just started.
@TheDarceKnight Are you the same poster from reddit? Got any tips for a complete beginner. I was going to train at AOJ but it was too far from my house so i signed up with 10th planet. Im having a great time. Only been going a few days, today will be 5. Anyway yeah if you or anyone has any tips id appreciate it. Right now this is the video thats helped me out the most. I watch it three times a day.
@Pool_Shark
So I'm going to find some cool videos and stuff for you also, but as far as some quick thoughts. I think you made a great choice. I am a massive fan of the Mendes Bros's technique. and I've trained with them a few times, and I have a close friend and training partner that was at AOJ for a few years. He said it's a good place to train, but very corporate, and sort of cold. He said everyione dresses like Rafa and Gui, and that there's a lot of stanning going on in terms of people sucking up to them, etc.
I'm guessing you're at 10th Planet Costa Mesa? If so, I've heard great things. Casey Halstead is pretty awesome, and I'm pretty sure that Tony Ferguson (UFC lightweight with a beastly jiu-jitsu game) trains there fairly often. I have some opinions on gi vs nogi that you might grow to disagree with, since you're at a 10p school, but for what it's worth, I am better at nogi than gi, and I started off with nogi for a year or so before I ever put a gi on. So I'd love to train at 10p Costa Mesa.
If I had to give any advice to myself that early in the game (I'm a brown belt, been training for a decade this year), I would say to really try your best to enjoy the process. So the first few months are probably going to be a lot of survival, and you're going to tap a lot, especially since 10th Planet is very big into the "submission only" style that's popular right now. Just try to become okay with tapping out, and figure out the process to the game...tap out, figure out what tapped you, work on defending it, attacking with it, etc. And it really is a marathon, that gets more and more fun as it goes on. If you get caught up in losing or winning, and living and dying on the mats, it'll get frustrating. I always tell people to not let a bad day on the mats bring them down too much, and not to let a good day on the mats get you too excited.
I think it's really cool too, because you're in an environment where everything is legal, basically right away. So you're going to be exposed to things like heel hooks right away, which I like. Man..if you have a style you like, emulate it, and you'll find your own path. Study people you like, find what works for your body type, don't be afraid to train with other people or visit other gyms. There are SO many different approaches and ways to do the same techniques. Keep an open mind. Every 10p cat I've met has been really friendly. I'm sure you'll get a good group. I feel like I'm saying a bunch of generic and corny stuff, but I don't want to overwhelm you with all this crazy stuff if you're so early in the game.
If you're gonna be sticking with nogi, watch Marcelo Garcia man. He's the GOAT nogi player. Some of my other favorite nogi players are Braulio Estima, Rafa Mendes, Cobrinha, Andre Galvao, Bill Cooper, Jeff Glover, Rafael Lovato Jr, Ryan Hall, Kron Gracie, JT Torres, Buchecha, Rodolfo Vieira, Keenan Cornelius, Garry Tonon, Gordon Ryan, Eddie Cummings, and Dillon Danis.
unlimited classes
and i git eddie's lockdown dvd showing that time he beat one the gracies at a tournament. it is what it is friend. No grudges friend. I just hope it's no longer a business practice. I think at a place that wears gi's you would have paid close to that for your gi and since they don't wear gis they pass the cost making you pay at the door 
