6 Things Training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu For a Year Taught Me About Life
Bill started speaking.
“If you’d had asked me 5-years ago if I’d show up here every night and wrestle sweaty dudes, I’d had laughed at you.”
I laughed. Slapped and fist-bumped his hand. Then thanked him for the rolls.
A roll is where you wrestle an opponent for a set period of time trying to submit them they try the same on you. You indicate submission by tapping the ground or your opponent.
Walking to the car I felt sick. I thought I was fit. I was training 4–6 times per week, running and weightlifting. But in the space of 5-minutes, Bill had tapped me out 6, 7 times. From chokes to shoulder locks, wrist locks to armbars. If we were in the wild, I was dead.
I sat in the car wondering who I was. Had my whole time training in the gym been for nothing?
That was my second Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) session. I’ve done a few hundred since.
Voluntary pain beats involuntary pain
My face has 6 scratches on it, my hip flexor is creaky and my chin has an egg growing out of it. All temporary but I’m proud of them. They’re from last weekend’s BJJ competition.
