Be unphased while defending and unrelenting while attacking. If we are open and receptive to them, many of the skills and lessons learned from Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) transfer over into our lives off the mats. Through rolling (BJJ sparring), we learn over time how to be unphased when we are on the defensive and how … Continue reading Patience And Persistence (A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)
When the path is not clear, be still, but do something. One of the things that Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) teaches us is that fear and anxiety in bad positions leads to flailing and hasty decisions which lead to mistakes that inevitably put us in worse positions from which we are likely to get submitted. When … Continue reading Transforming Panic Into Victory
Life is expressed through motion and our jiu-jitsu should reflect that. In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the best time to attack or sweep is when our opponent is moving to escape or pass and the best time to escape or pass is when our opponent is trying to attack or sweep. Movement creates opportunities. The goal of … Continue reading Moving Through Our Egos in Jiu-Jitsu
If someone treats you poorly on a good day, imagine how they are going to treat you when things get difficult. We can tell a lot about a person by how they treat us when we are at our best. If we are excited about something, celebrating an accomplishment, or simply just having a great … Continue reading Friends Cheer Your Wins and Mourn Your Losses
“If they can’t submit you, they will start to respect you.” —Anonymous For a long time, I was one of the only white belts at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) school full of blue, purple, and brown belts, as well as the black belt who owned the school. Every roll was hard and I was getting … Continue reading Start By Not Losing
