How old were you when you first started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
Robert Drysdale was 17… And he feels that BJJ found him at just the right moment in life.
He explained why in an interview with BJJEE, with an argument against competitive training for kids:
I believe I found BJJ – or, better yet, that BJJ found me – at the right time in my life.
To understand what I mean by this, I need to say that, although I am a believer in starting children young in BJJ, I’m still not a believer in pushing them competitively at a young age.
Children often compete because they are being pushed to do so by their parents and that is a very short-lived type of motivation.It is for that reason I believe that teenagers are the key demographic for BJJ; since at that age they are in the gym because they choose to be there.
That’s why, essentially, Drysdale feels that BJJ came at the right time for him, when he was 17.
Though there are multiple reasons why he felt drawn to it:
First off, I have always been attracted to combat and I believe this is an innate trait of mine that influenced my Jiu Jitsu journey.
Secondly, I am fascinated by the strategy and technique that go behind BJJ. I know I am biased to say this, but BJJ certainly is one of the most complex forms of body expression out there, as the possibilities in it are endless…
Add to that the physiological and psychological elements of the art and you have something extremely complex in front of you.I guess that those were the immediate reasons so as to why I was drawn to BJJ.
But, more importantly, it satisfied a deep seeded need of mine to find fulfillment and meaning in life.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gave me meaning and kept me focused on the task at hand, so much so that it was as if the rest of the world had been shut down and there was nothing but me and the mats.It is a beautiful place to be a part of and live in.
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