Will it be easy ?
Will it be easy
The sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu isn’t easy. The bad news is… it never gets any easier either! But the good news is, the more you do it the better you get at dealing with it - which sort of makes it easier.! It’s a Physically, Cardio and Mentally challenging sport but what it gives you back if you train regularly and stick at it, is absolutely worth it!
When you are starting out on your journey, no matter your age and previous levels of physical activity, there will be a degree of body tissue adaptation. Your body will basically need to adjust to the rigours of doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and whilst age and previous activity will have some bearing on the degree of adaptation and the time it takes, you can expect some initial “growing pains” as I like to call them.
It’s during this time that students invariably ask if there is anything extra they can do to help with their Jiu Jitsu i.e weight training, running, yoga etc .. they are thinking about cardio capacity, strength and flexibility of course and whilst it’s true that certain supplemental training can be of value, I always reply with same line “the only thing you can really do to get better at Jiu Jitsu… is do more Jiu Jitsu.” Sure, doing weights and running or yoga may help a little, but doing more Jiu Jitsu will help a lot! Doing more good quality Jiu Jitsu will not only improve your Jiu Jitsu, it will actually develop your cardio, strength and flexibility in a contextually relevant, sport specific way!
What you really need to be focusing on however, to get better at Jiu Jitsu by doing more Jiu Jitsu, is maintaining your commitment, the very fuel that drives your consistency! You started BJJ because you had a purpose, a belief, a goal, an ambition and you have to keep working at staying committed as the challenges of life present themselves and try to knock you off track. One thing is for sure, BJJ demands consistent effort over time. It’s going to get tough at times, but if you stick with it, you’ll see that all the hard work is worth it. Why? well basically every ounce of effort you put into your training directly impacts your progression. To call up some terminology from a previous career…. Your inputs (Mat time, quality of training, positional sparring and live training time, off mat study etc) lead directly to meaningful and immediate outputs (improvements in execution of technique, positional awareness, body adaptation etc) But, and here is the big bonus, long term consistent application, adjustment and development of your outputs (through the process of act-assess-adjust-repeat that good quality BJJ practices follow) will lead to outcomes such as improvements in your confidence, humility, self leadership & resilience!
Sure the journey on the mats will have its highs and lows AND even some plateaus. Yes there will be injuries, illnesses and the occasional skin infection, as well as the white belt woes and the blue belt blues to navigate. And you can bet your bottom dollar that life will throw you more than one curved ball over time just for good measure! These are real challenges to your progress as they will impact on your commitment!
In my experience most people quit BJJ because of erosion, over time, of the discipline and habits that sustain their commitment and it’s your commitment that drives consistency of attendance. Vigilance is key here, your biggest job is to constantly find ways to reinforce your commitment to your purpose/belief/goal/ambition in order to get you to the Academy consistently! Set goals, targets, habits, rules, mantra’s, take inspiration - do whatever you need to stay on track with your original plan/purpose! Once there, the rigours and process of training BJJ itself, if of good quality, will translate into discernible improvements in your game. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is about showing up, learning and improving little by little (the principle of Kaizen).Of course there will be difficult times along the way, but if you can keep pushing through, consistently showing up and diligently training, not only will you BJJ game improve, but the longer term outcomes of so doing might actually be life changing!
Hence: Will it be easy? - nope, will it be worth it? Absolutely!
"You can't cheat the grind, it knows how much you've invested, it won't give you nothing you haven't worked for," (Eric Thomas)
Murray