I'm Geo (real name redacted). I'm testing for my red belt in tae kwon do next week. I started TKD because I wanted to do something social along with just weight lifting by myself. Turned out I really liked it. Now I go to as many tournaments as they let me so I can spar, and I'm being trained on the "assistant leader" team. It's a great work out, and I've become good friends with my instructors and class mates.

I live by myself with 0 children, non existent wife, 0 pets, and 500 video games somewhere in the wilds of upstate new york.

Hi I'm Megan, I'm 31, I have a daughter who is 3, and plan on having another child next year.
I have been training in muay thai for almost a year. I'm currently preparing for my first fight in November which is a novice fight with shin pads etc. If that goes well I will do a full fight in December. Signing up for fights has been the exact motivation I needed to lose weight and it has been dropping off. I'm heading to Thailand for a holiday in January and will train there for two weeks to experience training under a hopefully more authentic situation.
In addition to muay thai I love hiking/hunting and getting out into the mountains, skiing, swimming, gardening, anything outdoors.
I run my own business selling plants and free range eggs at the market, gardening for people, and a little boring work to earn extra money. I believe in spending your time doing what you love as you only get one life so you need to make the most of it.
I am currently smaller than I have been in over 15years and I owe it to my supportive partner and muay thai.

Welcome everyone! looks like we have a very diverse group here!

Hi! My name is Laura and I have been training BJJ since January 2015. I started training at a more traditional school in the gi (where I received my blue belt a year ago) and now I train strictly no gi at a 10th planet school. I have competed numerous times in the past couple of years and am looking forward to continue competing and improving my game. Like many 10th planet students, I prefer submission only competitions as opposed to points, but I have competed under both rulesets.

Hi! I'm Bianca. I started karate with my 2 boys last November. I figured if I had to be there anyways, I might as well train with them instead of sitting on the sidelines scrolling through my phone. We are all purple belts and I'm loving it.

I didn't find my fitness until my late 30s, but I favorite class at the YMCA has been Les Mills Combat - which is what prompted me to look into martial arts for my boys.

Hi: I'm Chuck or Charles. I answer to either. I am a three stripe Purple Belt in BJJ. I also train some kickboxing, a little Muay Thai, and MMA.

Training martial arts (along with cleaning up my diet of course) is the sole reason I lost 90lbs and am in the best overall shape of my life at age 42. Traditional gyms and traditional exercise has always bores me to tears. I never stayed consistent. This part of the reason I packed on the pounds in my mid to late 30's. Three months shy of my 38th birthday I was obese with an infant son, and well on my way to my first coronary.

By chance, coincidence, or providence, (a story for another time), I tried a BJJ class at my local MMA gym. I was hooked instantly. This led to training striking too, but 80% of my training was and still is BJJ - in fact up until recently it was my only exercise. 80 of the 90lbs were martial arts as the sole exercise.

I compete at local and regional BJJ Comps regularly. 10 days ago I did The IBJJF Masters (age 30+) World Championships in Vegas. It has been a goal of mine for a couple of years now. I lost by advantage in my first match to a tough opponent. It was a wonderful trip and experience regardless, and I am going to take another shot at winning and hitting the podium in the next couple of years.

My next goal is to win an MMA fight. I have never fought MMA - only sparred. I want to fight and win won regardless of how many fights it takes. According to my Coach my grappling is more than sufficient for a fight, he just wants me to work on some deficiencies in my stand up before he books me a fight.

I really didn't mean to ramble this much... Anyway, I am happy to be part of the group.

Hi, I'm Mel, I started karate 1st Feb, however it has been a childhood dream for as long as I can remember. Finally got some "Mel" back after having my life invaded by the kids (they're 10 and 12 now so no longer constantly attached, I do love being "wife" and "mum" but I quite like being just "Mel") so I took the plunge and signed myself up, still very much a beginner, but very pleased to have gained my yellow belt last month. I do a lot of running and have found the karate has helped strengthen my core which has been neglected in previous years. Currently supposed to be training for a kata competition in October (among other things) and feeling like I may have more arms and legs than I can control! Mx

akatdrake wrote: »

Good morning all, my name is Andy. I've been practicing BJJ and Muay Thai for just close to three years. Some life circumstances have gotten in the way and haven't been able to train as consistently as I want to. Sometimes will go just for kickboxing, sometimes just for BJJ. Anyway, I am a one-stripe blue belt under Robert Mrotek who is a Cleber Luciano black-belt. I am 34 years old and feel older, I focus mostly on defense as I've found myself not as "fast-twitch" as I would like. Fought once in MMA back in June 2016, won by rear-naked choke in the first round (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYQsMvAyIA&t=23s, starts at 3:56). I was pleased with the fight, especially with the first-time nerves, but my technique was a little sloppy striking and going to the ground. We were supposed to fight at 145 but my opponent showed at 168. I was not happy.

I have another fight coming up Sept. 23 and hope to improve further. I have always struggled with motivation and accountability, and hope to use this group to help "blog" a bit and keep myself accountable.

Wow, 23lb overweight, that's embarrassing, and really disrespectful to you, the promoters, and the spectators! I'm glad you kicked his *kitten*!

Hello to all. My name is Don. I'm 52 years old. I recently started martial arts (BJJ) again after a 17 year layoff. I was one of Carlos Machado's first students in Dallas (1996-2000). It was a blast. We trained on the set of Walker Texas Ranger, then we ended up a health club where we laid wrestling mats down in the racketball court, and finally he got his own school. In 2000, I finished grad school and got laid off. It was now or never in terms of returning to Oklahoma, so we moved to a remote part of the state where my wife's family lived. No BJJ within hours. Then life just happened. Fell into running, then ultrarunning. My back made me stop. Couldn't not find a substitute that really did it for me and I ended up sedentary and about 30lbs overweight.

I make my living on the road. You eat all all of the time and spend a lot of time in your room. I would eat too much and drink. I needed a change. I'm not sure why it didn't hit me earlier, but it occurred to me that I could start training BJJ again. I mean, why not. It's about literally everywhere now days. I'm doing a long term contract in Missouri (I travel home to see my family a couple of times a month) and started in Columbus. There's a Gracie Humaita school there, so why not? The professor there is a great guy. Very welcoming and understanding. Being a middle aged dude who's out of shape will have a different experience than the college boys there for sure. But I had a blast and was instantly hooked (again). I was amazed what I remembered. I thought it would be like starting over, and it many ways it is, but as far as rolling, it mostly came back to me. So much so that there really weren't any white belts who gave me any trouble. So I mostly got tapped by purple belts (always!) and some blue belts. Oh, I'm a blue belt by the way. Carlos gave it to me in 1998 I believe. He wasn't doing the stripe thing for some reason then, so I have no stripes. It's just as well since I'm just getting back to it.

So I guess I'm an itinerant BJJ guy now. I'm in St. Louis for about 8 months now, and there is another Gracie Humaita school here I'm going to check out next week. J.W. Wright is the head instructor. He's a black belt under Royler Gracie. He's supposed to be amazing. My goals are to get better, try not to get injured, to keep showing up, avoid the blue belt blues, and continue to lean out.

As far as other fitness, I'm going to start lifting again next week. I did Starting Strength a few years ago to great effect, so I'm going to do that again. I'll just avoid Rippetoes's advice about drinking a Gallon Of Milk A Day (GOMAD) as that's a ticket to the the fat farm for me! If you're not familiar with the program, it's heavy compound lifts designed for strength, not hypertropy or "toning". Squats, Deadlifts, Press, Bench Press, etc.

Lastly, I'll post an old school photo of me. It was at the 1997 Oklahoma State Jiu Jitsu Championship. I took 2nd in the Heavyweight division. I'm in the red shirt. The kneeling kid on the far right is the now legendary Raphael Lovato Jr, the most decorated American BJJ practitioner in history. Fun fact: I used to train with him and beat him regularly. Of course, as you can see he was only a skinny 13 year old boy at the time! He's a beast now.

OK, I've rambled long enough and I'm sure if you have read this far, you may be tiring of my Rip Van Winkle routine! Glad to be here.

Thank you! I've been looking, but have yet to find, the selfie I took with Ralph Gracie at his tournament in Virginia back in the day. He's got some ears!