Excerpt from the book From the Ground Up: The Jiu Jitsu Survival Guide to Jiu Jitsu by Professor Keith Owen. (A most excellent read geared toward beginners but valuable information for all)
How is Your Commitment Level?
I have seen numerous people quit Jiu-Jitsu after they swear that they are in it for the long term! There is a sales expression I learned as a younger man: “Time kills all deals.” This means that as time goes by, there is a good chance that people will talk themselves out of what they initially wanted. I have done it, and chances are you have done it as well. This can be especially true for Jiu-Jitsu.
You start out excited and come to class on a regular basis, and then one day your progress starts to slow, which it inevitably will. You get tapped out a few times too many. It becomes harder to come to class and then you start to make excuses not to attend. You make more excuses and finally you come to the decision that you are just “too busy” to go to class. You have lost the momentum. You come to a complete standstill. You take “time off,” which is just another way of saying “I’m quitting.” You start thinking about just how out of shape you are and how hard it will be to get back into the groove of class. You start to have other interests. You start to put other interests ahead of your Jiu-Jitsu training. It becomes easier and easier to quit.
This is the time you will call your instructor (or you will duck him for weeks and he will call you) and tell him that you are “taking a break.” Every martial arts instructor knows that this is code for “I’m outta here!” You swear to the instructor that you’re coming back, but very few do. It’s merely a graceful way to exit without having to come to grips with the real truth: You are no longer in love with Jiu-Jitsu. It’s sad, but thousands of people do it each year in the martial arts.
Later on, you feel bad for not coming back but you are too embarrassed to get back in the game. You have done this countless times in other things and pretty soon you simply accept it as part of life. You have become a good quitter. What is your commitment level? Is your goal really black belt? If it is, be prepared for a long, tough haul. Times will not always be easy; you need to admit that to yourself. You will have tough times that you are not expecting and haven’t prepared for. But you need to expect it. You need to harden yourself to these times. You will see your classmates getting ahead of you and decide that it’s better to just quit. You may not want to go through all the trouble of starting back up after time off, even after an injury. Is this how you want to waste your time? I don’t think so.
You might not even be able to envision yourself as a black belt. Why bother if you can’t see yourself with the coveted black belt? If you plan to succeed, you need to have things squared away. You need to make a commitment as opposed to having a simple interest in training.
Can you deal with setbacks? Can you deal with the monotony of training? The pain? The loss? Can you handle the self-doubt? Can you deal with the time it takes to get a black belt? This is a direct reflection of your character and who you are as a person. Don’t rely on your instructor to motivate you. You need to come to grips with the fact that sometimes it won’t be as fun as it was when you first started. Remember showing up is 90% of success or, in this case, getting a black belt. It’s a battle that is so easily lost. Will you be a casualty of this war?
Find Professor Owen's book on Kindle: From the Ground Up
How is Your Commitment Level?
I have seen numerous people quit Jiu-Jitsu after they swear that they are in it for the long term! There is a sales expression I learned as a younger man: “Time kills all deals.” This means that as time goes by, there is a good chance that people will talk themselves out of what they initially wanted. I have done it, and chances are you have done it as well. This can be especially true for Jiu-Jitsu.
You start out excited and come to class on a regular basis, and then one day your progress starts to slow, which it inevitably will. You get tapped out a few times too many. It becomes harder to come to class and then you start to make excuses not to attend. You make more excuses and finally you come to the decision that you are just “too busy” to go to class. You have lost the momentum. You come to a complete standstill. You take “time off,” which is just another way of saying “I’m quitting.” You start thinking about just how out of shape you are and how hard it will be to get back into the groove of class. You start to have other interests. You start to put other interests ahead of your Jiu-Jitsu training. It becomes easier and easier to quit.
This is the time you will call your instructor (or you will duck him for weeks and he will call you) and tell him that you are “taking a break.” Every martial arts instructor knows that this is code for “I’m outta here!” You swear to the instructor that you’re coming back, but very few do. It’s merely a graceful way to exit without having to come to grips with the real truth: You are no longer in love with Jiu-Jitsu. It’s sad, but thousands of people do it each year in the martial arts.
Later on, you feel bad for not coming back but you are too embarrassed to get back in the game. You have done this countless times in other things and pretty soon you simply accept it as part of life. You have become a good quitter. What is your commitment level? Is your goal really black belt? If it is, be prepared for a long, tough haul. Times will not always be easy; you need to admit that to yourself. You will have tough times that you are not expecting and haven’t prepared for. But you need to expect it. You need to harden yourself to these times. You will see your classmates getting ahead of you and decide that it’s better to just quit. You may not want to go through all the trouble of starting back up after time off, even after an injury. Is this how you want to waste your time? I don’t think so.
You might not even be able to envision yourself as a black belt. Why bother if you can’t see yourself with the coveted black belt? If you plan to succeed, you need to have things squared away. You need to make a commitment as opposed to having a simple interest in training.
Can you deal with setbacks? Can you deal with the monotony of training? The pain? The loss? Can you handle the self-doubt? Can you deal with the time it takes to get a black belt? This is a direct reflection of your character and who you are as a person. Don’t rely on your instructor to motivate you. You need to come to grips with the fact that sometimes it won’t be as fun as it was when you first started. Remember showing up is 90% of success or, in this case, getting a black belt. It’s a battle that is so easily lost. Will you be a casualty of this war?
Find Professor Owen's book on Kindle: From the Ground Up
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