I started Jiu-Jitsu in 2013 as a way to spend some quality time with my daughter.

I wanted to try my hand at an actual combat sport.

I first heard about some dude called Royce Gracie in 2002, from chatting in online martial arts forums (my first bunch were Tung-Fu, Cyberkwoon and then Bullshido). There was lots of debate about him and grappling (I was doing a striking style at the time), which gradually got me curious. I tried some MMA a few months later with some people off the Tung-Fu forum, then very intermittently up until 2005, when I went to a judo class.

In my third judo class my training partner messed up my shoulder, which put me off the mats for several months and put me off judo for life. FINALLY got around to BJJ in 2006, at the Roger Gracie Academy in London (before there were lots of them, at that time there was just the one).

1995 Saw the First UFC on a VHS tape my buddy Kenny lent me.
About a week later at the TKD academy I was a student at they announced that we were invited to attend a Gracie Jiu Jitsu seminar at Kovar's Karate.
Went to the seminar and then within the next couple of days went to the academy in Pleasant Hill and signed up. I paid $75 a month back then.
It was like an hour and a half drive out there from where I was. Worth it.

Watching Royce win UFC 1 in style. Was an Aikido guy at the time and a buddy of mine and I bought Gracie basics (copies) off ebay for $250 consequently. We would then try out the techniques after class on each other. Pretty soon some of the blackbelts wanted to see what was up and we started tapping them out. This obviously did not sit well with the instructors, so we were asked to stop. Found a school soon after, a purple belt Koji, one of 2 schools in Montreal at the time. Been with him since.

I saw clips of the early ufc in the early 2000s. I liked it but was focusing on other sports. In college I picked up Kung fu and while sparring with a friend, he took me down and got me with a rnc.

I started bjj in 2006

I did traditional Chinese Kung-fu for 10+ years and eventually learned that the school's "grappling system" was basically non-existent. I made the switch and never looked back.

I did that route too. I will say Kung fu helped me with my breathing and my base. I personally don’t regret my time with Kung fu

I did that route too. I will say Kung fu helped me with my breathing and my base. I personally don’t regret my time with Kung fu

I somewhat regret my time in Aikido. Made some great friends, but as for techniques, wish I had spent those 6 odd years elsewhere. I can roll like mofo though!

Lots of nudging over the years got me into this. Funny to say that after getting both ankles injured by playing tennis I was looking for something safe :D Probably biggest nudge was this GSP video - https://www.youtube.com/w[...]pFp1bM4im8 If BJJ really is so fun, playful, technical and SAFE then it is exactly for me.
Plus some videos of Gezary Matuda, Conor McGregor w Dillion Davis (what can you do), Ffion Davies, Polaris on Youtube etc got me interested.

The first attempt was when I managed to attend BJJ classes for 2 months (3D Treening) just before the first COVID wave came and everything was shut down. Then I saw in a Twitter bio of one Estonian guy that he is a BTT bluebelt or something. I was like how?! Is it in Estonia?! And discovered that BTT Estonia gym is 10 mins walking from my home. I went there and so far it has been fun.

I am in no way into any of this "martial arts" part. Just recreational activity, just want to play sport and have fun (like GSP did in the video). I hope it does not cause me any trouble.

Did japanese jiu jitsu & judo all through the 90's. Read about these Brazilians doing something similar but different, but that they were on to something.

Saw Renzo effortlessly bash Dutch judo beast Ben Spijkers on VHS.

Ended up in Louisville, KY, found a school, got dismantled by then purple belt Kyle Cannon. Took off my black belt, put on a white belt.

Now we're roughly 22 years later.

I grew up loving professional wrestling. I loved submissions! This led me to being interested in folk style wrestling. I wrestled in junior high but lost interest in wrestling by the time I got to high school. In the years that followed I grappled with friends on trampolines, in living rooms and backyards. I guess that rekindled a fire to test myself and learn some new mat tricks. I was diagnosed with late onset type 1 diabetes around 2005. By the time 2008 came around I needed an outlet for my love of grappling. I also needed to take better care of myself. I found a jiu-Jitsu school near me and I have been hooked ever since!

I somewhat regret my time in Aikido. Made some great friends, but as for techniques, wish I had spent those 6 odd years elsewhere. I can roll like mofo though!

I wanted to be Batman as a kid. Looked like a good place to start.

I didn't have any friends so I thought taking up a sport would fix that. Turns out I was right.

Dabbled in grappling when I was heavily involved with MMA then. After being away from it all after 10 years I decided to try solely BJJ to make friends and find something for fun.

In a short version: Funny thing is it started all with a VHS tape in 2000 watching Royce Gracie winning the first UFC and I was hooked instantly. We had no BJJ around back then where I lived and I started Japanese Jiu Jitsu in a club around the corner, cause it was available and I didn’t know the difference between both styles. After training for some years I switched to Krav Maga, Kapap, and other arts, came in contact with Luta Livre and trained it and started to transition to BJJ in the Gi , too. Finally I learn the style of bjj I watched on the vhs tapes 20 years ago as my teacher is a Royce Gracie blackbelt….

In early 2000's i did kickboxing and wanted to "free-fight"(mma was not the word back then) and i figured out you have to learn groundfighting to not get submited... after 2 session i was hooked