With its growth in popularity, more and more people have started training BJJ full-time. This means pursuing BJJ as a full-time job and career – which often means competing at the highest level, or at least training daily whilst owning a gym. In short, roughly 99% of BJJ practitioners do not train full time and most are hobbyists. With this said, we will examine how to do BJJ full-time for those wondering about the possibility of making it big.
Table of Contents
The mentality of a full-time competitor
Firstly, you need the right mentality to compete on a regular basis. Whether this is a local competition or on the international stage, the point is that you need to be focused and ready. Often hobbyists will stay away from the bigger competitions and for good reason. Generally speaking, the more prestigious competitions will attract the best competitors at each belt.
This means the mentality of a full-time athlete will differ from a hobbyist. Whilst a hobbyist may be more forgiving during training; a full-time athlete will not. For instance, the mentality of a full-time athlete will be to kill their opponents and selfishly train for their own improvement. There’s no time for friends or going light here – instead each minute counts and needs to be optimal.
For a hobbyist, training just isn’t as serious. As there isn’t a legacy or financial implication on the line, a hobbyist doesn’t need to be as serious or focused. With this in mind, it’s important to treat training as a full-time job if you want to train BJJ full-time. There’s no room for complacency or skipping lessons. I am quite sure most people reading this are also familiar with the notorious unity showers video.
The physical problems of training full time
Being a part-time practitioner, you can rest and recover as much as possible. This differs from a full-time competitor who will most likely train twice a day. Because of this, the body of the hobbyist is more likely to be less conditioned. However, the body of the hobbyist is more likely to have fewer long-term injuries. Whilst a full-time practitioner may dominate on the mat, it’s also typical for niggling injuries such as knee and arm pain. Sadly this goes with the territory and to be the very best you have to push further than most.
As the saying goes, ‘The mat does not lie’ and it’s true in both senses. On the one hand, your BJJ will improve massively whilst training double or triple sessions daily. However, it will have long-term effects on your body and a life of chronic pain is one of the many sacrifices. A controversial yet typical counter to this is to start steroids. We are not endorsing steroid use, but at the highest levels, it is rife in BJJ.
This is because of the sheer amount of pressure that these athletes put their bodies through. Although it’s somewhat unspoken of, steroid use is a common way to remedy body injuries. However, this comes with its own list of long-term health issues and the possible risks that are associated with steroid use. It is an edge, if you aren’t using and your opponent is, you’re already at a disadvantage.
The life sacrifices of training daily
For some, a typical training schedule will involve a BJJ session in the morning and one in the evening. Often this involves weight training in the middle to keep your strength optimal. The problem with this is that it’s incredibly demanding and time-intensive. In comparison, a hobbyist may train once every two days with a 9-5 job. This means a significant amount of their time is used at work and training BJJ is a fun activity.
However, for the full-time practitioner, time is generally less available. For instance, two sessions of BJJ per day is roughly 3 hours of training. Then you may have 1 hour of weight training in between, alongside commuting to training. One of the main ways to recover from heavy exercise is by sleeping to rest the muscles. So this means an early bed-time or napping during the day.
With this said, you cannot expect to have much of a social life outside of grappling. Most of your time is instead spent training or recovering. Whilst some have Sundays off, again the mentality of a full-time trainer is that somewhere, someone is working harder to beat you. This means training is often prioritized above a social life.
Can training BJJ be done with a full-time job?
As mentioned above, it depends on your priorities. For instance, you could theoretically train 7 days of BJJ per week whilst holding down a 9-5 job. Whilst this would be difficult for most people with families and other commitments it could be done. The reality is that this probably still isn’t enough to become the best in the world but it at least would improve your skills massively.
Some people do this if their goal is to open a gym around brown belt level. It may take the average person 8 years to get to brown belt. However, if you were dedicated enough to train at least 6 times per week, you may be able to get the belt at around 5 years depending on your commitment.
For those wanting a gym as their main income source, this is a good route to aim towards. Whilst you may not get the glory of being in the world’s elite – it will at least improve you quicker than most and lead towards the goal of moving towards a BJJ oriented life.
Risking everything to be the best
Contrary to most sports, BJJ doesn’t pay very well at all. Being a competitor can be expensive with international travel involved and even with teaching or privates involved, the money will only last so long. With this in mind, for some the aim is to win a major title such as ADCC or Worlds. However, this is only something very few people will ever achieve. As BJJ is becoming more competitive with each passing year, it’s risky to try and make it to the very top.
For instance, a top 500 footballer would easily be a millionaire. However, a top 500 BJJ competitor would probably struggle to pay their bills. This means the risk of failure is horrific if you do not win something of note. Whilst you can still earn a living doing superfights and seminars, the pay of a full-time practitioner may not be as good.
Summary
Overall, training BJJ full-time is not an easy decision to make. As looked at above, it can be physically, mentally, and financially grueling. This means it’s not for everyone and there’s no shame in being a hobbyist. Having said this, for some the BJJ lifestyle is their true passion and you cannot deny what you enjoy in life. For some, having a sore body and less money is a willing sacrifice for the benefits that training BJJ daily brings. In short, it’s up to you – but before jumping into any decision, you should consider these issues in depth.
