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Am I even having fun?
By Shane McCarthy
My wife finds herself asking this question ever since she started training: Am I having fun in Jiu Jitsu? Joy. Happiness. Fun. They all describe the endorphins that flood your nervous system when something pleases your brain. Midway through a set of burpees in a gross, humid, 90-something-degree warehouse, with your muscles screaming […]
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Omoplatas, Arm Bars and Self Love
By: Alexandra Finfer
I often hear my coaches and teammates talk about this journey we undertake as Jiu Jitsu practitioners. I didn’t quite understand what this journey was until I earned my blue belt. Like most people after a belt promotion, I started to reflect on my time training. I know I sound like a poster […]
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You Are How You Train
By: Emily Kwok
It’s incredible how much training can reveal about the self.
It creeps up on you slowly after your obsession with training wears off a bit. When you are at ease with the notion of deliberate practice, when the hard work is no longer hard work and it just becomes habit. This is the […]
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Happy
By: Shane McCarthy
Those who practice Jiu Jitsu know it can be an amazing, yet frustrating martial art. The mental and physical benefits are abundant and life-changing, and the physical beatdown and total frustration of learning such a complex art often wear practitioners down.
That dynamic is something I’ve been exploring lately. We choose this art as […]
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Purple Belt: The Middle of the Journey
By: Joe Hannan
One day you wake up and you go to train like you would any other day. You watch your friends get promoted and you clap your hands. You clap your hands more heartily for some more than others — the ones you know and love best. Then, all of a sudden, they’re clapping […]
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Progress and Purpose: Why do we Train?
By: Emily Kwok
If you asked me (almost) decades ago what I enjoyed about training BJJ and why I was doing it, I would have told you it was because it was different from anything I’d ever done and I liked the workout I got from it. Today, my reasons are largely the same, though I […]
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How Leaders Should Lead
By: Emily Kwok
‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’ – Abraham Lincoln
Reflecting on the 18 going on 19 years I’ve been involved with BJJ, it’s a surreal moment to confront myself with the fact that I’ve been training a long time; like long enough […] -
5 Principles for Growth in BJJ
By: Emily Kwok
Before we breakdown some of the growth principles that have been helpful in my BJJ, let’s just clear the air here and demystify what the word ‘principle’ means in this context. All too often people will nod their heads when you mention, ‘Do you understand this principle?’ when they really have no flipping […]
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How to Find Happiness in Jiu Jitsu
By: Joe Hannan
Last week, I wrote about the pitfalls of seeking validation in jiu jitsu, something which I am guilty of doing. Looking back, I offered a critique without any alternatives. Hopefully this post will serve that purpose.
Eradicating validation-seeking behavior on the mats is accomplished when the grappler realizes that Jiu Jitsu is a process […]
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Validation in BJJ: Improving, Not Proving Yourself
By: Joe Hannan
You are good enough and you belong here. Let’s start with that. Let it sink in.
Starting Jiu Jitsu, for many, is the most difficult part of the journey. Continuing past blue belt seems to be almost as difficult, given the number of grapplers who turn into faces on milk cartons once they earn […]
