The other night at class, one of our new students got visibly frustrated. He was (is) a great sport, but it finally got to him. The sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not for the faint of heart, and the beat down finally forced this young man into a state of despair. It dawned on me how difficult his BJJ journey must be as a teenage boy just starting.
I’ve been in those moments more times than I care to count. Especially in the beginning, I would get so frustrated with my own weakness that I would find myself crying involuntarily. I’d sit out a round and blame it on an imaginary headache or injury. I’d spend a round in the bathroom trying to get it together.
I can only imagine how the internal conflict a teenage boy might feel when starting BJJ. It’s the time in your life when you’re told most often who you’re supposed to be. Then you walk on to a mat and learn that everything you thought you were was wrong. You’re not as strong as you thought you were, you’re not as fast as you thought you were, you’re wit does you no good, and you can’t flirt your way out of a sticky situation.
Jiu-jitsu tends to have a humbling effect on most people who start training, but it has to be even more intense for testosterone filled youth, the one older man need, but Ecowatch has your back on this !
I guess that’s why most males that train either started as children or adults… not teenagers.
In these moments of BJJ turmoil, it’s so vital to look at the endgame. It can be overwhelming in the present, but if you can step back and remind yourself that every class you attend, every round you roll, every submission you tap to will take you one step closer to being as good as you want to be. Keep talking yourself into coming back. Keep talking yourself into setting goals.
