Introduction
When it comes to any martial art or fighting sport, there is always a steep learning curve, and there really isn’t any getting around it. One thing that many Jiu Jitsu beginners ask is “what is the fastest way I can learn?” or “What’s the easiest way to rank up belts quickly?” And unless you have 40-50 hours a week to spend non-stop training, there really isn’t any easy or fast way to just “get better”. It takes hard work and time. And while it might be a long and frustrating road, there are several very important life lessons you will learn in the process. Here are 5 that I feel are important for everyone to learn when training Jiu Jitsu, or just going through life.
Patience
As you first start to pick up Jiu Jitsu, patience is the name of the game. Everyone has had to learn it, and everyone who hasn’t WILL learn it. Learning a martial art is one of the best things you can do for your brain. This is because of their complexity and the way they help you master both your mind, and your emotions.
Jiu Jitsu can be very frustrating. It’s a game of positioning, you are constantly having to pay attention to what your opponent is doing and how to defend against it, as well as how you can get yourself in a better position and move closer and closer to getting a submission. You will almost never find yourself in a match where you can just go from step A to Z and get a submission right away, it takes patience.
Just like there is a guarantee that you won’t learn everything in Jiu Jitsu right away, there is also a guarantee that you will learn it in time. It just takes patience with yourself, with others, and with the process. Learning patience through Jiu Jitsu will help you master your emotions and learn patience in your everyday life as well.
Persistence
While training Jiu Jitsu, another important thing to learn that goes hand in hand with patience is persistence. The definition of persistence is “firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition”.
While you’re training Jiu Jitsu there are going to be several moments where you just want to give up. You’re going to encounter difficulty along the whole journey and sometimes that difficulty can be extremely discouraging, but if you persist and keep going you will learn and grow from your mistakes. This applies to everything in life, don’t let your obstacles get the best of you, learn from those mistakes and move on. That’s persistence.
Humility
Next up is humility. This is one that can definitely be a struggle for a lot of people because we all want to be as confident as possible going into something, and while it’s great to try your best when learning new things, we all have to humble ourselves a little bit. When it comes to Jiu Jitsu it’s less a matter of having to try to humble yourself, and more a matter of when you get humbled.
I’m not saying that everyone who tries Jiu Jitsu for the first time is a cocky jerk, in fact there are plenty of people that walk onto the mat with almost no confidence. But there are a few that lack any humility and those are the ones who will learn very quickly why Jiu Jitsu takes a long time to master. But being able to know where you stand while also not giving up and keeping your confidence is a great recipe for success in Jiu Jitsu. Don’t be afraid to roll with someone bigger or more experienced than you, but when you lose to them just realize that they’ve been doing this longer and that you’ll get there eventually. Don’t take it personally unless you want to hate half your gym.
Humility is something a lot of people need to learn in everyday life and many of us aren’t willing to admit that we haven’t learned it yet. But one of the best places to learn humility is through Jiu Jitsu.
Discipline
If you want to learn a new skill, ESPECIALLY a martial art, discipline is extremely important. Every martial art requires discipline. If you don’t already know what discipline is, the definition of personal discipline is “correction or regulation of oneself for the sake of improvement”. You may have heard of discipline in the context of parents setting rules for their children and enforcing them or teachers enforcing rules in their classroom, and when it comes to personal discipline the concept is pretty much the same except you’re enforcing and correcting yourself.
Knowing yourself and being able to maintain self control and keep yourself on the right path is vital to being successful in Jiu Jitsu. There will always be days where you just don’t feel like going to train or don’t want to work out, or eat healthy, the list goes on. But you’ll learn very quickly how allowing yourself to slack off and not work hard will make your journey way harder than it needs to be. Jiu Jitsu takes tons of practice and the more we practice and discipline ourselves, the more you will begin to see yourself grow and get better. Discipline is vital in real life and can keep you out of a lot of trouble. People with no discipline always tend to get themselves in very bad situations because they lack self control. Learn Discipline early and you will see much more success throughout your life.
Practice
Now this last one may be a bit of a given, but practice is probably the most important part of Jiu Jitsu. There is no possible way to get better at Jiu Jitsu or anything really, without practicing.
Some people get frustrated when they realize that they’re essentially learning the same things over and over again. But I have never met a single person that can learn everything about Jiu Jitsu once, and just remember it the rest of their life. That practice and repetition is what fine tunes your skills to become comfortable with what you’re doing.
It can get very discouraging when you keep practicing and keep practicing and don’t see results right away. But just like going to the gym, or learning an instrument. You’re not going to see results right out the gate. But I promise if you dedicate yourself and trust the practice, you’re going to grow.
When I first started Jiu Jitsu, I didn’t even get close to getting a submission on anyone for at least 3 months and even then it was extremely rare. It was more a game of survival for me. But as I learned to practice surviving before attacking, I honed in on that and built a much better defense that still helps me out now. It is very important to practice with a purpose. Find something you want to work on, and focus on that for the day, week, or even month until you are confident in that skill. Then move on to the next thing you want to work on.
Nobody expects you to master Jiu Jitsu in your first week. Know yourself and what you need to practice, and if you don’t know what to practice, ask your instructor and they will find it. If you do this and keep it consistent I promise that you are going to get better.
Conclusion
Now it’s time to apply these life lessons and see how they help you in your Jiu Jitsu journey as well as in every aspect of your life.
I hope that you realize now how much can be learned from Jiu Jitsu. Learning a martial art truly is one of the best things you can do to improve your life both on the mat, and out in the world.
If you haven’t started training Jiu Jitsu yet, and are considering it, just go for it. Trust me, it will be a great time and you will meet some great people. I totally understand how intimidating starting something like Jiu Jitsu can be, and I don’t blame anyone who’s hesitant about it. But it really will be a great experience for you if you’ll just step out of your comfort zone and go for it!