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Don’t get frustrated on the mats (5 tips to help)

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In my experience and through my student’s I find that people seem to get frustrated after they’ve had some success on the mats. Initially in our training we just accept that we’re going to get beaten over and over again. Then as we get better we start to raise the bar and our expectation for ourselves. Then it happens, we have an off day and we fall below this expectation we’ve set. The guy we controlled yesterday is all over us today. Last week we did 5 rounds and still had energy and today we were gasping for air after 2. We get off the mat frustrated and irritated. I’ve even seen some guys even lose sleep over it.

I’ve had several days like this over the years. Most of them I can directly attribute to diet. I remember once eating a greasy sandwich around 2pm and then feeling like I had a brick in my stomach at 8pm during rolling. I seriously felt like I couldn’t move. At one point I remember being inside my partner’s guard just staring at him, frustrated. Normally I could blow past his guard. During this roll I couldn’t even break it. Needless to say after training that night I was just fuming. This is back almost 9 years ago. Then there were days where my training partner was just on, he was feeling it that day and I wasn’t. The absolute worst cases for me came when I would get frustrated during a roll or match and would become angry. Not angry at my partner but at myself. Kind of like, “Why am I sucking so badly today!?” These are the worst because if you lose your mental composure during a roll or match, it’s hard to regain it. I’ve found that the more irritated or frustrated I become, the sloppier I get.

There are lots of reasons as to why you might have an off day. Below I’ve written 5 things to consider or remember to help prevent the frustration we might experience from a training session where we didn’t perform at our best. You can prevent some bad performances but it’s impossible from preventing all of them. You’re going to have a rough day on the mat at some point. Just keep in mind that there aren’t bad days in the gym. Yeah, you may have been beaten and performed well under your normal ability, but that was still time in the gym. You were still healthy and able to train and even if you don’t feel like it, you’re growing and progressing as a BJJ practitioner. Sometimes more than you know.

 

 

  1. Bad food – Diet is huge for training. You’re asking your body to perform like a high performance vehicle. High performance vehicles require high performance fuel. Think of your body like a machine and give it what it needs. Good nutrition is crucial for getting the most out of your training.
  2. Stay hydrated – Dehydration has to be the no. 1 reason I see people become sluggish in the gym. I know it’s my main reason. Sometimes we just get side tracked with things throughout the day and we don’t get properly hydrated. Make sure to drink lots of water throughout the day and coconut water before training isn’t a bad idea. Especially when it warms up in the summer. Performance suffers from even a minor amount of dehydration. Oh and on the subject of liquids. Stop drinking sugary energy drinks! They’re garbage and they aren’t good for you. If you need a pick-me-up, grab an espresso.
  3. Don’t be a dick – If you are surrounded by tough guys that push you and are competitive on your best days, then you have to expect that on some days they are going to have your number. To be honest, it’s kind of rude to come in to the gym with an air of superiority. Like you are somehow better and shouldn’t lose to one of your training partners, or that once you progress past them that they will not be able to catch up. Don’t be a dick. If you lose to you training partners, even if you beat them all over the mat yesterday, just accept it and move on. If you have any reoccurring themes or mistakes, pin point them and fix them
  4. Lower Belts – Something to also keep in mind is that the lower the belt level, the worse the bad days are. Once you are a higher belt you typically possess a nice buffer of skill to fall back on if you are just not feeling it. For example, even if I feel like crap I can still control a blue belt pretty easily. But if you are a blue belt and you are off, you won’t have that same amount of skill and you probably won’t fare so well against the same blue belt that I controlled so easily.
  5. Calm Down – If you find yourself getting flustered you need to calm yourself. If you get frustrated to the point that you mentally break and just get angry, you’re cooked. You’re breathing will become sporadic and you’ll often just expend lots of energy with no results which will only lead to more irritation. If you find yourself getting to that point, get up and take a deep breath and a water break, and then come back. If this happens during a match or roll, take a deep breath and talk yourself down mentally. Remember that getting angry won’t help you escape that tough spot you’re in or anything for that matter. You must keep your composure in BJJ. If you cannot control the mental you’ll fail with the physical.

 

I hope some of this stuff helps if you’re having an off day. I know these things have helped me and have helped my students over the years.

 

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Chewy

Competition, visualization and a look into my day

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Today was a bruiser. I didn’t have any interviews for the podcast or private lessons and I am waiting for the hosting issues to get resolved before I can finish the work on the actual website. This freed up my day so I decided to take advantage of it and work hard!

When I weighed in this morning I was 207lbs which is good considering I had a pretty relaxed diet this weekend. I went on a camping trip this weekend and ate food that I normally don’t consume in great quantities like breads so honestly I expected my weight to be up a bit. This means I need to lose about 5lbs so that I will be 207lbs or under in the kimono. Whenever I am getting ready for an IBJJF style tournament, which has you weigh in right before your match, I aim to be a couple of pounds lighter than I need to be. This lets me enjoy a good breakfast on the day of competition. I am kind of a fat kid at heart and going without a sizable breakfast isn’t an option and when the day of competitions comes I want to focus on the match not having to lose a few extra pounds.

Here is what my day looked like. . .

11am-12:15pm: BJJ Takedowns. 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling starting from the knees

12:30pm-1:30pm: Heavy deadlifts. Did work with 80% of my one rep max. Then some stretching.

 

7pm-8:10pm: More gi takedowns. Again 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling from the knees.

8:15pm-8:50pm: Did the “Filthy Fifty” workout.  If you’ve never done the workout before it’s a lot of fun. Here’s what it is . . .

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

This work out is considered a chipper workout. Meaning it’s long and tough, and you have to simply chip away at it.

8:55pm-9:20pm: Live wrestling for takedowns. Going to wrestling straight after that workout was rough, but I did well and was happy I pushed through my fatigue.

 

I felt great today. The camping trip this weekend helped me clear my head a bit and I felt really refreshed on the mats today.  That being said, it was still rough and required a lot of focus.

Whenever I have rough days like this when I am leading up to a tournament I try to use visualization as a motivation.  When I am drilling my takedowns I am not taking down my partner, I am taking down an unnamed opponent in the competition. When my grip starts to fade during a heavy set of deadlifts I think about my opponent finishing their rep and clinch the bar tighter. When I am exhausted after a hard workout I think about my opponents training past discomfort and head back to the mats for wrestling.

This may sound silly but visualization is such a powerful technique that comes in handy when I am training for a competition and need an extra boost of motivation during hard sessions. Even if I am not preparing for a competition, if I have a goal I want to achieve, then visualization is something I use. During the hard work that is necessary to achieve any worthwhile goal (BJJ or otherwise) if I find my motivation waning, I start to visualize. Visualize overcoming the obstacles that stand in my way. Visualize how my hard work will aid in my road to attainment, and visualize the satisfaction of achieving my goal. No matter how tired I might be. When I think about these three things I get fired up to get after whatever it is I need to do.

I am tired so if this post came across as poorly thrown together I do apologize. I am a bit wipe so I am going to head to bed and get ready for another tough day tomorrow!

As always, thanks for reading.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send an email to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Something high level Wrestlers, Judoka and BJJ players do, that you may not be doing.

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BJJ is such a complex and technical grappling art, overflowing with techniques. Every move seems to have a variation . . . and every variation seems to have a variation. This complexity can be a double edge sword though.  The technical prowess of BJJ allows it to work for anyone. Big, small, short, tall, it doesn’t matter, if you train . . . you can become proficient at BJJ.  However, this can backfire when you try to acquire too much too quickly.

I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” and I think this has some relevance to BJJ as well. Many people get very distracted by “fun looking” techniques or techniques that seem to be in style at the time. They hop from technique to technique, position to position. Never mastering any particular area of the game and instead being mediocre across the board. You don’t want this!!

 

Coming from a wrestling background we were always taught that . . .

you don’t have to do much, you just have to do it better than everyone else.

I’ve heard similar phrases come from other wrestlers, judo players and high level BJJ practitioners. This is something I always stress with my guys when it comes time for competitions or when they are newer and trying to develop an “A” game.

Now there is nothing wrong with playing around with new techniques and positions. Nothing wrong at all, but you have to understand that when you do this you will be making yourself a bit vulnerable. When you work a new move or position you’re going to be a bit shaky with it at first and after drilling and attempting it during rolling sessions for a while you will gradually become adept with that move.  Right when this move is beginning to develop is where many people make the mistake of moving on to something new that doesn’t necessarily fit with what you were just working on.

You just spent all this time making this solid position or technique and now you’re going to move on???

My advice would be to continue with the position or the move. For example, if you were working butterfly guard. . . well. . . add another butterfly guard into your drilling list. Maybe you were working on kimuras. Well instead of moving on to a whole new submission, expand upon the kimura and learn additional setups or transitions from it.

This kind of chaining-things-together mindset can really help you develop areas of your game quickly.

So what is it that high level grapplers do that most average BJJ players do not?

They own a position, a technique, a movement. They master the ins and outs of their desire moves and become brutally efficient with them.

Go watch some judo highlights. You won’t have to watch long before you see a highlight showing a particular judoka executing the same throw over and over again using different setups against different opponents. Wrestlers are the same. Go do a Google search and put it “John Smith Single Leg.” The guy is synonymous with that damn move. When he wrestled, his opponents knew what he was going to do but they couldn’t stop him. He had drilled and worked his single legs to a level of ability that is awe inspiring. Imagine going to a high level competition and hitting everyone with the same move even after they knew what you were going to do. This happens in BJJ too! One easy example that comes to mind is Roger Gracie. Mount to cross collar choke. . . are you kidding me? Cross collar chokes? What seems to be such a basic and easily defended move becomes dangerous in the hands of a person who masters it and believes in his ability to execute it.

 

If you are already in possession of your A game then feel free to do as you please, but if you feel as though you lack a go-to area, may I share a piece of advice? Own something. Find a position or technique that you are decent at or wish to be proficient with. Then, drill drill drill and attempt it during your training. Make your name synonymous with whatever it is you want to be good with. Be the person that has the nasty half-guard that guys talk about in the locker room, or the person with crazy submissions that makes everyone feel uneasy during their roll. Then continue to build upon it and add to it.

I guess this post is similar to the last post, Training with a purpose, but I encourage you to remember, you are the architect for your BJJ. You’re instructor will supply you with the raw materials to build it, but ultimately it falls on you to better yourself and devise the blueprint for your BJJ game.

In short, try and get really good with a few things before you start introducing a bunch of new techniques to your repertoire.

 

What are you waiting for??? Take out a pen and write down a flow chart and start plotting out the direction you want to take your game! 😉

A long list of reasons why people train BJJ

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Back in April I put up a post about why we train BJJ and I got a lot of positive feedback from the post. The idea popped in my head a couple of days ago to do a simple post on my Facebook and just ask a couple of questions, and see what kind of responses I received. What I love most about the responses are that they come from average people. I find it interesting to get responses from the people who make up the majority of practitioners in our sport. Hearing about world champs who have all day to train is great, but I also like hearing about people who’s lives don’t simply revolve around BJJ. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy the responses.

The questions were. . .

  1. Why did you start training?
  2. Why do you continue to train?

The answers were really interesting and I figured some of them could serve as for others. I’ve removed the names of the posters but they consist of every rank from white to black belt, young and old, male and female.

Here are the answers I received. . .

1. I wanted to be able to defend myself.

2. I continue because it helps me improve as a human.

1.I was tired of getting in trouble and partying,

2.I want to stay fit and compete and addicted to the life style..

1. I sold my motorcycle and needed something to do.
2. I want to excel and teach others.

1. I wanted to stay in shape and be able to compete if I choose to.
2. It’s something after next year my whole family will be doing. It gives us all something we do together.

1. Wrestling was over and I still wanted to continue wrestling.
2. To see if I can be as good as everyone thinks I can be/ I’m a competitor I love knowing there is someone better than me out there pushing me to do better

. . . . Oh and to prove doctors wrong that I would never be able to train again , let alone compete after having kidney failure ..that should a been my first answer

1. My husband wanted me to try it
2. “Light bulb” moments, making new friends, constant challenge (mental and physical)

1. Lots of friends did it. So I wanted to share the excitement.
2. The friendships I’ve made while doing it.
3. I needed to be humbled!!!

1.To loose weight after my dr. Told me I couldn’t do it. I knew a conventional gym would be a waste of money.
2. I love to compete and would like to fight mma one day.

1. Kids are mean if you’re a fat ethnic kid with a funny name.
2. Gotta look good for my wife and I still have a funny name.

1) I wanted to learn how to choke people
2) I like choking people

1) it started out as a joke to my dad that I wanted to try jiu jitsu
2) after my first practice I loved it

1. My best friend invited me to watch him compete in a summer tournament. BJJ was the coolest thing I had ever seen and I said “I want to do THAT.”
2. I stopped about a year and a half ago, after training for three and a half years, because of time constraints and laziness. But I will be back someday! After I finish undergrad hopefully.

1. To learn how to defend myself with my friend, and to have common ground with my son
2. I continue to learn new things and challenge myself at new/different levels!

1.) I always liked watching jiu-jitsu, wanted to give it a whirl.
2.). Exercise, camaraderie, and just the drive to be better than the day before.

Therapy, fight, and compete

1. I started BJJ because I saw a highlight video of one of my future teammates arm barring people and I wanted to be able to do that!

2. I have gotten more back from BJJ than I will ever be able to put in! I have made incredible friends, found a place where truth rules (the mats never lie) and a place that I am at peace. But I continue to strive to reach my goal of being a black belt competitor that can give the best fits on any given day. Long but fun road!!

1) I got bored with lifting weights and needed a change.

2) I like the science behind the art

1) A friend (who trained BJJ) and I were working at the Lexington Athletic Club together and he thought I might like it for the self-defense/combat aspects. He was right.
2) I had never encountered something so humbling. Refused to quit until I got good at it. I still have a LONG way to go.

1. A couple of dudes I thought were cool did it.

2. Half of my friends are people I met at Derby City, getting beat up a few nights a week is great for stress relief

1. Found out I had no idea how to defend myself, so I wanted to learn.
2. It is both mentally and physically challenging. Nothing can compare to it. If you have done jiu-jitsu and didn’t become addicted to it, you are just crazy.

1. I was looking for the best martial art for my son. I started so we could do something together (I still miss those days of dominating the kids classes).
2. I still train because of fitness, competition, friends and I’m too stubborn to quite. Black Belt or bust (hopefully black belt happens first).

1.) Because I was getting bullied and I wanted to learn how to fight back
2.) I found a love for the sport and wanted to get better at it

1.After wrestling so just wanted to wrestle and watched a lot of the UFC
2.Its a way of life for me now

1 Mr. Kazushi Sakuraba
2 because it is challenging.

1.Curiosity around jiu jitsu, and my competitive nature.

2.It is addictively fun/competitive, you will meet the greatest people, and the most important reason now i think is to dedicate myself to the art so for enjoyment and so that i may help others grow and find joy through bjj the same way that I have!

1. I saw Bloodsport, Above the Law, and Fists of Fury when I was around 5 and and wanted to be a martial arts master one day lol. I did Kung Fu before MMA got big and came to Derby city because of my friend who trained there and said I wouldn’t ever go.

2. To push myself, defend myself, stay healthy, relieve stress, something to be proud of, to have continuous goals to meet, and its just fun.

1. to stay active and have goals to push towards at all times

2 to stay competitive and become a better martial artist

1) my dad taught me that men train their fitness and can fight even if they choose not to

2) it became the framework of my life and worldview. Now I feel like the day I stop trying to improve is the day I start accepting decay.

1. I was always a little weakling kid always afraid to standup to the bully!

2. Today i continue because the art and the competition has become one with me… oh, and it makes me look like i’m 28 as opposed to 36!!

1) I started cause I wrestled in high school and love competing. And Jiu jitsu is closest sport to wrestling.
2) I love this sport and love ppl I’m training with. First when I started I thought ppl here would be mean, douchebags but I was surprised how friendly they all were its like brotherhood there and how my instructor doesn’t mind to take some time and show u if u don’t get it from first time.

1. I started bjj to challenge myself and to do a different workout.

2. My ultimate goal is to achieve my black belt, however when that goal is met I will just be a white belt that never quit. Also my training partners are family, you don’t quit on family.

1. I started training BJJ bcuz i never did BJJ it was new mix martial art to me. Now that ive been practicing i LOVE it.

2. I would like to contiune alot more training to compete and fight in MMA. I feel that my heart tells me this is ur new chapter of ur life. I know it takes alot of work to be on top. But ill leave it to my two if im good enough to fight.

Why do we train BJJ? (Why do you train BJJ?)

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If you are reading this then I have a question to ask you, but first I want you to think about something for a minute.  I want you to think about . . . how many injuries you’ve sustained as a result of training, the money you’ve spent on gis, training gear and gym dues and the amount of time you’ve spent in the gym.

Now here’s the question.

Why do you train?

Why do you put your body in harm’s way and risk injury, spend your time and money and exhaust yourself on the mats day in and day out, week after week, month after month, year after year?

Do you have an answer? Surprisingly this is a question that until recently I hadn’t really put much thought towards. I’ve always trained because it makes me happy, because I enjoy the people I am around, because when I roll I don’t think about anything other than my jiu-jitsu, it keeps me in shape. .. I could go on for a while. The reason I began to think about this question was because I wanted to figure out why some students stay and why others don’t find BJJ as captivating as others. I still don’t have a definite answer as to why someone quits BJJ but I was able to ask many of my students and friends why they come into the gym consistently to train.  After taking in the answers I was given, I compiled them into five general categories.

Below I list the category with an idea to my student’s and friend’s responses followed by my view on it.  

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Community – Many of the students raved about the gym and how amazing the atmosphere is, and how it’s one of the big reasons they continue to train.

My view on it – The people that seem to become entrenched into Brazilian Jiu-jitsu are a special breed.  Most (certainly not all) seem to be amazingly friendly people. If the gym is done right and the instructor is in the right state of mind. A Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gym has the potential to be this amazing environment for friendship, brotherhood, support and a generally uplifting atmosphere.

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Challenge / Competition – Students in one way or another shared how the thrill of competition and challenge was a reason they trained.

My view on it – I feel like challenge is the zest of life. Challenge and adversity keeps us on our toes, keeps us from becoming complacent, keeps us searching for a better way to do things and helps push us into the unknown which can help bring us to new heights of accomplishment. In a life of mortgages, wives, family duties and full time jobs which can seem to run almost on auto pilot at times, BJJ gives someone the chance to have the thrill of facing and overcoming an obstacle.

 

Stress reliever – Students unanimously said that the stress relief from BJJ is amazing. More than one person described the gym as their “sanctuary”.

My view of it – When you step through the doors of your gym, all the stress you had stays outside. If you’re significant other ticked you off earlier, your boss came down on you or whatever problem you have. None of this matters anymore. Nor does your profession or career. Whether that be a lawyer, construction worker, burger flipper, accountant . . . none of this matters. All that matters is your training, how you perform during the drills, how well you execute your moves, how you roll.  You can rid yourself of the stressors of life through the physical and mental exertion required for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Then afterward, you can leave and relaxed and ready to face any stressful situations that may come your way.

 

Learning new techniques – Many of the people I talked to said that another reason was that they enjoyed learning new techniques and moves.

My view on it – Another factor that keeps many students coming, I believe, is the continuation of learning. You can never know everything. There is always someone coming out with something new to play around with, or you find a new variation of a move while training in the gym. The ability to continue learning, growing and being curious are always present in BJJ.

 

 

Health – Many of the students reported considerable weight loss and also a change in their overall diet because of training.

My view on it – I’ve had numerous students and friends lose anywhere from 15lbs – 100+lbs simply from adding BJJ training to their life. Then it seems to have an incentivizing effect. They began to eat healthier and exercise more to improve their performance on the mat. Practicing BJJ gives someone a purpose/reason to be healthier. I mean let’s face it, many people would do well if they simply cut out fast food from their diet and exercise a little, but they don’t. Some people don’t have it in them to be healthy simply for the sake of being healthy. BJJ gives them a reason and can act as a catalyst for improvement of someone’s eating habits and overall health.

 

Fun Video

Check out this video that I watched on the reason that Humans play games. Based on the classification of the video, BJJ is a game. The guy has some other really awesome videos that are worth checking out.  

http://youtu.be/e5jDspIC4hY

 

Thanks for reading and if you’ve never asked yourself the question, “Why do I train?”, then you should and see why aspects of training are most important to you.

7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 5)

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One of the more “nerdy” things I do for my BJJ is keep a regular training journal.  I know plenty of people who keep a journal for seminars and special training sessions but I know very few who keep one consistently. I believe though, that keeping a training journal on at least a semi regular basis is an excellent way to add focus to training, resolve problems I’m having, track progress, and getting the most out of my competition experiences.

I’m sure people have lots of different methods for keeping a training journal, so I’ll explain how I use a my bjj journal.

 

Tracking the amount of reps I am performing of a particular move

I suppose I am possibly a little obsessive with record keeping in regards to BJJ, but I like keeping track of how many reps of a move I perform leading up to a tournament or when I am developing a technique. When looking back at some of my older journals I can see a clear correlation with a lack of repping out moves and being frustrated with my lack of timing in a tournament or during training. Knowing this, tracking the reps helps keep me on track.

 

Reflections on tournaments

Every tournament has its ups and down and I like to keep track of those. Right after my last match of a tournament I typically sit down with my phone or notebook and write down notes about what went well or what went wrong.  Then when I get home I can sift through the notes and figure out how I can improve. I also do this with my students when they compete.

 

Documenting problems I’m having

When I run into a common problem during training or tournament I write it down so that I can look at it later and figure out how to fix it.

 

Writing down new techniques I learn

When I learn something new I don’t want to forget it! Think about how many times your instructor has shown a cool move that you forget by the next week or even next class! I write down new techniques so that I can remind myself how to do them later.

 

Setting goals for myself

My goals vary. They can be anything from “hit move X five times during rolling” to “drill move X one hundred times” to “do 1 hour of actual rolling today”. You get the idea.  Giving myself goals helps keep me focused, and holds me accountable and it feels good accomplishing something that I set out to do.

 

When using a BJJ journal keep it short and sweet. There is no need to keep track of every little detail about training. Also, you don’t want to get too “Dear Journal” with it and ramble on about random thoughts and emotions concerning your life. Keep it focused on and geared towards certain aspects of your training so that it doesn’t become too cumbersome and difficult to keep up with.

Also, one fun thing (at least I think its fun) about doing this is that you can look back years later and see what sort of problems you faced. I personally have different BJJ journals going all the way to my days as a white belt in 2003 and. . . wow. . . it’s interesting to read. Maybe I should post some of my 2003 white belt journal entries on here?

Anyways, I know keeping a BJJ journal isn’t for everyone, but it can be a great tool should you decide to use it.   

Thanks for reading!

(A pic of an old training journal of mine from 2008. Certainly not the oldest but it does have some nice water stains to it.)

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1 thing every BJJ instructor and BJJ practitioner should always remember

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So this weekend I had the pleasure of competing alongside my student and one of my coaches. We competed in Ohio at the American Grappling Challenge (formerly the Ohio Grappling Challenge) and we had a blast. We were in the main event which was 4 teams made up of 3 men each facing off with one another. Each team was composed of a mixture of purple, brown and black belts from some of the best schools in the region.  The experience was a lot of fun and me and my guys were fortunate enough to come home as the winning team.

The best moment during this team tournament for me was watching my 17 year old purple belt go out and go toe to toe with a skilled black belt. He played a great game and ended up winning on points in a convincing manner. This was such a cool moment for me. I have been training with this kid since he was 11 year old. The transformation has been amazing to watch over the years, but its been a lot of hard work too.

 

Now whats the 1 thing we should all remember whether we are an instructor or practitioner?

Be persistent!

 

If you are a good instructor then you know that you are working a never ending job. I mean you can never get your students “too good” and the same goes for yourself. I personally work more hours now than I did when I worked in a office. I do a lot of work after the gym is quiet and the students have gone home. My classes only equate to around 1/3 of my actual work time. The other 2/3 of it goes towards the countless task I choose to tackle on any given week.Its all worth it when you see one of your students achieve something awesome. To see the result of your labor come to fruition in front of your eyes. Nothing feels quite like having one of your students do something great and knowing that you had a hand in that achievement. You helped another human do something amazing.This makes all the hours of labor worth it. 

Persistence is important for any practitioner as well. The student I wrote about at the beginning of this post is Chad. The funny thing about Chad is that he had a terrible performance at the Gi Worlds last year. He had slacked in his training leading up to it and it showed. He was beaten in the first rd of a single elimination tournament and was sent home with nothing. Chad isn’t from some super affluent family either. All the fund raising and saving he had did leading up to that tournament amounted to nothing.  Now he could have been discouraged and gave up on winning a big title like the Pans or Worlds, but he didn’t. We had a talk about his lack of training and he quickly kicked things in gear and ended up winning both the No Gi Pans and Worlds just a few months later.

 

So remember, whether you are a instructor or just a practitioner. . . DON’T GIVE UP! This sport can be difficult sometimes. You hit walls and feel like you’re getting worse, things interfere with training, your students aren’t grasping the techniques like you want, whatever it may be. Just remember that everyone encounters the relatively same hurdles. The overcome these obstacles by pushing on and continuing, even when things get tough. If you desire something that is worth having in BJJ or in life. Be prepared to work for it and be prepared to hit some speed bumps along the way.

Just know that every time you put forth a strong effort towards your goal, you’re inching just a little closer to realizing it.

 

Now enjoy a funny photo of us in ridiculous rash guards we bought for the team tournament.Image