Let’s face it, at some point – most people quit Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There’s no shame in this either and everyone has their reasons. And, whether it’s a white belt who quits after one month or a black belt who quits after decades in the sport, time catches up with most people.
Below, we have listed a number of the main reasons why people quit training BJJ. When you read through these methods, you’ll realize that there are actually a number of reasons why people stop training. With this in mind, it’s actually quite understandable why people come and go all the time. Remember, BJJ for most people is a hobby after all, so the assumption that people will train forever seems a little unrealistic with this in mind.
Table of Contents
Injuries
If you speak to most people, you’ll realize that most of the time, people quit BJJ after getting injured. This could be chronic injuries such as sore knees after years of training or the feeling of constant aches and pains that come with regular training. Either way, everyone has their own scale of how much pain their body can take. For some people, they’re willing to forgo expensive surgeries and long periods of rehab to return to the mats. However, for hobbyists, this may seem too drastic to sink into a hobby.
As BJJ can be so tough and physically taxing on the body, injuries happen to practically everyone who has trained for a number of years. So, this is probably the main reason why most people quit which is fair enough as a life time of pain isn’t very appealing for most people.
Time consuming
When you’re younger, you naturally have more time and energy to spend on hobbies such as BJJ. Unless you make the switch to a professional grappler, the chances are that life will naturally catch up with you. For instance, you could have a good 3 years of training at college, only to go straight into a 9-5 career. Understandably, your life goals may change and you simply don’t have the time to spend hours every week doing BJJ.
On the other hand, everyone should still prioritize health and exercise as part of a positive lifestyle. Nonetheless, most people will put money and their career before BJJ. Because of this, it is sometimes seen as a time-consuming activity that often takes a backseat when other life events get in the way.
Meeting goals
For some people, their sole goal in BJJ is to obtain a blue belt. Whilst this aspiration may seem odd to experienced grapplers, for some, it is very much a real goal. Therefore, shortly after starting, they will set the goal of getting a blue belt. After a couple of years, this is obtained as the blue belt isn’t particularly difficult to get – and then the practitioner quits within the next few weeks or months.
Part of the reason for this may be the status of being a blue belt which sounds more impressive than being a white belt. Regardless of the reasons, this is something that many people aim for when training. In some more extreme cases, some more committed people will even do this with black belts. This means that they could train consistently for over a decade, only to quit shortly after your last promotion. Similarly, some people do this with competition medals and even goals within the gym, such as tapping a black belt.
Personal life and relationships
A typical cliche of BJJ is that an obsessed practitioner devotes his life to training, only to quit the instant he gets a girlfriend. Although a stereotype, this behavior does go on and is quite funny. In short, some people put romance before training which is probably a better bet for long-term happiness.
In some cases, your spouse may even tell you to cut down training or quit altogether if they’re not happy with your time away from home. Obviously, if you’re training non-stop and this affects your love life then this can become problematic. In some extreme cases, overtraining can even cause to separation and divorce.
On a similar note, lots of people also quit after having kids. As linked to the time-consuming point made earlier, this makes sense. Imagine now having a baby to look after which costs money, time, and energy. As you can imagine, BJJ suddenly loses its appeal compared to your life scenario beforehand.
Work commitments
If you get promoted at work or have a job with long hours, then training BJJ may not really be a possibility anymore. Similarly, if your job switches to night shifts, then this could also lead to quitting BJJ. Sometimes, people may begin by dropping down to 2 sessions per week instead of 4. Then it gets closer to 1 session. At this point, they then realize the financial cost of training isn’t so great anymore and eventually stop training.
For most people with financial responsibilities, they will always put their career before grappling or hobbies. As a result, sometimes BJJ just has to go!
Lack of progress when training
Some people naturally have a bigger ego than others. This means when they tap out or ‘lose’ during the gym, they get annoyed. Alternatively, they could put a big emphasis on winning a competition, only to come up short and lose interest in BJJ as a result.
Often, people also believe they’re slowly but surely improving their skills whilst comparing themselves against others in the gym. So, if this happens and you experience failure, then you eventually quit. In general, humans like the feel of progress. Whether that’s with relationships or your career, there has to be some incentive at the end of it. When this feeling diminishes, some people drop BJJ and go elsewhere.
Falling out with the gym
Some BJJ gyms have a problematic culture that can lead to the physical and mental bullying of others. Whilst most gyms are ok, there are certainly places with cliques that create a negative atmosphere that spawns from this. If your teacher is the one to blame for this, then you may have to leave the gym to escape their grasp.
However, if you live in a small town with no alternatives then this could mean quitting completely. Even if there are other options and places to train, you could still quit after feeling deflated and defeated. Sadly, this does go on and is understandable. No matter how much you love BJJ, you should never have to train in a bad environment.
Burnout
Sometimes, you will see people jump into BJJ head first and train twice per day for weeks or months on end. For an elite competitor, this may be sustainable – but for everyone else, it’s nearly impossible to keep up. If this happens, you’re more likely to start resenting BJJ and viewing it as an obsession rather than a hobby.
If you’re not careful, this could suck the love out of BJJ and you end up quitting after burning out. Arguably, a healthier approach is to train when you can – but don’t overdo it. This way, you’ll still feel passionate about BJJ and will look forward to training. By keeping things fresh and playful, you’re less likely to quit. On the contrary, making anything in life robotic can make it boring and tiresome.
Money and costs
In certain countries such as the USA, BJJ can cost a lot of money to train. It’s no secret that BJJ is a fairly middle-class martial art that has cheaper alternatives. Therefore, some may opt to train other grappling arts such as Judo and wrestling as an alternative. These have a different culture and are far cheaper in comparison.
In some sad cases, some people lose their income and simply cannot afford to train anymore. This is particularly the case with poorer practitioners or younger grapplers with less disposable income. So, when life gets tough, you have to prioritize financial survival which often means dropping BJJ altogether.
Boredom
Lastly, some people just get bored of BJJ. Despite many black belts preaching its benefits, the reality is that it’s just another hobby that some people may not really enjoy. So, after a while, they end up doing something else to fulfill their needs.
Oddly, when it comes to BJJ, many people expect years of commitment. However, this isn’t the case with most other hobbies, where there is typically less pressure to train and stay involved with the community. Remember, turning up and drilling the same moves can get repetitive for some which results in leaving BJJ.
