I think I have talked about this a couple of times now, but I would argue that if you put two people in front of me: one that was naturally athletic and one that was not, I would say the non athletic person would succeed in jiu jitsu.
Granted, the definition of “succeed” is highly subjective, but I’m using it to mean continuing in their jiu jitsu journey- because you only stop succeeding at the sport when you give up…. Win, lose, doesn’t matter as long as you’re showing up.
Sure, the athletic person would acquire some quick and (presumably) easy wins in the beginning- they would be able to use their athleticism and agility to finesse their way through a few things, or would have the mechanical movements down to achieve some of the basics. At some point (as we all know) this runs out.
For the non-athletic person, it starts being hard from the beginning, and so the expectation is set from the start: this is not a walk in the park. And when it gets harder, there’s no shock- it was hard, and now it’s getting harder. The person has the advantage of not going through the surprise moment of “oh man, this is hard.” For them it’s always been hard, and they just stick their nose back to the grindstone and keep pushing on.
Ultimately it does actually come down to the person’s mentality: remember jiu jitsu is for every BODY, but not for everybody. There’s a certain amount of grit and (and stubborn mindset, if we’re being honest) that you either need to have, or be willing to acquire with a physically and mentally challenging sport/art like jiu jitsu.
Just some thoughts I had- agree? Disagree? Let me know: otherwise, have a great day everyone!
A Skirt on the Mat 