Why should I start Jiu Jitsu you might be thinking to yourself?  Well if you’re reading this then its probably safe to assume you’re at least a little bit curious.  I will try to answer that question here.

Confidence 

Confidence is one reason to start Jiu Jitsu.  We all believe we are confident and have self confidence and to a degree that’s true.  However one of the benefits that Jiu Jitsu offers its practitioners is dramatically expanded confidence.  I’ll come out and say it, Jiu Jitsu is hard.  By training Jiu Jitsu you’ll do a hard thing – you won’t do it alone, we’ll all help you but you’ll put the work in.  Successfully doing a hard thing builds confidence.  You will find yourself going through your daily life looking at challenges that perhaps once may have been difficult and start to think – that’s really not a big deal.  If I can survive on the mats then this is not something to worry about.  Matt can personally attest to a dramatic increase in my own confidence and many of my family and friends have said the same thing.  Jiu Jitsu is the cause of my increased confidence.

Healthy Lifestyle

  One of the really interesting side effects of Jiu Jitsu is a healthy lifestyle.  Its not a miracle overnight cure, you will have to work at it and work towards it.  Here’s where this gets interesting however: You will want to.  You see as hard as Jiu Jitsu is, its also a lot of fun.  Even getting tapped out by a more experienced practitioner is a lot of fun.  I had a live sparring session – also called a roll – just today where I ultimately had to tap out.  It was a long roll, I survived for a long time against my opponent who is at least two full belts above mine.  I learned a lot in this roll and got to practice my skills in the process.  One of the things it reinforced is that I want to get better.  I want to lose more weight, get more flexible, have better cardio.  I want to be able to give the person I was rolling with a bigger challenge the next time.  I want to bring my game to the next level.  Ever played a video game?  Do you want to level up your character to get access to new skills?  Well in Jiu Jitsu leading a healthy lifestyle is one way of doing just that.  Don’t take this as prerequisite to do Jiu Jitsu – just come do Jiu Jitsu, give it a chance and it will motivate you to the healthy lifestyle.

Family

This is something I had heard about but wasn’t sure what to make of. In my first six months in Jiu Jitsu however I learned that the adage of “Your teammates will become your family” is completely true.  In the days before my Jiu Jitsu started I was a bit of a loner or I hadn’t yet found my tribe.    You will make deeper and longer lasting friendships in Jiu Jitsu than in most other activities.  I would do anything for my teammates if they needed help.  I know that they would do the same.  When you train with a group of men and women and are in very close contact on a nearly daily basis deep bonds of friendship form.  In Jiu Jitsu I found my tribe and my tribe is interested in me getting better, helping me and encouraging my healthy lifestyle.

Learn a skill no one can take away from you

This speaks in part to the self defense aspect of Jiu Jitsu.  Jiu Jitsu is widely understood to be the most effective martial art.  I don’t want to get into my martial art is better than yours discussion, but just look at your average UFC fight.  Many if not all the competitors have Jiu Jitsu experience.  They only have time to train the things that work, and they choose Jiu Jitsu.  Jiu Jitsu’s effectiveness comes from the fact its not a striking art.  We can train at nearly full speed on a daily basis without the same risk of injury that other martial arts have.  We are training against live opponents on the very first day.  If I ever got attacked on the streets then my Jiu Jitsu skills would be invaluable.  Some would suggest that one could just get a gun or a knife and have an equal or greater ability to defend yourself.  That may be true – but your knife or gun can be taken away or lost.  They cannot take your Jiu Jitsu training away from you. 

That’s the self defense side of this benefit of Jiu Jitsu.  When we are rolling with our opponents it is a constant exercise of problem solving and triage.  What is the thing I need to concern myself with the most and how do I solve that problem?  As someone who does do that professionally I can tell you that my skills in this problem solving/triage areas have been greatly increased since I started.  These are skills you can use every day of your life.  These are skills that cannot be taken away from you.

So who am I?  Are you thinking I’m a black belt or a high level color belt?  Do I need to train for up to ten years to see these benefits?  No my friends – I am a white belt.  I have been training for six months under Matt Secor who is a 1^st Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Matt Secor Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  I have witnessed all of these benefits in myself and my teammates and you can to.  I hope to see you on the mats.

The White Belt