Photo by Kaya Florczak (BJJ Photography)
If I never trained jiu-jitsu again, I know things would be ok.
Still, I can’t help but wonder what my life would be like without jiu-jitsu and martial arts?
I wish I could say I’m a grateful person around the clock, and that my journal is filled with reflections of positivity and appreciation (or that I even write in my journal every day).
But the truth is, it takes an injury or a global pandemic to keep me from training long enough to force me to reflect on why it is I love being a jiu-jitsu student, competitor, and instructor.
Now that I’ve been off the mats for close to two months, I can clearly see how deeply jiu-jitsu is engrained in my life.
So, how would my life be if things never went back to normal?
What If…
If I never trained jiu-jitsu again, I would have a much harder time staying physically active, and much less of a reason to keep my bodyweight down.
If I never trained jiu-jitsu again, I would be missing out on countless opportunities for learning, personal development, and growth.
If I never trained jiu-jitsu again, my social circle and friend group would take a tremendous hit.
If I never trained jiu-jitsu ever again, I guess you could say I’d be sad.
But sad doesn’t seem like the right word. I’m at a point in my life where, without jiu-jitsu, I’m scared I might be once again lost.
Besides spending countless hours on the mats, teaching, training and learning, jiu-jitsu also influences nearly every other decision I make outside of the dojo as well.
It’s fair to say that martial arts make up an enormous part of my identity.
What would I do if I were a martial artist unable to practice my craft?
Have I put all my eggs into one basket? Or am I looking at things the wrong way?
More Than Fighting
I want to make sure that jiu-jitsu is adding value to my life in a particular way.
Of course, I’m going to feel happy and fulfilled when I’m on the mats with my training partners, my students, and my teachers. But I also want jiu-jitsu to serve me when I step outside of the dojo.
Beyond the superficial benefits related to exercise, community, and learning how to fight, I want to be able to take something with me when I tie my belt for the last time, whenever that will be.
Rather than be dependent on jiu-jitsu to keep me happy, I want to know that I can use what I’ve learned from the art to find happiness and success in other parts of my life.
1. Life Skills
There are many skills I’ve developed in my time training jiu-jitsu, not all of which carry over to life off the mats (the double-collar strangle doesn’t come in handy very often in an office-setting!)
But I’ve had the chance to develop certain life skills such as discipline, perseverance, goal-setting, and self-esteem over my years of training and competing, and I can clearly see how these skills are transferred and applied to my school, work, and family life.
If I never trained jiu-jitsu again, I know that I would have an arsenal of life skills to bring with me in whatever endeavours followed. And I know that these skills were likely only developed because of my time on the mats.
2. Experience
By experience, I mean two different things.
Firstly, I mean wisdom.
Now, that’s not the same thing as saying that I’m wise (or at least I don’t think it is – really, I just want to stay humble). Rather, having wisdom means that I have knowledge from past experiences, which I can draw upon in the future when a similar situation presents itself.
My jiu-jitsu experience is made up of more than just time spent on the mats. My experience comes from learning, teaching, sharing, friendships, relationships, travel, wins, losses, injuries, and so much more.
Besides wisdom, jiu-jitsu has also built up my self-efficacy and has given me a lot of motivational fuel for the future.
Here’s what I mean.
The number one contributor to self-efficacy is recognizing one’s past experiences and successes.
In other words, the best way to increase your confidence in a specific situation is to remind yourself of times in the past when you had success with a similar task or activity.
I haven’t won a world championship or a major competition, but I do have countless memories of occasions where I faced my fears and overcame obstacles when I didn’t think success was possible.
Takeaways
I can bring these skills and experiences with me no matter where I go and no matter what I do.
Because of that, I’m not as scared of losing jiu-jitsu.
That being said, I do plan on training for the rest of my life, but this time away from the art forced me to reflect and see things in a different way.
I’m always grateful for bumps in the road because they allow me to reset my focus, and they remind me not to take things for granted.
Although I’d be disappointed if I never trained jiu-jitsu again, I know things would turn out ok.
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