If you’ve been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu long enough, you will often hear people talk about discipline and the will to train. Not only this, but some people will mention how the discipline taught in BJJ can also be applied to life in general.
With this said, BJJ is very important in teaching people self discipline and positive mental habits when it comes to training. It should also be noted that discipline is very different to motivation. If motivation is the desire to train then discipline is not the desire to train. Instead, discipline is training when you don’t feel like it and still doing it anyway. This distinction is important as anyone can train when motivated, but being disciplined to train is a very different mentality altogether.
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Discipline to train when you don’t feel like it
Sometimes you simply won’t want to train. This is normal and if you feel tired or injured then it’s actually good to take breaks. Not only physically, but mental breaks are equally as important to keep a healthy balance with BJJ and life. However, having a disciplined routine can also be a positive. For instance, if you haven’t trained in over a week due to laziness, then the benefit of training is quite simple as it provides a form of physical exercise.
For obvious reasons, it’s good to improve your cardio which is just one of the many benefits that BJJ brings. Without this discipline, you may fall into bad habits of training very rarely. As mentioned, there’s nothing wrong with having days off but if you’re not training out of laziness then this is where discipline will benefit you. By forcing yourself to train, you eradicate lazy habits when can cross over into wider areas of life.
Discipline from losing in BJJ
Apart from training when you don’t feel like it – BJJ can also teach discipline when you lose a roll, or get smashed. When this happens, your ego may take a hit and this can affect your pride. This is fine and is a skill to accept that some people are simply better than you at certain things.
In acknowledging this, you actually create a form of discipline. If you can’t take losing in BJJ then this is quite a childish characteristic, as is running from tough situations. However, it takes discipline to stick through the hard times and even to embrace them.
By doing this, you can create a tough mentality and recognize that you’re not perfect. This self-realization is actually a form of discipline as it means you are mature enough to keep going under pressure or distress. If you train long enough then this will become normal and shows growth in your character to sometimes accept defeat whilst keep trying to improve.
How discipline from BJJ can help outside of the gym
Perhaps the biggest benefit of BJJ discipline is how it translates into other areas of your life. For instance, if you don’t feel like training but do it anyway – your mind may feel better as a result when the training is complete. An example of applying this outside of BJJ is doing a task you don’t like. For instance, if you have to clean your house but can’t be bothered. By adding discipline to this chore, you will eventually get it done. The alternative is to avoid doing it, which would eventually start to impact your life if left long enough.
With this said, discipline is a good trait to have in life. Even if it’s not taught from BJJ, it creates mental toughness which can be benefited from. If you are willing to stick at BJJ for years even through the hard times, then suddenly some of life’s problems will seem less significant.
Discipline in physical and verbal confrontations
Another aspect of discipline that stems from training Jiu Jitsu is in handling situations that could potentially become dangerous. There is a video below worth watching that shows this in action. Here, black belt Tom DeBlass is confronted by a shirtless drunk. If handled badly, it could evolve into a streetfight. Whilst DeBlass has fought in MMA and UFC, he calmly de-escalates the situation with words and even befriends the man towards the end.
This is an important lesson in how discipline can resolve situations. For instance, without discipline – DeBlass’s ego could have been hurt and he could have fought the drunkard. However, he remained calm and accessed the situation. In doing this, he stayed mentally disciplined throughout and it had a happy ending. Without training martial arts, this could have been dangerous and whilst DeBlass would have easily won a fight, his discipline and self-restraint meant that nothing happened which was good for all parties.
Summary
As discussed, training BJJ can reinforce a disciplined mindset which is good in life as it can help achieve goals. By creating a disciplined routine you’re more likely to finish things even if you don’t like the activity. This is important as often in life you will have to do things you don’t enjoy. By facing these problems head on, you’re more likely to succeed in comparison to running from them and avoiding problematic situations. Overall, discipline is a great trait which can be learnt on the mat and applied to various situations away from the gym.
