate object, but I was committed. Or stubborn. Probably stubborn. I practiced my chokes on it. It never tapped, which, in hindsight, wasn’t very helpful for gauging effectiveness.
What I Actually Learned
After weeks of this, trying my best, I realized a few things. You can definitely learn about BJJ at home. You can understand the concepts, the names of the moves, maybe even get a bit fitter doing the solo drills. I gained a lot of respect for the art, that’s for sure. I understood the theory behind many positions.
But learning to do BJJ? To feel the pressure, the balance, the timing? That’s a different beast entirely. It’s like trying to learn to swim by reading a book about it. You can know all the strokes, but until you get in the water, you’re not really swimming.
I found that without a resisting partner, without someone more experienced to guide you, to push you, to show you where you’re going wrong, you’re just kind of play-acting. It’s a good way to dip your toes in, maybe. To see if it sparks your interest. But to actually get good, to actually learn the art? My home experiment showed me that you really, really need that mat time with other people. You need to feel it. You need to roll.
So, yeah. That was my adventure learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at home. An interesting experiment, for sure. Learned a lot about my own patience, and even more about what BJJ really is. And I think I finally understand why those gym memberships exist.
