Life Lesson Learned from Jiu Jitsu

Grit is required for success.

Grit - firmness of character; indomitable spirit

Starting is usually the hardest part of trying something new, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is no exception...or is it? 

To begin, you put yourself in a new and unique environment where complete strangers are training to beat you up. Not exactly the same as joining a new church or book club. As a white belt, you get beat by every colored belt in the academy and most, if not all, white belts who are bigger than you.

This is a very humbling experience and is accompanied by temporary feelings of claustrophobia and bruises in places you didn't know existed. In addition, you have to come to terms with your ego and face the hard reality that someone half your size just handed you your butt on a platter. There's no place for your self-exalting thoughts to hide.

There are 2 very different ways to react to this kind of awakening and which strategy you use will determine if you ever reach the blue belt level.

The first strategy is avoidance. This is characterized by quitting Jiu Jitsu and removing from your memory any disheartening beatings you took while at the academy. These people eventually forget what happened or choose to ignore it and go about their lives with their fragile egos intact and lying to themselves about how tough they are.

The other strategy is acceptance. This is difficult to come to grips with at first but it's necessary if you want to learn and advance. You have to realize that even though you're a 180 lb 28 year old white belt you aren't tough enough to stop the 120 lb 18 year old purple belt from making you cry uncle (tapping out). Defeat after defeat reality sets in and you begin to respect the techniques. You then spend a good year or 2 defending yourself against the onslaught, eventually getting good enough to escape and survive long enough to see the end of the round. Congratulations if you made it to this point, you have grit!

Fortunately, you begin to develop an offense and continue learning to defend yourself and you become more successful with each training session. Before you know it you're the dominant force the newbies are intimidated by and your teammates struggle to tap out.

This muse about Jiu Jitsu training can be applied to anything difficult in life. Starting something new or experiencing something for the first time is stressful and many times you feel out of place. You will go through a period, or periods, of difficulty where you feel like you are no good and quitting would be so much easier than taking the abuse and deterioration of your ego. But if you stick with it, whatever "it" is, you will get better and you will achieve something worthwhile. The more difficult the trial and tribulation the sweeter the success.

There's undoubtedly something in your life where you feel inadequate and would like to change that; my suggestion is to take a lesson from Jiu Jitsu and put yourself out there - jump in with both feet, take your beatings, continue moving forward learning along the way what works and what doesn't and then adjusting your approach until the day you look up and realize that you not only made it but you had fun getting there.

Jiu Jitsu 4 Life!

Thanks for reading and keep training.