We’ve all been there. In the changing room before or after training and you hear a fresh white belt preaching about the many benefits (and cliches) of training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Then, like BJJ bingo – you hear the classic line, “BJJ changed my life.” Whether you cringe or say nothing, sadly it won’t be the last time you hear this statement. Then, perhaps a few weeks later you never see them again.
Whilst the above example is incredibly cynical, it does serve a point. This point is whether BJJ actually can change your life, or whether the statement is overexaggerated nonsense. In this article, we shall be looking at whether BJJ truly can change your life or not.
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BJJ can improve your life and mentality
Undoubtedly, BJJ can teach you key life skills such as adversity, patience, and self-improvement. Although these may sound like buzzwords, there’s certainly an element of truth to the statement. For instance, if you spar against tough people, then your mentality will become more resilient. Here, you’ll get used to toughness, which is arguably missing in certain areas of the modern world.
Similarly, if you start off naturally bad then you will have to rely on patience to slowly improve. This is yet another good skill for life in general. Both of these tie into the overall theme that BJJ is great for self-improvement. However, here’s the catch. Not every lesson from BJJ is always transferred into the outside world. For instance, you may be patient and positive whilst learning BJJ. Still, this doesn’t naturally mean that you will have the same outlook outside of the gym. For some people, this is the case, whereas for others – it just doesn’t work that way.
Therefore, we can say that there are many positive aspects of BJJ that can be applied outwards. At the same time, this doesn’t always happen and BJJ isn’t some kind of miracle hobby for your mentality. Remember, the same self-improvement aspects could also be applied to other sports such as rock climbing, long-distance running, and other grueling physical exercises. In this sense, BJJ isn’t actually that unique.
Regardless, if it works for you then great – and self-improvement is not to be laughed at. As well, there are some people who will genuinely confess that BJJ didn’t just change their life, but BJJ actually saved their life as well. In extreme cases, there have been stories of how BJJ helped drug addicts turn their lives around which is great news.
BJJ can make life worse
Whilst we’ve acknowledged that BJJ can changed your life for the better, it can also make it worse. Seriously. This can happen if you get a life-changing injury which can happen. In some severe cases, you’ll even get otherwise healthy guys in their 20s who have terrible knees, hips, or a bad back. The point is that despite its mental benefits (and many physical benefits too), BJJ can still make your life bad. Ultimately, no one wants to live life in chronic pain.
On a separate note, BJJ shouldn’t act as some kind of therapy either. Although it can certainly have therapeutic tendencies, BJJ isn’t the same as seeing a professional, at least not for everyone. This means that if you’re suicidal then BJJ may not offer enough to help you recover. Sadly, plenty of seemingly normal BJJ practitioners end up killing themselves. Obviously, this isn’t the fault of BJJ but it does prove that BJJ isn’t the perfect cure for depression or mental health issues.
BJJ is what you make of it
As seen, BJJ is truly what you make of it. On the one hand, the cynical approach says that BJJ isn’t too dissimilar from other forms of hard exercise or other martial arts. On the other hand, there are genuine success stories of how people have changed their life for the better as the result of training BJJ.
In conclusion, this shows that in life, it’s not so much that things are innately good or bad – but instead, it’s how the individual perceives them. When applied to BJJ, this means that it could be no more than a casual hobby with no outside benefits. In fact, there are even quite a few seasoned black belts with this view who have never taken it particularly seriously.
At the same time, it could mean a lot more for many people. So, next time you hear someone being self-righteous or a bit corny, then remember that to them BJJ may genuinely mean something much more.
