Jiu Jitsu becomes exponentially more fun when A: you’re strong B: you’re flexible and mobile. But.. drum roll.. strength and flexibility doesn't mean shit if you don't have C: Cardio, and by that I’m referring to Sport Specific Cardio. On top of this, and probably the most important thing D: Fight IQ. The ability to use timing/ strategy and leverage, manifesting your strength, flexibility/ mobility (attributes) through technique! (Jiu Jitsu)
When starting your Jiu Jitsu journey, choosing to take part in the Jiu Jitsu lifestyle, you make a contract with yourself towards better health. A poorly maintained body (and “spirit”) can't fight for shit, just a no brainer. You take steps to clean up your diet, no longer choosing to shove crap down your throat. You start looking into improving your attributes: Strength/ Flexibility/ Mobility/ Cardio. (You also might spend a little time making meditation a part of your routine.) But, most importantly you spend time on the Jiu Jitsu mats (Optimally EVERY DAY. Most people do 2-4 days a week and that's OK for a start), studying, training with the INTENTION to improve, using the all mighty brain! Also, need to add, you choose to take recovery work seriously, drink water, and optimize your sleep pattern. A lot of fighter types have a "mental disorder", this disorder is thinking you should redline EVERY session.. Go hard, or go home ish, all day.(I’ve been there myself) Over time this will just leave you down a path of injuries, inflammation, mentally burned out and with bad health. (“Balls to the wall” sessions have their place, especially if you’re prepping for a tournament and are in some kind of fight camp.) Outside of fight camp, like Firas Zahabi points out, training should be addictive, playful. Feet to the fire some days, but not every day. You want to train at a pace that lets you come back wanting more the next day. Volume over intensity builds the base! “Long term consistency trumps short term intensity” - Bruce Lee
Also highly recommended, is the study of instructionals/ fight tape/ tournaments. From all my years on the mats, one thing I’ve noticed.. The students that do tape study on the side, ALWAYS have a way faster progression rate than the rest. This also plays into intention on the mats. If you study, and spend mental time abstracting Jiu Jitsu, trying to understand what's happening, chances are you will show up to practice wanting to implement what you’ve been processing. This guides you towards training with intent. Aaannd… you really don't want to be a class spaz.. classic picture, two white belts, reptile brain tuned to a 1000, just clashing egos, no skill.. you might as well just go outside and run uphill for an hour to lose the energy. If you train like this your progress suffers greatly, especially in the beginning when your knowledge is close to Zero! Also, chances are you end up injured, or injure your partner. If you get injured, your progress suffers (obviously).. You can't train. If you injure your partners, you lose valuable body's to rep with, your progress suffers. Nobody gets good at Jiu Jitsu training by themselves. In this regard, Jiu Jitsu is a team sport. All about the quality of the room, which if structured and run professionally, over time.. spits out very strong and lethally sharp individuals! Training is for skill development, tournaments are for fighting! Use your brain!
(Note: The more real skill you and your partners acquire, and the more comfortable you are training together, the safer the high intensity rolls btw. A skilled partner is highly unlikely to do reckless shit. Beginners can be like a train going off the rails sometimes. Calm down and breathe, you’re not going to get mad skill by tomorrow, development is a long term process!)
Last but not least.. “Motivation!” I tend to despise the word.. The way most people use it, it’s weak minded and shallow. We’ve been sold the meme that you need to be motivated to do anything.. You don't! Real motivation follows action. Not the other way. You don't start with motivation, you start with self-discipline! You just do. And do more. Pure simplicity!
It takes somewhere between 60-90days straight to build a solid new habit. A lot of people, when they start out, fail because they don't spend enough consecutive time. Let’s say, a typical scenario, new year's resolution.. “going to get my shit together now”. Maybe even buy a “self-help” book or two to get going. Then they go hard at it for 3-4 weeks.. drum roll.. the book is back on the shelf, and they quit. Failure time and again, seems familiar?
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
If you manage to stick to something for 90 days, chances are it’s fully ingrained in your system. When you get to this point, you just WANT to do more.. This is when you start to feel REAL motivation (from the inside.) No need for someone to baby you like a helpless child. So fuck “motivation”.. Inspiration is a better term.. choose to be inspired.. and just GO!
"I don't understand why so many people read self-help books, life is not that complicated.. the part i really don't understand.. If you're looking for self-help, then why would you read a book written by somebody else? That's not self-help.. that's HELP! There is no such thing as self-help.. if you did it yourself, you didn't need help! You did it yourself! Try to pay attention to the language we all agreed on..." - George Carlin
Everything starts with self-discipline, you just do! This new path you build by doing, most likely will transform your daily drive and habits. And booom, when you've done the work required, you've completely removed “motivation” from the equation. You… JustDo. Done. Zen.
Jiu Jitsu is all about building strong, robust and resilient individuals and the best way to get started on the journey is to surround yourself with people on the same mission. Join the Jiu Jitsu lifestyle and give yourself an upgrade!
Frode Nilsen
10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Bergen