Reinforcing Principles…
The beauty of training jiu-jitsu is that it’s power is transcendent. The principles you learn that will build many of the techniques can also be applied outside the academy if you are aware and are willing to hold yourself accountable. There have been many students over the years that have stopped training due to treating their training like a product. The attitude of…”I need 6 months of self-defense.” or, “OK, I feel confident now, thanks, see ya!”
People need to show up to class to reinforce core principles. Principles like patience, resilience, discipline, and work ethic come to mind first. If you learn to be patient, slow down, and control your emotions during training, but you are a hot head outside the academy, you need to be here. If you have gotten to the point where you have been able to get through some tough training slumps and come out stronger as a result but outside the academy tough family or work times get the best of you and you find yourself quitting, you need to be here. If you’ve gotten to the point of realizing that in order to be successful in this art, you need to have the discipline to show up (good times and bad) consistently every week, month, and year: great. But, if you lack the discipline in the areas of life outside of the academy, you need to be here. Finally, hard work. This one is tough because in most cases it is easy to build a strong work ethic in the things we enjoy and that are fun. Luckily, Jiu-Jitsu is one of those things. But, if you don’t give the same work ethic to the tasks and duties that you don’t enjoy, you need to be here.
Of course, these are not the only principles. I encourage you to think about traits that make your own jiu-jitsu successful and see if those traits are in line your life outside the academy. If not, we risk hypocrisy. Coming to class is a great opportunity to reinforce the core principles that are necessary for a successful and fulfilling life using Jiu-Jitsu as the vehicle to get there. The willingness to look beyond the mats and apply jiu-jitsu principles to personal growth and development is definitely challenging but should be the goal of any martial artist in the pursuit of balance and congruity.