More often than not, going to BJJ will feel as one of the best things in the world; you’ll feel happy, excited and really enthusiastic about learning new techniques and rolling with your training partners. However, from time to time – and sometimes for longer periods – you won’t feel like coming to class. Not one bit.
So what to do when you feel as if coming to training is the last thing you’re up for? You train anyway.

BJJ IS LIKE A RELATIONSHIP – IT WON’T FEEL GREAT ALL THE TIME

Let’s face it: no matter how great Jiu Jitsu is, it won’t feel fantastic all the time. For the sake of comparison, think about relationships for a brief moment.
That is, how do you feel at the start of a relationship? When you first meet someone and start dating them… It’s just wonderful, isn’t it? There are butterflies in your stomach, you’re falling head over heels for your significant other and you generally feel as if you’re threading on clouds. It’s a beautiful feeling!

But what happens after some time? The relationship surely isn’t as exciting as before; it may (and, hopefully, is) exciting still – but there are some days when you just don’t feel like even seeing the other person.
It’s the same sort of a thing with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In the beginning, everything is new, great and exciting. But, with time, the novelty and the initial excitement drop; and you’re left with the occasional I-don’t-wanna-go-days.

MOST OF THE TIMES, YOU CAN TRAIN

When these bad days come and you don’t feel like going to your BJJ training session, what are you supposed to do? Stay at home or just go train?
Sometimes, the first reason will be reasonable enough. Perhaps you really did have an extremely heavy, stressful, physically and emotionally draining day at work, school, or in regards to something else. In these cases; when you truly feel as if all of your strength, energy and mental clarity have evaporated into thin air – that’s when you should probably stay at home and recover.

But if you really think about it and if you withstand finding excuses, you’ll find that the above mentioned situations are extremely rare. In other words, in the vast majority of cases, you’ll be capable of training Jiu Jitsu.
You will have the required energy, even if it’s at the bare minimum. Your mind will be fresh enough to absorb at least some new knowledge. And you’ll be strong enough to withhold the impending physical exhaustion.

DOESN’T MATTER HOW YOU FEEL. ROLL ANYWAY

So if everything is alright – if, physically and mentally, you’re able to train – what’s stopping you in your tracks? What’s turning your visit to the mats into such a difficult task?
Quite simply, it’s your emotions. You don’t feel like coming to the academy. You feel melancholic, lazy or simply unmotivated to train.

This is when you absolutely have to go and train. It’s easy to roll when you feel good and when everything’s fine. But when you feel that just about anything else would be a far better alternative, well… If you can overcome that, then you will become not just a better Jiujiteiro – but a stronger individual as well.
You’ll develop character strength. You’ll become more disciplined. And you will learn that, every time you overcome a self-imposed obstacle such as this one, you’ll become much more motivated about Jiu Jitsu in general.

Plus, you’ll improve in your technique and know more than the guy who decided not to show up that day. Doesn’t get much better than that!