Last night I visited the Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu school in Hammond, LA. I just observed, I didn't participate. I briefly met the instructor, Rafael. He's a black belt under Carlos Gracie, Jr., and a very nice guy.
The class began at 6:45pm, with 15 minutes of warm-up, which included running, side-skipping, sprawling, push ups, and more crunches than I could have kept up with had I been on the mat. Next, he presented the technique of the night, which looked to my untrained eye like a combination takedown/sweep/flying armbar (unless the sweep worked, in which case it was still an armbar on the ground). He really broke it down, and had the guys drill each part of the technique as he taught it. Very systematic.
The technique instruction lasted right at 30 minutes. The remaining half hour was rolling (in 5 minute sessions). The class was very structured as far as time allotted to each segment, but very relaxed in terms of attitude. Rafael seems to be a very good teacher, and seems to genuinely like the guys training under him. There were about 20 people in the class, and there was a good mix of blue belts and white belts, with a brown belt and perhaps a purple belt or two.
Overall, I really liked the class, and wish I had time to train there in addition to (not instead of) my Judo lessons. Maybe one day.
Always nice when somebody bothers to use the labels in blogger: makes it so much easier to get right to the stuff that interests me in a blog. :)
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