For the uninitiated, if you’ve ever seen adults wrestling on the gym floor whilst wearing fancy pajamas, that probably was jiu jitsu, a submission-based grappling martial art. New folks might find jiu jitsu inaccessible relative to more self-explanatory martial arts – without understanding the techniques, it looks like an exercise based around unnecessarily complicated hugging.The facetious definition above highlights the understandable outsider misconception of jiu jitsu.
At best a blue belt, I’m not qualified to wax about the technical intricacies of jiu jitsu. However, I would like to share some self-reflections from my own training as encouragement to new practitioners. As I’ve become older and more experienced, I find myself increasingly drawn to jiu jitsu. Admittedly, there’s a necessity to train for longevity – grappling is one of the few combat sports that doesn’t risk brain cells every sparring session. Jiu jitsu is a submission and control discipline instead of a damage dealing discipline. Older recreational practitioners are far more common in jiu jitsu than muay thai or boxing. In addition to the physical longevity, jiu jitsu is healthier for the mind and personal growth.
Humility and Embracing Failure
The word jiu jitsu comes from the Portuguese romanization of the Japanese 柔術 jūjutsu, which can be translated as “gentle art.” Most of the jiu jitsu practiced in the US comes from a Brazilian tradition, hence the initialism BJJ, The goal of modern BJJ is to submit your opponent via control and technique. Use of excessive force is discouraged because it’s a crutch for proper technique and dangerous to your training partner. On the mat, ego is cheap – skill and occasionally size are the only differentiators. Each roll (jiu jitsu parlance for sparring) is a microcosm of intimate conversation and struggle. Winning by establishing dominance requires explicit agreement of your partner. When training, you’ll always face this repeated self-acknowledgement of defeat. Being able to humble your ego and embrace failure is an important first step to improving your game. Jiu jitsu provides a controlled training ground to inure yourself to the repeated physical manifestation of failure – learn to accept it with dignity and grace. This attitude should follow you off the mat, increasing your natural resiliency and self-awareness.
Understanding and Empathy
Rolling in jiu jitsu is a conversation between you and your partner. Every detail of your game hints at some aspect of your personality – how hard you smash, your favorite finishes, how quickly you tap, even the way you adjust your gi. The mat is a poor place to maintain pretenses, so people tend to bring their true selves. Winning a roll requires an intimate understanding of your opponent. You must respect their strengths and acknowledge your own weaknesses. At a certain skill level, practitioners start likening jiu jitsu to chess. Once everyone has the same technical toolbox, jiu jitsu becomes a struggle of minds, the body is just the physical medium and not a primary differentiator. With this attitude, mastery comes understanding, not from speed or strength. The culture of rolling is heavily dependent on a mutual understanding of shared safety and respect. You are responsible for your partner’s safety and your partner for yours. A productive, yet safe roll comes from reading your partner’s abilities and limits, and accordingly adjusting your intensity and style. Jiu jitsu constantly exercises the empathy muscle, forcing you to understand your opponent and think in their proverbial shoes.
Training and Thinking
Training jiu jitsu technique is an exercise in patience and delayed gratification. While drilling a technique sees linearly increasing results to applied effort, successfully applying the technique requires hundreds of minute refinements until you’ve discovered a version that works for you. This step-jump can be frustrating, especially when progress is invisible. In these situations, dialogue with your partner becomes critical. Being comfortable enough to ask for pointers or troubleshoot a failing technique requires an ego-less, fluid transition between teacher and student. Often, active willpower is detrimental to progress, resulting in bull-headed thinking that causes stagnation. Progress comes active troubleshooting and dialogue – be a rosh gadol practitioner. Obstacles in training are all just puzzles to be solved on your path to becoming a BJJ giant slayer.
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