Three important life lessons you will learn through training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

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Patience

We live in a world that has an abundance of people expecting instant gratification, with everything they choose to do. This short-sighted state of mind is not compatible with the art of Brazilian jiu jitsu. The art has two ways of punishing those who are not willing to develop the patience required for success.

If a technique is rushed, such as a rear naked choke or a guard pass, you are far more likely to fail. If one becomes impatient and attempts to apply the pressure too quickly, it can unexpectedly work against you, and will most likely give your opponent an opportunity to escape or to counter your technique. If someone advances with patience, and waits for the right opportunity to apply pressure, they are far more likely to achieve the desired position or get the submission.

Secondly, people who try to master the art too quickly, usually do quite the opposite. Far too often do new students try to learn all the guard passes, every back take, and each submission within their first few months of training. This mindset of trying to learn too much too quickly frequently results in frustration. It is better to take your time, learn one effective and fundamental technique from each position before advancing to another. It is better to train one technique over and over again, and get to a point where you can successfully pull it off, and fall back on it in a roll. Opposed to learning an abundance of random techniques and only drilling them a couple times a month. This will only lead to being average at most techniques, instead of effective and threatening with a few techniques that actually work.

Failure is essential

Often times when we fail at something, we see it as a negative. We go deep into our own minds and think of all the things we would have done differently, and soon wonder about all the mistakes we are currently making. This can be very overwhelming and disappointing.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will force you to confront failure. Especially in the beginning stages of your journey with it. Most people who start, will go through the first six months to a year, doing nothing but “failing.” Getting swept from guard, held down in side control, crushed by somebody smaller than them and submitted at their opponents will. This can be a lot to handle for someone who hasn’t experienced the type of failure that Jiu Jitsu will expose you to. But the reality of the situation is that every time you get your guard passed, or tapped out, you learn a valuable lesson.

Jiu Jitsu is not specifically structured where the only way for someone to learn is by watching more experienced practitioners and copying what they do. The most effective way to learn, is by finding yourself in a bad position and learning how you got there. It isn’t about learning that one technique nobody knows about, its about learning what NOT to do. And the only way to do this, is to spend time in the fire. Spend time deep in a roll with someone better than you. Learn from failure each day, and you will soon look back at where you used to be, and be amazed at how far you’ve come.

Ego will hold you back

Everyone has an ego. We need to learn how to master it, instead of denying its existence. Some have found a way to minimize it and channel it into something good, some peoples lives are ruled by it. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will force you to adapt, and it will change you in unexpected ways. The most common thing that people will gain from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is an immensely valuable character trait, humility.

Humility is the realization that we are not as big, and powerful as we like to think we are. People who begin their journey in Jiu Jitsu quickly realize how beatable and vulnerable they really are. This forces us to take a step back and analyze who we are, it challenges our identity. Its not “you” that is hurt, its your ego that has never been put in its place. There is a very important life lesson that comes from knowing someone smaller, weaker and younger than you can completely control you. You quickly realize how vulnerable you are, and that there is always someone who will be able to outperform you.

That being said, the opposite can also be true. When you are put in a position where your ego is no longer controlling your life, the student in you can step up and rise to the occasion. A much better version of you now holds the reins and is open to learning and evolving as a person. When you have made progressive steps in something as difficult as No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you are in a much healthier mindset to handle life. Therefore, you can impact other people in a positive, meaningful way, through the beautiful art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.