Old Timer

I started training BJJ in 2003, 10 years after UFC 1 and 2 years before The Ultimate Fighter. It’s a cool time to have started BJJ, especially as a 15 year old kid. There were only a handful of black belts in Arizona, and comparatively very few in the country. Most people who trained were fighters or wanted to be fighters and technique videos came on vhs. I got to come up in a mix of old school Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and more modern training techniques and it took me a long time to really appreciate the lessons imparted on me. I have seen such crazy growth in this sport since then, it will be very interesting to see what the next evolution brings.