3 Life Lessons I Learned Training Jiu-Jitsu
How they translate to everyday life
It’s 2021, and Jiu-Jitsu has become a popular combat sport among men and women since the rise of MMA into the mainstream. The UFC mainly being a massive contributor to that popularity. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or commonly known as BJJ, gives many a chance to learn to fight without the actual act of striking your sparring partner with closed fists wrapped inside a boxing glove.
I’ve been training BJJ for close to half a year. I’m still a white belt but have watched closely the things BJJ can teach you outside the mat. After all, the beginning is usually the most challenging. Any endeavor you take on in this world will always require discipline if you expect to succeed. It’s been my experience; you either give it your entire focus or only see mediocre success.
Stepping on the mats of a BJJ gym can be intimidating at first. The first step is always the hardest when trying anything new. I found that the environment in my gym is like a small, tight group of people, a community of warriors with the intent to sharpen skills and continuously push each other for growth. I’ve come to the conclusion that a majority of the things you learn on the mat can be translated into your everyday life and the challenges it brings. I’ll focus on three that I feel have been the most significant during my time training.
Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
You learn real fast getting choked out is uncomfortable and painful. The pressure is intense. It’s a rush of adrenaline as you’re trying to fight to survive the round, at least as a white belt. You get put on your back a lot, and I do mean a lot. The pressure is ugly and can get you discouraged quickly if your reason for training isn’t a solid one. It’s uncomfortable, painful, and so humiliating when you repeatedly get submitted by the smaller guys. Especially when you’re a big guy like me, that weight trains regularly.
As uncomfortable as it is, I realized it’s the perfect place to be to strengthen your mind. Getting comfortable with feeling miserable as you’re trying to learn and get better makes everything easier. It can’t get much worse than your current position of always getting pinned. You can only get better from here.
Take that into anything else you’re trying to accomplish. If you can get comfortable with being uncomfortable, the path in front of you gets easier to tackle. I like to sit and think of how bad can it get. Can I deal with it? If so, then push forward. If not, what do I have to do to be able to deal with it? Talk to yourself and make a move.
Keeping Calm Under Extreme Pressure
Your back is against the mat. Your opponent has all their weight on top of your torso while squeezing your neck. They’re keeping their body tight to yours. You’re exhausted and struggling to expand your chest to catch a breath. Sound uncomfortable? Under that pressure, your mind kicks into fight or flight. Adrenaline starts pumping, and you’re in survival mode. Your mind will likely default to flight when you’re new to that pressure.
Your mind begins to rationalize tapping out, you’re running out of air, and you can’t catch your breath as your opponent is setting up his submission. You feel helpless to his attack. The anxiety and panic sets in. Tapping out is all you can see yourself doing because you’re in flight mode.
Fight mode on the other hand, slows your mind before it spins out of control. Your vision gets clear to analyze the threat better. Your mind focuses on the threat. You focus your breathing, then act. Your mind is in a fight to survive state, and everything slows down as you’re looking for leverage to help you switch the position.
The slowing down of the mind and calming the anxiety is easier said than done. It requires practice. It goes hand in hand with getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Keeping calm is a crucial factor in problem-solving. Focusing your breath and slowing your thoughts down will help clarify the way out or a simple switch in positions.
The perspective of how you approach the fight or flight instinct makes all the difference. Getting overwhelmed is easy, almost a default mode. Slowing your mind down takes practice, but no worthy task is ever easily accomplished.
Take that into account the next time you feel anxiety coming in. Slow deep breaths, focus your thoughts on what you can control, and then act. Unless you’re in real danger that’s avoidable then you just run like hell!!
Have A Game Plan But Be Ready To Improvise
How many times have you planned extensively for something only to have a last-minute change ruin the plan? Training jiu-jitsu gave me a sense of better improvisation skills. Having a game plan is necessary for jiu-jitsu as well as for life. It gives you a direction to go, but I avoid looking at it as a structure. Sometimes deviating slightly from the plan is a better option.
It happens all the time during a roll on the mat. You go in thinking you’ll get that submission, then your opponent responds, and you have to switch to plan b, c, d, or e on the fly. React quickly or get pinned. Sometimes improvising is all you got because the plan didn’t account for that move.
Life is the same way. The plan can be going well, and then life throws you a sucker punch right to the stomach that brings you to your knees. Now, the plan is shot, improvise or stay down are your options.
Have a game plan but never be afraid to improvise and deviate from the plan if it’s required. Have faith in your ability to improvise and change direction.
In summary, all three of these life lessons are interconnected. Each one helps you do the other and vice versa. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable will help you keep calm under pressure. Keeping calm under pressure will help you improvise on the fly.
I hope you enjoyed the article and that these lessons resonated with you! Have a great day and enjoy the process of living as uncomfortable as it can sometimes be.
