Something that frequently comes up when new potential students talk with us is how can BJJ help me in real life?
This is an interesting question that begs the counter thought of what do you want to change about your life? It sounds ego driven and slightly condescending but it is valid. When you come to one of our schools you are already taking the initiative to make a change in your life. Whether it is to improve your health, deal with stress or just try something new, you are trying to make changes.
So how does BJJ help in the everyday? It’s not a short answer in the least, but to put it into a nice box, you are not just learning a new martial art or skill, You are learning a whole new lifestyle from the ground up.
Jiu Jitsu requires…no…demands that you become a better version of yourself. Physically, it strengthens your body, forcing you to reverse years of bad nutrition and bad habits. Many students started when they were overweight, on medications for high blood pressure or just unable to face physically demanding tasks.
Smoking, drinking and a poor diets are among the first pieces of ballast shed on your Jiu Jitsu journey.
Mentally, it reprograms your thought process, allowing you to see situations in a more elaborate and elegant manner. It affords focus to people with A.D.D. and A.D.H.D., giving them tasks at which to direct energy. It allows for increased problem solving capabilities by putting you into situations that require composed and rational thinking while under intense pressure. It relaxes your mind while challenging it with complex puzzles to solve.
Emotionally, it lifts away so many of the everyday stressors that slowly eat away at your soul. Problems associated with work, home life and outside influences are left at the entrance to the mats. On a chemical level, training releases endorphins and other mood enhancing hormones that help alleviate everyday stress.
It has also helped students suffering from anxiety, depression and even P.T.S.D. by bringing the issues to a tangible plane, allowing them to deal with them through a safe and manageable practice.
Jiu Jitsu is not just a martial art. It is so much more than that. It is a new start. It is a new chance at making yourself better than you were yesterday. It is a second family that cares not for what happened before you started, but only for where you are going. It is a change that will continue long after you have forgotten why you even questioned if it was for you.