Photo: Yuri Catania
We often read stories of how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is able to “save your life” because it is good for body, spirit and mind. Yes, it sure is but it is also true that what you almost never hear about, perhaps due to a certain form of taboo, is of those cases, not too rare, in which Jiu-Jitsu, goes from being a healthy recreational activity, to becoming a real obsession, & a real psychopathological disease.
The dependence of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu falls into the category called “sports addiction” which is part of those addictions without any substance abuse, of which gambling is at the top of the list. Who are the people that suffer from this condition?
These are usually people who:
1. Train 2/3 times a day even if they have a job and a family.
2. All their day revolves around the time of training and competition.
“Sorry, I can’t. I have to go training…”
3. Each of their actions and their life decisions depend on the training & competition calendar.
That that are addicted to Jiu-Jitsu do not enjoy any goal achieved, because they are too busy trying to reach a new one. Every goal becomes not so important anymore for them just a few seconds after they have reached it.
Who is affected by this addiction tends to attract other people who have their own psychopathology, a sort of self-referential group that believes in the same obsessive ideas.
These are people who meet because they share the same illness, & not because they are friends or because they find in the healthy practice of Jiu-Jitsu a moment of leisure and socialization.
To try to heal yourself from Jiu-Jitsu addiction you should try to practice Jiu-Jitsu without always having a set goal. You should train because of the pleasure of training, because if you only train with a set goal, which can be a belt or a competition, once the goal has disappeared, the desire to train also disappears.
The healthy “way” is to train because you love Jiu-Jitsu, the camaraderie and the way it makes you feel, and if you reach some of your goals along the way, including competitions, you will be happy but that will not be the only thing that matters.
Written by MaxBJJ.
