Getting Good at Being Bad

I had dinner last night with a fellow teammate, and she had a pretty good point: when it comes to Jiu jitsu, in the beginning especially you have to “be good at sucking”.

She’s not the only one to admit this, and I have to agree with them. It’s a sport that’s designed in some ways to be frustrating: it takes literally twice as long to earn a black belt as opposed to other sports, you work and work and improve, but let’s face it there are others who have been doing the sport for longer than you have and they have been improving as well. You are submitted, swept time and time again even when you think (or know) you are doing everything right.

And that is where patience comes into play, maybe a little stubbornness and a good dose of humility. It’s through those losses we see our weaknesses and improve: if you aren’t willing to get through the frustrating beginning stages and “get good at sucking” then your Jiu jitsu journey will be that much more difficult.

But, the good news is you don’t suck forever, contrary to how you may feel sometimes. Continue to drill, continue to train, and keep essentially continue to believe you are putting in the work which will eventually pay off.

The Importance of Having Women In Jiu Jitsu

While I don’t exactly agree with the tactics used in order to get them to join, I do believe it’s pretty crucial for academies to encourage women to train in jiu jitsu.

Actually, I feel like you need to have a good mix of people in general for a successful academy. But women are important to have training I feel for the following reasons:

1. It’s an opportunity to see the essence of jiu jitsu- watching a smaller, presumably weaker person against a heavier opponent. it also should force force those who train with women to be more technical. That’s what we’re all told, right? All of this was created with the smaller, weaker person in mind- technique over strength? Well now students have a chance to see these principles in motion, and better yet an opportunity to become more technical themselves. Granted, that’s not always the case: I’ve trained with plenty of girls who would much prefer to smash and use strength, but as it’s been pointed out, due to their size and muscle composition more often than not women are forced to be more technical.

2. I’m sure this is going to win me no favors in the jiu jitsu community and I hate to play into stereotypes, but we’re all adults here so I’m just going to say it: I feel like when you see a woman in an academy, or multiple women there is an image then that the academy is one that can be accepting of all types of men and women, a place of respect and a (somewhat) willingness to be accommodating. While I will be the first to admit that not all that glitters is gold and looks can definitely be deceiving, but let’s say you are Mr. Joe Average, wife, two kids, 9-5 job: you want to get fit and you abhor the idea of running on a treadmill. You hear about this thing called jiu jitsu and want to give it a try- what academy would you, a newbie, be more willing to attend? One with a bunch of 6 foot, 200+ pound dudes or the academy down the street that may have those huge dudes but also a couple of chicks in the mix? Personally as a woman I would go for the latter. I would think many guys would make the same choice, and not for creepy reasons. You’ll have people who would opt for the first academy, but I feel that is such a smaller group of people and really gives you a narrow customer base to work with.

3. And let’s be real, it’s better for the school owner’s profit margin- it makes absolutely no sense to ignore half of your potential customer base, in relation to the previous point. As much as we all love the sport, for many it’s also their livelihood. Again, there are some dudes who would be totally into the “boys club” sort of MMA/jiu jitsu gym, but that’s such a smaller pool of people to work with, you’re alienating potential customers and that’s money you are essentially letting walk out of the door.

So, in reference to the beginning, why don’t I agree with gym fees being waived, or discounts being given to women to take Jiu jitsu classes? Personally I don’t think it’s necessary- maybe i’m just nutty (just a little) but to me it shows a lack of faith from the instructor that they can impart that love and same amount of passion for the sport as they can to their male students. If the program is good, if the atmosphere and culture make women feel respected and welcome, it should stand on its own. At most, if the instructor is that worried about women rolling with guys he should sit them down for a talk and go over appropriate conduct when rolling with women.

And also in total honesty, even if academies do everything right, some women won’t stay, just like guys quit Jiu jitsu. It happens- the academy may be doing everything right and it’s just a scheduling conflict, or life events that keep someone, male or female from continuing in the sport. But, with a respectful, positive atmosphere I really feel academies can invite, and keep women in their Jiu jitsu programs, which is beneficial for the academy and sport as a whole.

BJJ Eyes

So you know how we talked about losing your contacts on the mat and how uncomfortable that is? Even so, it’s still a fairly common occurrence- I’ve even left one somewhere on a mat at IBJJF’s Nationals last year…. This guy left his cornea on the mat.

His cornea like, nature’s contact lens. I’m horrified. And intrigued. And horrified.

Read all about it, and wish this poor guy a speedy recovery. Although he now has a legitimate reason to wear an eye patch, which I have to admit is pretty cool. I’m sure he would rather have the cornea rather than the eye patch, but you know.

BJJ and Spatial Awareness

Ok, I have a request, if you all don’t mind: this is more of a pet peeve/rant, so just bear with me for a moment

I imagine this happens in every academy, and it’s definitely not a new concept, but when several sets if partners are training at the same time, sometimes set will get to a point where they will roll perilously close to one another, and will occasionally run into one another.

It happens, and I know it’s hard to control sometimes but please just be aware of the sets going on around you. I know it’s hard, and i’m guilty of almost (and sometimes literally) rolling on top of people as well sometimes, but if you can think of it just be mindful. If there’s a question of who needs to move, we have the policy “rank has right of way”: if this is also a policy at your academy, note where your higher ranks have started so you’re not surprised when one is suddenly next to you. Hopefully if everyone stays aware, everyone can spend more time training, less time scootching around and everyone stays relatively safe from an accidental hand or foot shooting out and hitting them. Yay!

For a harmonious training space, please keep this in mind. Thank you.

How does your academy deal with sets that run too closely together, especially academies with smaller training spaces?

Weekend Wrap Up

Hey everyone, due to obligations all this weekend I wasn’t able to train or keep up to date with tourneys like Copa Podio. I heard Xande won, so hooray for Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu! Other than that…I got nothin’. Heard the Mayweather fight was pretty lackluster, and saw some photos from the IBJJF Dallas Open, which looked pretty good.

Hope everyone else’s weekend was fun/interesting/not boring or sucky. Anyone watch the Copa Podio? How was it?

Jiu Jitsu Tattoos

Previously I had mentioned tattoos and Jiu jitsu, and the care that the student should take when it comes to training after being stabbed with a tiny needle for several hours.

But now I would like to talk about Jiu jitsu tattoos- tattoos of images related to the sport and art. I know some people get the image of their academy’s logo, or maybe the Gracie triangle logo- isn’t there one guy with the ibjjf logo and all the medals he’s won tattooed on him?

Personally I think tattoos are usually pretty nifty, and if this sport is that significant in your life and you have been doing it for long enough, go for it. I wouldn’t suggest like, a white belt getting something like that, but then again hey, who am I to judge?

Just please, pretty please, if you are going to get a tattoo and it has text in it, make sure everyone is spelled correctly. For your sake, and my sanity. Thank you.

What do you guys think? Yay or nay on bjj tattoos?

The “s” in this tattoo looks so close to being a “z” that it makes me twitch a little, but it is in fact spelled correctly.

Jiu Jitsu: Give New Techniques a Try

So, can we come to an agreement, my fellow jitsukas? A promise between you and me.

See, I found this image on the Internet a while ago:

And let’s be honest, we’re all guilty of it. We look at a technique that an instructor shows and we’re pretty sure there’s no way we can complete it, for whatever reason: our arms are too long, our legs too stubby, we’ll break our necks and die some horrible death…

Ok, maybe not that drastic, but still.

(Most) of it all is all mental though, so I purpose, especially when it comes to a new Jiu jitsu technique, let’s get rid of the bottom two steps, at the very least. It may not be the technique for you, but you do at least need a working comprehension of how it works, if nothing else to defend against it.

And who knows, what might look impossible may be fun and just what you were looking for to improve your game. But, you’ll never know until you give an honest attempt the technique. Wanting to do it would certainly help, but I’m not looking for miracles here. I just want you to keep an open mind when you see a move that either looks impossible, or something that you’re not so sure you’ll enjoy and give it a try: who knows, it just might become your thing.

Blue belt Promotions at the Gym

Congratulations to our guys who got stripes and our two new blue belts, Justin and John- great job, guys!

Advantages for Women in Jiu Jitsu

Jiu Jiu wrote another post regarding the other side of the gender issue when it comes to women in jiu jitsu. It’s an interesting read, I read through her list of advantages. While I agree some of them are indeed advantages, some of them I feel are actually disadvantages, more specifically a smaller pool of competitors in tournaments.

Anyway, I would recommend it: check it out!

Uses for Tournament T-Shirts

So, real talk, some (most) shirts they give away at tournaments are pretty awful. The IBJJF ones have been getting better, but even they still some have some misses here and there. I will share with you guys what is, to me, the worst tournament t-shirt I have ever received.

It was the first time this guy had run a tournament like this, and didn’t really know what to put on the t-shirts. Kudos to him for trying, but yeah, I do not consider this a “good” tournament shirt.

But, it’s a free shirt, and people like free stuff, right? Or at least it makes us all fell better about paying so much to sit around for hours and hours before jumping on a mat for anywhere from a few minutes to a whole day. This sounds like sound logic until you come home and you have a literal plethora of these things, just sitting around unused. Here are some suggestions.

-Of course, donate them to goodwill or some other charitable organization.

-use as dusting rags around the house

-put on a dog, if you have one, who just got stitches on their body and the cone of shame is too inconvenient (although I would consult with a vet before doing this).

- give away to friends and family, which I frequently do

- use as a workout shirt/ Jiu jitsu undershirt for the ladies, which is something else I frequently do.

- I guess you could frame them, if you’re into that sort of thing. Shrug. Maybe you love these shirts and have been offended by this entire post. Everyone has different tastes.

What do you do with your tournament t-shirts? Do you cherish them always, toss them in the back of your drawer, or find some creative use for them?

Let me know!