Yes BJJ is great for fitness, self defence and is just so much fun, but you aren’t really ready for that. It takes dedication and a lot of effort to get to black belt. Below are 5 reasons you really aren’t ready to train.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not easy
That’s right, it’s not easy. It will break you mentally and physically, some days you will go home and wonder why you bothered starting. You will get tapped by that massive new guy who has only been training for one week and has one technique. You will go months without getting a single submission, you will have plateaus and you will wonder why you started.
This will all be forgiven of course once you get that elusive submission, or you pass that blue belts guard. You will fall in love with it all over again. In the real world you will start to see jiu jitsu moments that will remind you what a great art it is. It will make all those months of struggle worthwhile.
You will get aches and pains you never knew you could get
Your body will feel pains it has never felt before, you will wake up in the middle of the night with an aching body, you will get injured and you will wonder why you keep going.
The funny thing is, you will learn that your body is stronger than you ever thought. The pains at night will turn into muscle and weight loss. The injuries will teach you that the things you were scared of, weren’t so bad after all. You will learn the new limits and push the boundaries of your body.
You won’t have time to sit in front of the TV eating rubbish
You will be training every night so no more Netflix binges in the week, also your diet will change as your body changes from training and your ambition to recover faster and get better at BJJ.
You might even switch from Netflix to hours and hours of instructional videos instead of Netflix. You will start watching John Danaher talk for hours about every detail of how to shrimp properly.
The way you do everyday things will change.
From hugging your girlfriend differently, to standing up from the floor you will start to move differently. Even walking down a train you will imagine passing the guard. When you want to move in bed you will shrimp your way to a new position. When you are hugging your partner you will start noticing undercooks and pummel your way in. Suddenly everyday movements become an opportunity for more training.
And finally…
Who am I kidding? I couldn’t think of a fifth one. BJJ is fun, yes it hurts, yes your life will start to revolve around it and the will to get better. Even your holidays will revolve around it (oh wait that is the fifth one :) ). It isn’t for everyone, but have an open mind and a will to get better and you will. You will make great friends and your fitness, strength and confidence will get better. It’s a great art, but you have to train hard. Nothing worth doing is easy.
This is where I plug Wave Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Chiswick, click the button below for a free class now :)