Ten Reasons You Need to Start Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Whenever I start a new hobby, I like to convince all those around me to do it also. As much as I would like to say it's a natural manifestation of the desire to spread happiness, it's probably more of a self-rationalization attempt. 

Regardless, here are 11 reasons you should start Brazilian jiu jitsu:

1. Self-defense. The martial-arts-as-self-defense gets overplayed, but it IS a factor. Jiu jitsu is handy if you're in a situation where you can't run and the attacker likes to punch or kick. Dragging the fight to the ground could possibly be effective in some situations. The skills learned in jiu jitsu would also be handy in a potential rape situation given "guard" and "back mount" (two major positions) are really just missionary and doggie style. 

2. Fighting is fun. As much as our society likes to admonish violence, fighting is awesomely entertaining. This isn't just a "guy thing", either. I've known precious few women that have tried a "violent" activity and didn't thoroughly enjoy it. Most of the nay-sayers have never tried any sort of fighting; their opposition comes from dumbass societal expectations. Consensual recreational combat, especially relatively safe combat, is amazingly fun.

3. Health. Jiu Jitsu is physically demanding. Physically demanding activities are good for our health. Ergo...

4. Crosstraining. Our bodies like plenty of variety. If you do only one activity, you may inadvertently weaken some structures and create imbalances. Runners that do nothing but run would be the perfect example. Adding crosstraining tends to decrease injuries and lead to better overall performance. Jiu jitsu is an activity that uses the entire body. Lots of muscle contractions, lots of stretching, lots of coordination. It's about as "functional" as fitness can get. 

5. Life Skillz. Jiu jitsu is an art that requires patience and humility, both of which are excellent life skills. When you first begin, most people will absolutely kick your ass. Quick victories are far and few between. The egomaniacs wash out quickly. Patience is required to improve, which eventually leads to less ass kickings. 

6. Face fears. To the non-grappler, jiu jitsu is a scary proposition. First, you're in close proximity (i.e.- physically rolling around) with strangers. Second, you're doing an activity that's unfamiliar. Third, you're probably gong to be subjected to rules and customs that will seem foreign. Fourth, you're going to experience some pain. And choking. Fifth, even though we discourage thinking in terms of winning and losing, you will be placed n one-on-one situations where you will fail regularly. There may be a few other potential fears mixed in there, too. All can be overcome fairly easily. Learning to face our fears is, in my opinion, an absolute prerequisite to living a happy life. 

7. Develop a sense of belonging... eventually. Most people that try jiu jitsu have a similar experience. When they first step foot in the gym, they feel a little alienated. Others are friendly, but may seem a bit distant. After a few months, others start warming up and a deep sense of camaraderie develops. That initial stage isn't a result of jiu jitsu players being aloof- it's because there's so much turnover initially. Most of the new white belts will join, try it for a month or two, then move on to something else. Once you get past that point where it's obvious you're committed, you'll begin to develop a close bond with your teammates.

8. For parents only: It tires kids out, teaches a degree of discipline, teaches them not to be a pussy. If you have kids, getting them involved will have all the positive benefits listed earlier... and these other three bonuses. The last one in particular is important given the current state of bullying here in the US. Instead of teaching people to stand up to bullies, we've fallen in love with a "let's talk about our feelings" approach to handling the situation. Anyone that's spent time observing kids can attest to the stupidity of this approach. Don't want your kid to get picked on? Give them the tools to stand up to bullies.

9. For couples- more interesting date night than IHOP and a movie. Fighting increases all sorts of things related to interpersonal attraction. Do jiu jitsu with your partner. You won't be disappointed. Besides, learning to fight boosts self-confidence, and self-confidence is sexy. ;-)

10. It's a sport for all ages. Jiu jitsu came about as a means of defending against bigger, stronger opponents. This is the purpose of joint locks and chokes- they negate physical advantages to a degree. The technique trumps athleticism. Because of this, anyone at any age could learn the techniques. It's one of the few combative arts that offers that advantage.

There you have it- ten reasons to jump on the Brazilian jiu jitsu band wagon. Find a gym. Stop in for a visit. Buy a gi. Get a month membership. Start a blog.

All the cool kids are doing it.

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Best Advice for Jiu Jitsu Belt Promotion for Newbies from a Newbie: Chill the Fuck Out

Brazilian jiu jitsu, like pretty much any martial art, uses a belt system to rank practitioners. The progress for adults is depicted in the picture to the left. Each belt color from white all the way up to black are considered "major promotions", while the stripes added to each color are considered "minor" promotions.

Promotions are considered to be very conservative relative to other martial arts. I've been at it for about six months or so and am a one-stripe white belt (second to the lowest classification.) It can take anywhere from eight (considered relatively fast) to fifteen + years of consistent training to earn a black belt. Other martial arts, such as taekwondo, may take as little as 18 months for a practitioner to earn a black belt. Obviously the "black belt" means different things to different arts.

In regards to bjj, different schools, gyms, or academies (terms used to describe where bjj is taught) and different instructors have differing criteria for promotions. Some use a formal testing method where you have to show competence and technical knowledge of a wide variety of skills. Others (most I suspect) use an informal, subjective methodology to determine promotion. Instructors may use a wide range of criteria from technical knowledge to ability to submit others when sparring ("rolling" as it's called) to performance in competition. Other factors may be considered like age, prior skill level, respectful behaviors... whatever.

I've been reading a lot of jiu jitsu forums as of late, and I've noticed two distinct, conflicting messages:

1. People giving "Don't focus on promotions, focus on improving your abilities" messages,

-and-

2. People obsessing and/or complaining about not getting promoted.

Having come from a slightly different background than most jiu jitsu players I've met (former psychology teacher turned mountain ultrarunning hobo turned lumber handler/writer/stay-at-home-dad), I have to whole-heartedly agree with the former perspective. Focusing on the next promotion, while good for the ego and a good external measure of progress, can have quite a few unintended consequences. Let's start with...

1. Focusing on external rewards decreases intrinsic motivation. WTF does this mean, you ask? If we do any task because we expect a reward of some sort, eventually our motivation for the task decreases

(extrinsic.) Conversely, if we do something because it satisfies a deep, internal need, we tend not to lose motivation (intrinsic.) Focusing on our next promotion will eventually kill our desire to do the task. Perhaps this is why so few people continue past the blue belt level.

2. The early stages are a sandbox. You're supposed to suck. Take advantage of the opportunity by experimenting often. If you end up losing position or getting tapped, even at the hands of the brand new kid, nobody even notices. That's what is supposed to happen. Being a white belt is a freedom that you don't always get later on. Others will have expectations. Savor the obscurity.

3. The anxiety of waiting for your next promotion can inhibit your capacity to learn. Focusing on when you get promoted invariably distracts you from the task that should garner your attention- improving your game.

4. If you decide to compete, its better to be promoted later than earlier. If you decide to compete, you'll probably be more competitive if you're promoted later rather than earlier. Of course, there is a point where you'd be sandbagging at the lower level, but trust your instructor's opinion on the matter.

5. Don't compare your insides to others' outsides. That quote comes from Hugh MacLeod, but is paraphrased by many others. We like to compare ourselves to others, and our jiu jitsu game is no exception. This can be a useful to to gauge progress, but can also be a slippery slope. Other people, even those that started at the same time or later, may be more athletic, have prior grappling experience, or may just learn faster. This journey is uniquely yours. Treat it as such.

6. Almost everyone doesn't give a fuck about your belt color... they're too busy obsessing about their own. Those that DO care really should be avoided anyway. Humans are rather narcissistic. We tend to see ourselves as the center of the universe. As such, most people don't care about your rank. This is especially true of white belts. Given the number of white belts that wash out and quit after a few weeks or months, the more experienced folks usually won't bother investing in a friendship for quite awhile. Because of this, you won't register on most peoples' radar.

7. It's just a game. We're not curing cancer. Treat is as such.

Yes, promotions are nice. Recognition from our instructors makes us feel good. Don't get too caught up in that external measure of progress, though. It very well could sabotage the greatest experiences of the art.

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Jiu Jitsu Confessions: Sometimes I'm a Spaz

Spazzing. v. Not knowing what you're doing, but doing it as fast and as hard as you can.

[definition paraphrased from a comment by kintanon over at the Jiu Jitsu Forums]

When I first started jiu jitsu, I didn't know what I was doing about 95% of the time. I was like a crack whore that stumbled upon her pimp's stash of meth. As a former wrestler, I was accustomed to the idea of grappling... I just didn't know how that translated to jiu jitsu. A half nelson isn't all that effective in the gentle art.

To make matters worse, I was relatively strong compared to others my age and size thanks to my (then) current job as a lumber handler at a lumber yard. To make matters even worse, I had a crazy endurance base from years of running ultramarathons on high altitude mountain trails. Running up and down mountains for 30 hours translates into pretty decent mat endurance.

It was a perfect storm for spazzing. I was fine when drilling at a low intensity. The game changed when it was time for live rolling. I didn't understand the positions. I didn't understand escapes. I didn't understand submissions. 

The result was a lot of hyperactive wrestling technique applied to my partners as they tried to practice. I would try to power out of various positions. Most experienced jiu jitsu players would simply lock a spaz in a position, let them wear themselves out, then submit them. Unfortunately, my endurance base gave me enough stamina to spaz for 20-30 minutes. I'm sure the experience was similar to being seated next to a three year old on a trans-Atlantic flight.

It took awhile a good month or three before I started to learn to calm down. I realized my hyperactive thrashing was completely destroying my opportunity to learn. I was relying on physical attributes to mask shitty technique. The only way I was going to learn the very basic techniques was to chill out. Relaxation was the key, which is a little ironic given relaxation is a major component of my barefoot running teaching methodology.

Here are the steps  took (and still take now.) And yes, most of these will be obvious to anyone except complete newbies... but that's the point of the post:

1. Relax via deep, slow breathing. I started by consciously slowing down my respiration rate before rolling. When the rolling started, I would practice slow, deep breathing. This naturally limited by aggressiveness and kept me calm. If I started breathing too quickly, I just slowed everything down. I'm sure the hyper/lethargic cycle annoyed the first few sparring partners, but I eventually got the hang of it.

2. When in an inferior position, I practiced good posture and waited. Previously,  would immediately try to explode to a better position. This never really worked as it just exposed my neck or an arm. Flailing isn't a good strategy in line at the grocery store, nor is it a good strategy on the mat. Now I'll wait to see what my partner is doing to do. I'll look for the opening they create instead of trying to force an opening. This has also taught me the power of baiting them into a position to dictate which escapes I can use. I've even started intentionally seeking out inferior positions. It's common to start rolling on our knees. I'll almost always allow my partner to pull guard just to get more time working defense.

3. I started allowing them to submit me. This is more or less the same idea as above. Tapping allows me to feel the subtle nuances of their movement through the entire process of the submission. If I were spazzing, I wouldn't have the ability to perceive their subtle weight shifts or micromovements. This also helps me see how to defend submissions from various stages- before they sink it, while they're sinking it, and after they sink it. I'm still pretty bad at defending pretty much everything, but at least I've set up a great opportunity to learn. I've also started asking more questions after the rolling session ends. 

4. I started seeing jiu jitsu progression as an exercise in efficiency, not the practice of collecting techniques and submissions. Continually marching toward ever-more efficient movement requires relaxation, which is exactly like the idea of trailcraft I discuss when teaching about trail running. The goal is to cover the gnarly terrain as fast as possible with as little energy as possible. It's like flowing over the trail. Jiu jitsu is the same "learn -> refine" exercise, and framng it in that way helps immensely.

These four techniques won't magically make me better overnight, but they DO inhibit that spaz response. If I'm going to be an annoying white belt, I might as well be "inquisitive annoying" instead of "spazzy annoying."

What about others? How did you overcome the spazziness that seems to affect almost all white belts? Share in the comments section!

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