Brazilian jiu-jitsu is an amazing martial art. It is fun, improves health, increases awareness, it is strategic, builds confidence, and is a great form of self-defense. If you are new to the practice, it will take some getting used to. I always tell people when they are starting that it is not easy, and it will take consistent effort to get to the point where they start to understand the game. But I am confident in saying that if you hang in there and get through the white belt stages, it will be one of the BEST things you will ever do for yourself guaranteed!
If you do not believe me, just go out and ask any BJJ purple, brown, or black belt what they think of the practice and then watch how their face lite’s up when they start talking. There is probably not a BJJ black belt on the planet that would give up his/her black belt for any amount of money. The experiences, life lessons, and great friendships made along the way are priceless. In this article, we will look at some of the ways we can take what we are learning on the mat out into our daily lives. Let’s look at these three life applications of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
Stress Management
When you are practicing Jiu-jitsu, there are times when it will be difficult and make you feel uncomfortable. When training in a safe environment you will soon find that these areas of discomfort are not permanent and there will be things you can do to ease the discomfort. Learning not to panic in these situations takes a variety of skills. When you are on the mat you learn to breathe, relax, make space, use frames, set traps, and listen for opportunities to ease this pressure and get to a safe position.
This is no different than learning how to deal with stress in our daily lives. When we feel pressure, it is easy to submit and feel overwhelmed. If we have the tools to redirect our thoughts towards a positive solution, we can relax and feel more comfortable in most situations. Using our BJJ mindset we can now be calm and ready to focus on possible solutions this one benefit is reason enough to start your journey into BJJ.
Goals
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is the perfect platform for teaching people how to set short and long-term goals. When making goals it is important to have a long-term goal in mind and use short-term goals as building blocks to get us closer to the end goal. In BJJ, one example of a long-term goal we may have is getting our black belt. This often will seem too difficult for new students. It takes most people between 7-14 years to earn a BJJ black belt. Often when somebody looks at a goal like this they give up, because it appears too difficult. In BJJ there are so many short-term successes along the way we get lost in the process and soon find ourselves wearing a black belt.
Using this approach with any life goals we may have, is essential for success. Narrowing down our focus to build momentum, discover passion, and accomplish these short-term goals is a necessity. Once we learn to build this momentum with our short-term goals and experience success, we will accomplish more than ever before.
Relationship and conversations
Learning how to redirect opposing forces on the mat allows us to get the advantage over people who are bigger and stronger than we are in a physical encounter. Learning how to redirect this energy can be applied in many ways. First for us to redirect someone’s force we must be well rooted, relaxed, present, and maintain a calm even breath. When we can do this our internal awareness improves and we notice subtle energetic changes in our bodies and thoughts.
The cool thing about this heightened awareness is that when we start to notice these subtle energetic changes in ourselves, we also start to notice them in others. When we are spending time with others we may notice subtle changes in their posture, expressions, tone, and breath that we may have missed before. If you say something that slightly unsettles the person you are interacting with and you notice unease in their demeanor. It is easy to adjust the conversation to keep them comfortable avoiding them feeling resistance and the need to direct the conversation towards conflict.
These are just a few of the lessons we can take with us off the mat. As time goes by and we get more immersed in the practice we will start to find life applications in everything we do. Jiu-jitsu truly is an amazing practice. I hope that for some of you newer practitioners out there that this article helps you to see a few new possibilities and for those of you who are thinking about starting the practice you will not be disappointed by taking the leap. I have heard so many people through the years say that Jiu-jitsu is the best thing they have ever done, myself included. If you are in the Portland area and are interested in checking out Jiu-jitsu give the Northwest Fighting Arts academy a call at 503-235-3435, we will set you up with a free private lesson to show you what the program is all about.