The fun and mentals of jiu jitsu.
For just over a year I have put more time on mat, watching videos, thinking and talking about almost every aspect of jiu jitsu than any sane person should be doing and I think this has given me some insights into the process, the pitfalls and how to make that journey better for most people and to that end I am putting those thoughts to virtual paper. I hope some of it resonates and helps you!
I only remember a few bits of my first class, having to introduce myself, the nerves of not knowing what I was doing, being out of shape and feeling totally inadequate, seeing Thomas and David make everything look so effortless and thinking…I wanna be able to do that! I don’t remember what we did exactly but I do remember immediately loving it and wanting to learn more! After a month I was totally hooked, I bought the gi, signed up for 3 months and was ready! And then…I got a freak injury that sidelined me from training for a few weeks. But I kept coming, watching from the side, learning in whatever way I could and this is the first lesson. You are going to have some setbacks, some obstacles. It might be a silly injury, work, life, a global pandemic. There will be a move, a solution to the challenge that you face, and there is a skill in learning how to overcome this and it’s as applicable to jiu jitsu as it is to life.
In case you haven’t heard of the Dunning Kruger effect i’ll give a brief explanation from google: “The Dunning-Kruger effect effect occurs when a person’s lack of knowledge and skills in a certain area cause them to overestimate their own competence”
I have a simpler definition… “a bjj white belt after 2 months’ ‘. There will come a point, very early on, where virtually everyone thinks this jiu jitsu stuff is easy. I remember learning a few techniques that resonated with me, gave me a little bit of an advantage in rolling with my fellow white belts and I could get some taps, I could win the matches and quickly I started to feel as if I knew what was going on now! And then I went to go to the open mats…and that feeling of competence was very quickly gone as I realised once again how little I understood and it was maybe the best lesson I had, to stop viewing the process as a competition but rather as a learning experience. I had to be honest about where I was making mistakes, where I could improve. Win or lose there was always something to learn and reflect. The goal in training is not to win, it is to learn.
After a few months and a few stripes I had a passable understanding of some basics, I was going to class regularly, was in better shape than I’d been in years, all great things and yet I was frustrated. There were so many things I couldn’t do, my body either wasn’t capable (or so i thought), or my mind didn’t click with the technique or my attitude was just wrong and to top it all I was getting dominated on the mats and I couldn’t work out why. The goal is to learn but it can be frustrating losing all the time and you feel as if you aren’t progressing. The truth of the matter is you are always progressing, we just forget that everyone else is as well, and all at different rates. The only person you’re ever in competition with is the person who you were yesterday.
We all start training for different reasons, some for health, some for competition, some for safety, and plenty more. A lot of the time those reasons change. One thing seems to be a universal constant, the most rewarding thing is to give back. Despite appearances, it is a team sport. Without getting too philosophical about whether that team is just your close teammates, your gym, your community or even more expansive than that, the fact remains that when other people improve, so do you. Give back more than you get.
Push yourself. That doesnt mean tough out submissions or try and kill yourself, but test your limits. You will feel like you cannot do another roll, you’re totally spent..but is that really the case? One of my failings is not pushing myself enough and every time someone drags me for one more roll…amazingly I make it through somehow!
Be open minded. It’s so easy to be dismissive of techniques, of ideas. Once we think we know something it’s very hard to admit we could be wrong. Try and accept that there are many different ways to do something, try them all, you never know what might work!
Go slow, relax. The single biggest mistake I think new people make is to go completely crazy and use strength and aggression or in drilling they go too quick. Mastering any technique, no matter how simple, takes time. I found that simply doing the moves slowly at first, focusing on each step, where your body should be how it should feel before gradually increasing the speed and intensity works best. This goes for sparring too, if you cannot do the move without using all your strength then the chances are you aren’t doing it right. Learn to roll at less than 50 % of what you’re capable of, it will hone technique and efficiency.
Get good at the basics. They are called fundamentals for a reason. Doing all the crazy inversions and back takes is something everyone aspires to and it will happen one day if you stick at it. But focus on the absolute basics for a while, you will be amazed how much there is to learn and master. And from that understanding comes more advanced techniques, how leverage works, how weight distribution works, it makes everything so much easier. As I was told when I started, it is like learning a language and first you have to understand the alphabet and basic words before you can start communicating.
Keep it fun. Whatever your goals, if you aren’t having fun you won’t stick with it. Find enjoyment in every aspect if you can. Laugh when you get tapped, find joy in someone getting a cool move on you and aim to come out smiling after every session!
Trust the process. A black belt is just a white belt who never gave up. No matter what you may feel, you are always making progress, you are always improving. You will have sudden revelations that improve your game overnight, and walls that make you feel like nothing is going right. Through it all, know that you are not alone, everyone is or has gone through the same things as you, keep going, you will get there!
That is a short summation of my journey so far, in all honesty this could have been a book if i had gone through everything but my hope is that even in this small article there is something you will read that you recognise in yourself and your journey that can be of help. Ultimately, we all approach this differently and want to get different things out of it so keep your goals in mind, do what works for you and keep your mental and physical health as a priority, jiu jitsu is there to enhance both of those, not hinder.