Welcome to Jiu-jitsu Ronin!

This is my first attempt at blogging, something Ive wanted to try for a while now. And just like that first attempt at an armbar or hip throw Im sure it will be pretty crap to start with, but hopefully with practice it will get a little better.

I want this blog to be about my search for mental, technical, and physical improvement in jiu-jitsu (and life I guess, as anyone involved in this art im sure knows the 2 start to mirror each other.)
My brother and I began our jiu-jitsu journeys, as im sure many others did, after seeing Royce kick everyones ass on bad copy of UFC 2.
Growing up in South Africa we were pretty isolated from the rest of the World, and there were no Jiu-jitsu schools or instructors in the country. Also with sanctions being imposed on South Africa and our ridiculously weak currencey traveling to train at that point in time was out of the question. So we began our training with a set of Gracie Jiu-jitsu Basics Instructional Videos and an old duvet pegged in the back garden as a mat.
Learning and training has been an awesome journey up till now, and it was tough in S.A. without having regular access to high level practitioners and we had to figure a lot of stuff out for ourselves and I'm always amazed at how, the more you learn the less you realise you actually know.

Ive been fortunate enough to train with some awesome people and as a result meet some of the best friends i could ever hope for, both at our club Novagen(www.bjj.co.za) and travelling to train and compete. Ive competed nationally in South Africa in Jiu-jitsu, submission wrestling, fought proffesionally in MMA(8-2) and competed in the UK and at the Mundials.

I think the use of blogs are a great way to communicate and share information with people of same interest. I want this to be a place to share my thoughts and experiences with Jiu Jitsu. I probably have a different approach to you, and hopefully we can learn something from each other.
As I learn wether it be from a training partner on the mat, someone elses blog, an instructor, competitor, book, dvd or the people i interact with each day, I'll try to share it here--not as any kind an expert, but as a jiu-jitsu player who has a real passion for this art that I fell in love with 12 years ago.
Micah