5 Life Lessons From a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Advice from a 10+ year martial arts practitioner.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become one of the most renowned martial arts of all time. Based on submission grappling, BJJ can be arguably the truest form of all martial arts in which a smaller, weaker individual can defeat a larger, faster opponent using leverage and skill. Not only does BJJ offer the closest form of a physical superpower, Jiu-Jitsu teaches you how to better respect and interact with people in addition to countless lessons about life.
I’m lucky enough that one of my current professors takes a few minutes after each class and gives a short talk on why Jiu-Jitsu teaches you how to improve yourself and your journey through both BJJ and life. Here are five of his quotes that have resonated with me the most.
“Instead of finding excuses to NOT show up, find excuses TO show up.”
What I enjoy most about my professors teachings are that they are actually very simple principles that have a profound impact. Life is busy, and if you don’t have your priorities straight then you simply won’t have priorities. Shifting the tendencies of finding an excuse not to pursue your passions is only cutting yourself short. Having a hard time fitting in dinner with an afternoon activity? Start meal prepping on the weekends. Don’t have money to train? Cut your subscriptions. The list goes on, find excuses to pursue what makes you better in life.
“Learn to become familiar with the feeling of wanting to quit.”
Jiu-Jitsu has one of the steepest learning curves of any pursuit I know of — maybe even worse than learning math. Actually, it is worse, because math doesn’t physically strangle you (only mentally). When you start training, it takes months before you can hit basic moves on another white belt. Obtaining a black belt often takes more than a decade. By the end of most training sessions you will be exhausted and feel that you’re learning nothing, but that is the time to keep moving forward. And if you become familiar with the urge to quit, then actually quitting becomes less and less likely. A black belt is just a white belt who never quit.
