5 game changing lessons learnt from BJJ

For many, Jiu Jitsu was introduced to them after watching UFC and seeing Royce Gracie win back to back fights without throwing punches, and for others, like myself, stumbling across it at some random point and being totally hooked after my arm was nearly snapped in 6 seconds. Since then, like many other practitioners I’ve completely immersed my self in the BJJ world and live the #BJJLIFE.

When I’m not on the mat, I’m spending time with my beautiful partner, working on growing my bespoke shirt business or recruiting people for specialist marketing roles. As I’ve been currently working on some roles which are very focused on character traits and experience learnt outside of professional experiences, it made me reflect on my learnings and how BJJ has helped me grow in the business world. And as a lot of practitioners know every argument or statement can and is summed up with, “its like in BJJ when…”

Below are the 5 lessons I’ve learnt from BJJ that has helped me not only in the business world, but my every day life.

Black belt

The average time for someone to get their black belt is 9 – 10 years. The formula to get there is pretty straight forward; You come to training, work hard and go through the belt promotions (I’m currently sitting on purple so it would be very interesting to review this when I hit black). When you start, regardless of your social or personal status, you put on the white belt and know that for the first few years, you’re going to tap a lot. The expectations are set, so you stop worrying so much about getting the black belt, and just focus on getting better.

I used to go to work and want to be the boss tomorrow. I’d look at my bosses and go, why can’t I do his job right now? Since starting BJJ, I’ve been able to focus less about being the boss, but instead, focus on being better where I am. The journey is set, I just need to put in the time. This takes away external stress, and allows me to control what I can control.

On a personal learning: The other side to this is also the realization that the most valuable things in life can’t be bought. A Black belt is earned through blood, sweat and tears. I could go and buy a black colored belt for about $5, but it means nothing without the context. Find what’s valuable to you, and chase your dreams to earn it.

Mat time

I used to be one of these guys. In the beginning I used to get smashed by all these stronger guys so I’d say to my coach, “what weights should I do to beat them”. In which he’d respond, “stop being stupid and train more. You want to get better at jiu jitsu, then train jiu jitsu”. I took his advice, dropped the weights and now I get it. Power only get’s you so far.

Focus on your core responsibilities, show up to work, commit to being the best in your job and you will progress. I currently clock in a minimum 70 - 75 hours per week on work, and 10 - 12 hours per week training and the rest is either with my partner or sleeping. I can't afford to waste time or spend it doing things that aren't going to help me. The only way I can get better is by spending time on getting better.

Teaching

When I was first asked if I could take on a class and teach, I thought, yeah this will be simple. Just show a position and tell them to do it… Boy was I wrong. The simplest questions started getting fired and all of a sudden I was like, “why do I put my hand there?”. It puts you in a position where all of your gaps are exposed, and you’ve constantly got to be on your game. Then there’s also the point where a good teacher teaches, and a great teacher inspires. So I looked to my coach to see how he inspires us every day, and the answer is stupidly simple - he leads by example. No matter how tired you are, you train harder than anyone else. No matter how scared you are, you go and fight with no fear. No matter how much you doubt yourself at times, you believe in your self. And the results show it self.

Having to lead a team through a start up phase has been a very challenging yet an exciting journey. Prior to starting none of us were specialists in our roles, we are just incredibly passionate and hungry. Through the lessons I learnt whilst teaching, I’ve been able to understand that my job isn’t to teach my guys how to do things, but to inspire them to understand why we need to things, and the details are just what needs to be done to achieve the goal. Thinking back on the best managers I’ve ever had, they’ve been the ones that put their money where their mouths are, did the job, and did it better than anyone else. Get out of your high chair, and lead by example. If it means you need to stay behind and clean the bathroom then that’s what needs to be done. Hopefully one day, your student becomes the teacher.

Why do we fight

Some people lose sight of why they go and compete, and their only reason that drives them is to win that medal, even if there is only 3 people in that division and you’re guaranteed a medal. When my students go to fight, there’s a big part of me that wants them to lose their first fight. Not because I want to see them upset, but because I want them to learn the need to better them selves, and so when they do eventually win that medal, they know they deserve it through hard work and commitment. One of the greatest learning I’ve had was when I went to compete in the World Championships. I trained hard for 6 months, ate a strict diet for 5 months, flew almost 24 hours across the world and to have it all end in a collar choke 3 minutes into the first fight. I was devastated because I wanted to take home the medal. But I’ll never forget what my coach had said to me. “Yes you trained hard, but he wanted it more than you. For you, this is a game, for him, it is his life. If he doesn’t win, his family doesn’t eat”.

In work we often lose sight of what’s important to us, and what’s going to make us better. My team is constantly reminded that we don't do what we do to make heaps of money, we do it to inspire and change the game. I used to always be in the chase for that quick promotion or easy bonus. Sure, those things are good quick wins, but pointless unless I reflected to learn and understand how I can better my situation. Your career isn’t a sprint. Do YOUR best and for the reasons that are truly important to you. The reward will come.

Doing what you love

Finally, it’s a hell of a lot easier to commit to something that you love. I used to be 106KG’s and tried all the different weight loss programs I could to lose it and never succeeded. When I found jiu jitsu, I forgot about loosing weight, and started having fun. Losing weight was the easy part, trying to recover quickly enough so I can get back to the next session was the hard part. 

And remember, even in the things you love, there are going be things you don’t. Ask me how much fun I’m having when I’m cutting weight and training twice a day. Ask me how much fun trying to get out of bed at 5 in the morning and you can’t even feel your fingers not because it’s freezing cold, but because they are so swollen. There are always going to be hard times in your job, and you may not love what you do, but find something within your job that you do. Focus on how to make that your whole job. We all need to go through tears before we can reach true glory.