Life is tough. It can throw us curveballs every now and then, even in the moments when we think everything is going great. For those of us who practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Harrow, Ruislip or Newton Abbot, we’re ready to accept these challenges. If there’s one thing that Premier BJJ eaches us, it’s how to deal with these challenges and harness them into making us better, stronger individuals.
6 Reasons Why BJJ Will Help You Unleash Your True Greatness In Life:
1) Because it teaches us humility
Sparring is the biggest eye opener. Even if you are able to execute techniques well, there’s nothing like linking them all together and using them against an opponent. When you spar, you realize that no matter how strong you are or how technical, there’s always going to be someone better than you.
Humility is the toughest lesson one can learn from BJJ. Years of training, tapping people out and getting tapped out yourself is undoubtedly character building. It could be especially tough in your first few months of BJJ – you could feel discouraged because you aren’t able to execute techniques properly or because you get submitted by other opponents.
However, how well you survive these difficult times makes all the difference. Humility teaches us how to respect our opponents as well as our instructors. Because of this, we become more open to learning and become more appreciative of criticism in our daily lives.
2) Because it forces us to take risks
The more you practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Premier, the more comfortable you become with taking risks. You’re aware of the consequences and you’re ready to accept them because you know it’s all part of training.
The more risks we take, the closer we come to unleashing our greatness. After all, only those who have achieved greatness know that taking chances is the only way we can get to where we want to be.
Great BJJ practitioners such as Roger Gracie 10x BJJ World Champion, took many risks in his BJJ career, opting to put his legendary name on the line to try MMA. Pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones should be part of everyone’s life motto. By taking risks, we avoid missed opportunities, giving us the chance to be the greatest version of ourselves possible – what’s more awesome than that?
3) Because it builds focus
Known to be technique-intensive, BJJ requires more focus than most martial arts. Premier BJJ students need to be detail-oriented, picking up on all the little intricacies that go into a single technique. These details could make all the difference in your repertoire, as more advanced BJJ students know.
When you become more deeply involved in your BJJ practice, you begin to forget about your horrible day at work or even the noisy pad hitting in the background. You learn to become completely present and focused, more than you have ever felt in your life.
When we learn how to focus in training, it translates into our everyday lives as well. We become more productive and efficient, making us better employees (which in the end, gives us more time to train)!
4) Because it develops patience
BJJ can be frustrating, especially when you first start. The techniques might seem so complex; it is then that you realize how many repetitions you need to do just to learn a technique. Just like studying for an exam back in college, you’ll need to review constantly to make sure that you know it by heart.
However, the most difficult part of learning a technique is how to actually apply it during sparring. While you’re still in the learning stage, you’ll probably get submitted quite a few times – and that’s a true test of patience. Unfortunately, the only way to improve is to keep on practicing the technique over and over again.
It may take days, months, and sometimes even years before you can utilize a technique during sparring. Instead of getting frustrated and quitting completely, you persevere because you know that you’ll never get anywhere if you give up. This makes you a much stronger person compared to others because you know that you don’t surrender that easily. After all, as they say, nothing worth having comes easy!
5) Because it helps us deal with fear
Learning how to keep calm during extreme situations is a skill you’ll develop from practicing BJJ. Whether you’re sparring or doing drills, you’ll always be subject to bad situations. It’s up to you how to use technique wisely in order to escape.
Whether you’re under someone’s 100kg sidemount or trapped in a submission, practicing defense is one of the most difficult aspects of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Knowing that your opponent is putting 100% effort in his technique while you’re simply struggling to survive is undoubtedly unpleasant. And using technique against him just feels completely impossible.
The way we deal with these situations in class can be applied to the way we deal with compromising situations in the real world. Instead of flailing our arms about and panicking, we should stay calm and think first before doing anything rash. Just like in BJJ class, we anticipate what our opponent is going to do next before doing our next move.
6) Because it gives us an unbreakable warrior spirit
When you train at any of the Premier BJJ Academies, you know that there are no excuses on the mat. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, male or female — everyone is equal as soon as you bump fists. BJJ is a true test of mental and physical strength, constantly pushing you out of your comfort zone.
BJJ separates the strong willed from the weak, forcing you to dig deep and harness your warrior spirit even when you’re ready to tap out. And when you tap out, you’re ready to bump fists and roll again, because that’s how strong you are.
There’s no doubt that training BJJ at Premier is a true test of willpower. Every time you convince yourself to keep on going, even when you think you can’t, is definitely proof of an unbreakable warrior spirit.
In order to unleash greatness, there’s no doubt that one must go through challenges that most people would choose to avoid. As a Premier BJJ student, you learn how to face these tough times and use them as inspiration to do better in life and achieve greatness in life.
So what are you waiting for?
Start BJJ and unleash your greatness today!