Monday, December 5, 2016

From the Mind of Babalu...Motivation

I know BJJ can be frustrating, irritating at times, and can down right just make you mad. You aren't alone! Whether your a beginner or an advanced student there is no doubt in my mind you have felt this one time in your journey or might even be feeling it now. It doesn't just happen to beginners, it happens to all of us. Trust me, I have felt this way for a better part of this year, and I've been training almost a total of 10 years now and I'm also a black belt! I'm sure most you have heard the saying "A black belt is just a white belt who never quit" and its honestly so true. I've only been a black belt for a little over four months now, but truthfully I'm still learning everyday just like a white belt, I still have some of the same frustrations as some that have just started, and I still keep showing up to train 3-4 times a week.

Jiu Jitsu really is just like anything else in life. The more you do it, the better you get at it. For the better part of this year I've been stuck training just twice a week. Which to me that is better than no training at all, but being away from the mats for a better part of a year last year those extra days are extremely important. Once I started adding more mat time things started getting back to the standard that I have set for myself. My technique has gotten cleaner, things are flowing much easier, and of course my BJJ cardio has gotten way better. I was able to start having fun training again and that is the most important thing. People put so much stress on winning and losing in training and it really doesn't matter. Go out have some fun and relax. One saying that I like to say to white belts is, "we all started in the same place as you" we all have gone through or are still going through some of the same issues you go through. We still have questions, but we ask those questions. We still get frustrated with our games or not being able to get a technique correct. The main thing is we never gave up or quit on our journey. We keep grinding, regardless of how frustrating or hard it may get we keep showing up and trying to get better. Stick with it, keep working and it will get better. If you don't understand something ask questions.

Now for a trip down memory lane. Below is 2 pictures, the first one is my first promotion under Professor Draculino. Since I had about 2 years of nogi and MMA experience before training at Gracie Barra Texas my first promotion was 3 stripes on the white belt from him.


The second picture is 8 years later, and 6 of those years were spent working and teaching at Gracie Barra Texas under Professor Draculino.

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