getting my ass kicked

Recently some work buddies coaxed me into attending a Mixed Martial Arts training class. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, “Nick, in an MMA class? Why?” and my answer is simply, “why, not” as I think you should try everything in life, even if its not your thing.

So off I went to Versus training, which is aptly located just off skid row on Hastings Street. When I arrived at the spot I was told that the Brazilian Jijitsu MMA training takes place in the basement (or dungeon) of the shop, so I tentatively cruised down to the basement. Once there, my expectations of attitude laden, muscle head’s in affliction shirts was quickly dashed, as the whole thing was the complete opposite; regular dudes stretchin around with absolutley no attitude.

For the next hour or so, the instructor taught us how to get in and out of moves, while also subjecting us to some intense warm up drills. After warm ups, and a bit of instruction it was time to practice the moves; yeah, it was weird havin’ some random dude jacked up next to my crotch, but once I was past that, it was actually pretty cool to learn how much “thinking” goes into this whole grappling thing.

Yep, I’ve seen MMA dudes on tv and thought “man, why are these guys so outta gas, they’re just rolling around on the floor?” but when the free grappling session of the training started, I quickly realized how amazingly fit MMA dudes are, and also how freaking tough it is when you are getting worked on the ground.

At the end of the class, and after having my ass handed to me for an hour straight; my final thoughts were how amazing of an experience the whole thing was. Will I go back? You ask? While my body is still sore from the whole thing, I will definetley go back.

If you wanna check out the whole thing, Versus is offering 2 FREE classes, check it out here