I still vividly remember sitting on the mats at Tristar MMA in Montreal, leaning over to catch a view of coach Firas Zahabi as he was demonstrating the technique. I was in the back of the class, and the students in front of me were blocking my view a little bit, so I leaned right, aware that I was getting a little too close to the guy sitting next to me. Jiu-Jitsu people don’t really have personal space in the same way that normal people do, but I was still a bit too close to him. I didn’t care though, we had driven two hours to catch this class on a Tuesday at noon, and I wasn’t going to miss anything. As coach finished his instruction and we were were all released to practice, I turned to see who I had been crowding, and to my surprise, it was George St. Pierre. It made me think, what a wonderful sport Jiu-Jitsu is, where a regular guy like me can end up on the mats crowding out a living legend of combat sports like GSP.

I mean think about it? It would be like if I played in a local hometown softball league on Friday nights, and then when I felt like getting a little extra practice in I would just hop down and join a regular season Boston Red Sox’s practice. At the level GSP is at, you would expect so many gatekeepers to keep chumps like me away from him. But this isn’t just any sport. This is Jiu-Jitsu.

A friend of mine had been training at Tristar regularly for years, and whenever I got the chance I would join him for the long drive. When we trained Jiu-Jitsu at Tristar, the best part of the class was the sparring, as the room was stacked with talent, and you could always find a new opponent that was your same size (no need to do the obligatory round with 250 pound Yeti). When the pro MMA fighters trained striking, they all had their private coaches, but when they trained their grappling, be it wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu, they all came to the same class that was open to anyone who was at an acceptable level (basically purple belt experience wise if I had to guess). And the funny part was that it was equal parts MMA killers and just plain Jiu-Jitsu nerds. What’s the difference you ask? Well I’ll give you an example. One day I elbowed my buddy in the ribs and said, hey look over there right now, it’s Rory MacDonald! And he replied, who’s that? That’s a Jiu-Jitsu nerd.

If you are ever within striking distance (pun intended, I am so sorry) of Tristar MMA in Montreal, QC, Canada, then damn, do yourself a favor and take a class. If you are a seasoned grappler then find out which Jiu-Jitsu class is currently the one most frequented by the pros, it’s the most fun. But do it soon because eventually the sport will probably become so established that they will build walls to keep average guys like us out of places like that.