How do you feel about your current Jiu Jitsu progress? Are you really satisfied about it? Perhaps borderline satisfied… Or not satisfied at all? Training BJJ can sometimes be a real roller-coaster ride, on which you experience all of the highs and the lows, as well as those moments which are somewhere in-between.
But if you feel as if your ride is on the low end, perhaps you should take a step back – and appreciate how far you came.
THINK BACK TO THE BEGINNINGS
Just stop dwelling about your current Jiu Jitsu and think back to the first training sessions. How good were you back then?
No, that’s not your mind playing tricks on you. Yes, you really were that terrible. You were clumsy, didn’t even know how to do a forward roll properly, the Hip Escape was among the most difficult things you had to do in your entire life… On top of that, you were constantly (although by accident) elbowing your training partners, you were getting tapped out in every single roll – and you couldn’t figure out how to finish the Rear Naked Choke even if your life depended on it.
So how was it in the beginning? It was rather tricky, to say the least. Sometimes borderline embarrassing… But fun! So you kept training.
COMPARE IT TO TODAY
With the beginnings in mind, compare them to where you’re at today. It doesn’t matter if you’re still a white or a blue, purple, brown or even a black belt; the progress you’ve made is nothing short of amazing.
From that person who couldn’t move one bit and needed constant refreshers on how to get into the Half Guard, you turned into someone with a lot more knowledge. That is, you understand what the fundamentals are – and you’re improving in them every time you train. You’ve gotten most, if not all, of the movement down; and now you’re simply adding more finesse to it. You’re becoming better defensively, as you’re able to resist submission and control attempts even from more experienced Jiujiteiros. And not just that; your own submission techniques are getting larger in numbers and the ones you already know… You’re using them with increasing success.
The training you’re putting in is paying off. You truly are much, much better than you thought you would ever be back when you started out.
YOU WEREN’T SATISFIED BEFORE – AND YOU PROBABLY NEVER WILL BE
Which brings us to the last point. If you really think about it, you’ll recall that you didn’t feel satisfied in the beginning. You didn’t feel satisfied mid-way. And you aren’t satisfied about your BJJ progress right now, either. What this means is that you’ll never be truly satisfied with your achievements.
This’s just human nature. You work towards a goal, you put in the effort and the sweat… And you attain it! It feels great; perhaps you win first place at a tournament or you finally figure out how to use that tricky submission sequence. However, all of those feelings of excitement and joy soon wear off. And what are you left with? With the feeling that you want to achieve more.
In other words, you should be aware that satisfaction will never truly come to stay. You’ll always be on the search for more Jiu Jitsu dominance and success. And that’s great; just make sure to take a step back from time to time, so as to appreciate what you’ve already achieved.
It won’t take any of your drive away – it’ll just make you fall further in love with the (not so) Gentle Art.
