The Brutal Struggle Of Learning Jiu Jitsu

When I first started jiu jitsu I knew almost nothing about the ground game. All I knew was that full mount was a dominant position and trying to acquire it on the mats was nearly impossible.

I went to O2 Martial Arts Academy on Oahu (Relson Gracies school) for my first time and completely sucked. I felt so hopeless and ineffective that whatever I tried to do wouldn’t even come close to working.

My threats were laughable and my balance was much like a child learning to get up and crawl. The feeling of being terrible was strange and surprising because no matter how hard I tried and how much strength I used nothing seemed to work.

I got tossed, swept, choked and arm barred by this one cat effortlessly. It barely felt like he was using any strength to do it.

He was a blue belt and had been practicing jiu jitsu for 4 years. His bald head and cauliflower ear seemed a little intimidating but he was nice about arm barring me. :)

What really amazed me was how effortless it felt for him to get the submissions. He used strength when it was necessary and when he moved it was with finesse and calculation.

Trying to make my submissions seem effortless is what got me hooked on the art. But that reason alone wasn’t sustainable in the long run because for me there was a long learning curve to getting to that point of submitting effortlessly and my motivation would decrease.

I needed another motivation and that was to learn the art and to have fun. I’d still focus on making my jiu jitsu seem effortless but number one was learning the art and having fun.

It took me a while to really put my ego aside and get submitted by people I thought I could beat if I tried to but that type of thinking got in the way of my learning. it’s made me patient, humble, awareness around my strengths and weaknesses, and help push me like I’ve never been pushed before physically.

Doing jiu jitsu has made me patient, humble, aware what my strengths and weaknesses are, and its help push me physically like I’ve never been pushed before.

If there’s one thing I could tell you about jiu jitsu is that whatever your goal is jiu jitsu will make you more self-aware. Self Awareness around how flawed and amazing you are.

Patience is key and the benefits you’ll get will be worth every sweat you make on the mats.