Guest post by Evolve MMA, Asia’s premier championship brand for martial arts. It has the most number of World Champions on the planet. Named as the #1 ranked martial arts organization in Asia by CNN, Yahoo! Sports, FOX Sports, Evolve MMA is the best Singapore BJJ gym.
BJJ in Singapore is extremely popular, with many schools teaching the gentle art. But if you’ve never trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before, you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about.
Joining a BJJ gym may be the last thing on your mind, but did you know that BJJ offers a myriad of benefits that can impact your daily life? Just like all martial arts, BJJ offers many teachings and lessons that students learn while training. Many of the lessons can be applied to daily life.
Rolling on the mats, experiencing defeat multiple times in every training session, it opens you up to a world of learning. It allows you to discover your physical and mental capacity, and teaches you how to overcome adversity. It develops your problem-solving skills by helping you identify obstacles and how to get past them.
BJJ has many principles that can be adapted to real-life situations, many of which will help get you through life’s many hurdles. Here are some of the greatest lessons BJJ teaches you every day in training.
Today, Evolve Daily shares five life lessons you learn while training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
1) Size doesn’t matter
BJJ instills confidence in its practitioners.
One of the main principles of BJJ is that size just doesn’t matter. In fact, BJJ teaches that even the smallest person in class can thrive on the mats. Based on their technique and skill, they can even defeat larger opponents. BJJ was developed to allow smaller, less powerful individuals to overcome bigger and stronger foes.
This teaches us so many lessons, one of which is not to underestimate anybody. People you may perceive as weak could turn out to be stronger than you know. Conversely, you should never underestimate your own abilities, even if you’re up against a mountain of adversity. Stick to you what you know, be confident in what you can do, and focus on execution.
What you perceive as a disadvantage could just be an excuse. As long as you put in the effort, make the right decisions, and execute, size just does not matter as much as you think it does.
2) Age doesn’t matter
BJJ is also known as the gentle art.
BJJ training is for people of all ages and skill levels. You progress at your own pace in training, and take your time to learn the techniques and master them. In fact, many students start very young, and even seniors take up BJJ training too.
The art of grappling teaches us how to use leverage to gain an advantage over our opponents, and that we can surpass physical limitations brought about by age or other factors. What this teaches us about life is that we cannot limit ourselves to what we perceive as our disadvantages. It shows us our strengths and trains us to think logically and strategically.
Furthermore, BJJ training is all about the work and care we put into our craft, and not about external things like age, gender, or race. Everyone is the same on the mat. We’re all faced with the same problems, and it’s up to us to find our own solutions.
3) Technique is better than strength and power
A BJJ class at Evolve MMA (Far East Square) in Singapore.
Another important principle BJJ training teaches is that technique will always trump strength and power. In fact, technique is your best strength. Once you’ve mastered the technique, the inherent strength you have just amplifies it. In BJJ, the smaller man can defeat the bigger man using leverage and proper technique.
In addition, BJJ training constantly puts you into situations where you have to solve problems. Escaping submission attempts, transitioning between guard positions, defending against passes — these situations all offer various opportunities to hone your problem-solving skills.
These principles have a myriad of applications in our daily lives, in whatever task we are faced with.
Instead of heading into something recklessly and without careful thought, we should always think and strategize. Planning is important, just as much as execution. Whether you’re making critical life decisions, or tackling tough situations, you need to think things through before you act.
4) You can overcome adversity
Training martial arts helps you to develop a warrior spirit.
Talk to everyone who has ever practiced BJJ, and they’ll tell you that at some point, they’ve all faced immense adversity throughout their journey. Struggling on the mats is common, and it’s something you will definitely experience countless times, until the moment comes that you get better. BJJ training teaches you how to deal with any adversity, and how to strengthen your mind to overcome any situation.
In your life, there will inevitably be moments of frustration and failure. You will fail countless times. BJJ places emphasis on learning through experience, and that you will never truly fail if you’ve picked up the lessons each experience offers. Every moment is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself, your craft, and it all works towards building your ability to battle through adversity.
Eventually, you will find the strength to power through any obstacle to achieve your goals. This sort of persistence will help you face the obstacles you come across in your life.
5) You can’t do it alone
BJJ is one of the most effective forms of self-defense.
Last but certainly not least, BJJ training teaches us that as much as we want to, we simply cannot achieve great things all by ourselves. A support system — your family, your friends, your teammates — is very important to every individual. In fact, perhaps more than any other martial art, BJJ relies on teamwork most of all.
The countless hours spent rolling on the mats, practicing techniques, sparring with teammates, failing and learning together, all help you develop as an athlete.
The same way that we go through life with the people we love, the people who support and help us through our difficult times, we simply cannot do it alone.
As the saying goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
BJJ training teaches us that if we work together, we can achieve many great things.
So if you’re looking for a way to grow both mentally and physically, BJJ is your answer. Sign up for a trial class and give it a go!
