Some of these might seem obvious, but they are still good reasons to train and enjoy this are that we love at Wave.
Self defence
I want to start with this one as it’s actually not why I got into BJJ at all, it is an important one though for me and a lot of people. Training regularly teaches you to instinctively do things, at the beginning the basics are actually the most useful, things like the technical stand up and manoeuvring on the floor if you are taking down, also being calm under pressure and used to bad situations like being choked or different holds will all help you.
The self defence techniques are also great, but the toughness you get from regularly showing up to training is key. You can choose to spar in a way that is more conducive to self defence, you can also add some striking to understand how your BJJ deals with people who are trying to hit you so you can work out what is useful and what won’t help you in a self defence situation.
I still think BJJ is the best stand alone art for surviving most attacks, if you are taken down no one can manoeuvre or get up faster than a BJJ practitioner and if someone tries to hit you on the floor no other art has the skills to reverse the situation and subdue your attacker. More than one person you say? No other art can manoeuvre, get up and run better than BJJ (maybe you can add some running to make sure you really get away).
Fitness & Well being
Ask anyone who trains regularly and they will tell you nothing compares to the cardio that BJJ gives you, you can do all the HIIT classes and “cardio” stuff like running, swimming and cycling, but as soon as you step on the mat and start sparring, you will gas and your body will be pushed.
BJJ gives you strength from dealing with another human being, pushing and pulling, using your legs arms and core muscles all at once. It gives you cardio as while pushing, puiling and lifting your heart rate will be through the roof! It gives you flexibility as someone pushes down on your legs in awkward positions while passing your guard or stretching you out from some weird position on the bottom you have never seen before.
It also gives you some mental help in a form of mindfulness, you can read my older post on this at the link below
Make the best friends you will ever have
It will help you create bonds with your training partners like no other sport or art, you will get used to people entering your space and then confronting you in ways you weren’t used to before. You will learn to read people’s body language and intentions and it will open up new ways of seeing people that you didn’t know existed.
You will change your mind about people the more you train with them, you will understand the spazzy guy was just nervous and not really hating you, you will feel the same errors in yourself in fact and learn through your training partners about yourself.
You will meet people you might never have met before and see a common thread.
You will go for drinks and social events and chat shit on WhatsApp groups and discuss MMA and BJJ competitions. They really will be the best of friends.
You will hack your life
BJJ has a way of creeping into your everyday life, it changes the way you move around in bed, it even changes the way you hug people. It also helps you to understand how to apply learning to everyday things and how trial and error can be used to improve efficiency in everyday life. You see patterns in life as you do in BJJ.
You also want to get better at being healthy, having time to train and you begin to understand how this all links together. You can’t be out drinking have a cluttered mind and do things inefficiently in your everyday life if you want to get better at BJJ and vice versa, training will improve your life in ways you didn’t even realise it would trust me, it will all be good.
Conclusion
BJJ is good :) Ok, I am biased but it is good. You might not be world champion but it will teach you to be better, it will teach you to understand people better, it will give you confidence in your body and how you are, it will make you calmer and it will impact you in a lot of positive ways, but as I said I am bias to this great art.