My first class!

On September 10, 2025 I went to a BJJ class for the first time!
It took courage and determination to even go there. I was a little relieved by the fact that when I first called the club and said that I would train but that I was 57 years old, the man just laughed and said that they also had 60 and 70 year olds in the club.
However, the first entry into the locker room was immediately relieving because not only was I not the only adult (like in the past at Karate) but a bunch of gray-bearded and fat dudes were changing there!
Later I found out that one of them is really 72 years old, and the man started training two years ago.
What a relief!

The training started with the usual warm-up and then the first problem! A forward roll and a backward roll! Immediately at the backward roll I felt a strong pain in my cervical spine because of course I didn't land on my hands. I did the rolls last time almost half a century ago, and even then I wasn't very good at it.

We continued with the practice of 'my' first technique "Cross-face", and then the first sparring or as it is called in BJJ 'rolling'.

I didn't really know what to do there, but since there were a few of us for whom it was their first or possibly second or third training, I wasn't that bad! I was in better shape than some of the beginners who could have been my sons!

I won't list all the parts of my body that hurt after the training, but I went home happy and satisfied!