Surfing Is Like BJJ

Have you ever thought about the addictive quality of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu? For some of us, BJJ just grabs us right from the beginning. You get on the mat and even though you’re getting tossed around and can’t seem to do the techniques perfectly, it’s fun!

During this surfing trip I thought about the addictive nature of surfing and how it relates to BJJ. If you’ve surfed before then you know that getting up on the board is fairly easy. Staying on the board and catching good waves is the tough part. At least thats how I see it.

I’m by no means a surfing expert but surfing is crazy addictive like BJJ. I remember the first time I ever stood up on the board. I was so pumped. So I kept paddling out, getting smashed by waves and exhausting my shoulders just to get another ride on the wave. Most of the time I would catch a wave get on the board for a minute and then find myself sailing into the water after I lost balance.

It’s kind of like when you’re doing BJJ early on. It’s not that difficult to get the general idea of whats going on with BJJ and being able to “almost hit a technique.” You’re close enough that you saw the opportunity for the technique but you just couldn’t make it stick. So you endure all the rigors that come with BJJ training, like being smashed, exhausting your body, etc, just to get another chance at hitting the technique. Just like you’ll find yourself swimming back out in the ocean for the waves in surfing.

If you’ve never surfed before, which I know is the case for many of my midwestern BJJ friends, then you really need to get on a board.

The trip has been awesome so far. Yesterday we did 2 BJJ training session and surfed in between. We’re getting ready for the morning BJJ session and then surfing.

Talk to you guys later!

-Chewy