My name is Mark and I am a BJJ Gi addict....

When I got my first Gi, I couldn't wait to get home and have a try of it! Like a child in a sweet shop I rushed home and changed, ripping the plastic covering off and jumping in. My first thoughts on it were it felt OK, a bit on the heavy side, but I accepted that it would need to be like this due to the stress put upon it. The trousers felt fine too. After my first session I thought it would be best to wash it before the next class, because the last thing I wanted, being the newbie was to turn up with a smelly Gi. So I had to have a look on line for some info on washing. I found what I was after, washed the Gi, ironed it and folded it ready in my gym bag for the next day. I did this for a week before realizing I couldn't go on like this. Luckily it wasn't raining as it usually is in my part of the U.K so my Gi dried pretty fast, what would happen when it was autumn or winter and the heavens were open? I decided it was time to get a couple of new Gi's. I did some surfing, had a butchers on Ebay (which was a bit flat, I even saw jiu jitsu spelled juditsu!) and eventually found a couple of decent sites. My preferred site is WWW.grapplestore.co.uk . They advertised a good spectrum of Gis and belts and a very reasonable pricing range too. If you were loaded then you can obviously pick and choose what you want/need. Some people though, might find themselves on a budget. The cheapest Gi being sold here is £49.99. Ideally priced for someone on a budget although I am not sure on the quality of the Gi offered for this but beggars cant always be choosers. Sometimes I think spending a little extra will save in the long term. So I loaded my cart with a Valor white belt, a Blitz Lutador BJJ Gi and on advice from someone from Gracie Barra Plymouth a rather fancy Keiko Raca Ultra Light. It took roughly a week for the package to arrive and once again with great glee I rummaged into the bag and pulled both Gi's out, tried both on, went to class that evening and tested one out. But it was too late...the next week I was looking for the next Gi like some kind of addict. A training partner form the club mentioned Tatami having a sale on, the Nova basic was being sold for a song! Here was my chance to have well known brand and not break the bank, and like the addict I now was, I forked over the cash...

Like the title says, "My name is Mark and I am a BJJ gi addict...."

The road is long....

So while sitting around after losing a job I decided to start BJJ. This was something I had wanted to do for a long time and was pretty serious about. The problem was I always came up with an excuse or something to put it off.... Until now.
I trawled Google for some local schools, looking at some websites and registering my interest with some,it wasn't too long before I had a phone call from Sam Tippet at Master St.James Black Belt Academy Plymouth. We had a brief chat about what I wanted and what was on offer, they were doing a 30 day free trial with gi and belt thrown in ( with returnable deposit of £50 should you not like your 30 days ) and a 1 on 1 lesson, we soon had a date hashed out and there I was kinda dazed and unsure of what was before me.
The day came and in I went. I was met at the front desk by Tom Barlow the academy BJJ instructor, who pointed Sam out to me as he was just about to start a class. I filled in some paperwork (yawn) with Sam and went and changed ready for the 1 on 1.
First was a basic fitness test. This comprised of push ups for 2 minutes, sit ups for 2 minutes and finished with burpees with a jump for 2 minutes. Now,since leaving the Army I hadn't done too much in the way for fitness but I must say the results were not too shabby for a fat civvy! Then Sam and I covered a couple basics like open guard,closed guard,side control. Sam showed me a couple of nice moves, kimura,kimura sweep and threw in a gogoplata. I had seen this stuff done by athletes on UFC ect and knew straight away I was hooked.
We finished the session, filled in the rest of the paperwork and Sam asked when I'd like to start. I paid my deposit and was in that same evening. The rest they say is history....