1) Confidence that will help win all of life’s battles.
At it’s core, jiu-jitsu is about problem solving. In each lesson, we present a new seemingly-impossible problem or situation, and then we teach you precisely how to overcome it in the most efficient way possible. After the first lesson, you will be shocked by the magical effectiveness of the techniques, and you will be eager for more. After the first few weeks, your mind will be completely reprogrammed in how it sees challenges on and off the mat. Rather than seeing the problems as difficult problems to overcome, you will see them as techniques waiting to be discovered!
2) Camaraderie and friendships unlike any that you will ever experience.
It’s one thing to shake hands with someone you just met, it’s another thing to be introduced by Rear Naked Choke! The mix of people who train jiu-jitsu is absolutely mind boggling. On any given day, you could be sharing the mat with men and women of all colors, shapes, sizes and socio-economic backgrounds. Your training is guided by pure harmony and respect, without judgement or separation. You will learn and grow as one, and this creates a bond unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Essentially you become part of a jiu-jitsu family, one that will always be there for you no matter what happens on the outside.
3) Fitness that you enjoy enough to stay committed to.
If you’re not a treadmill person, then jiu-jitsu is for you. Each and every time you practice jiu-jitsu, you will engage every major muscle group in your body, but because you will remain 100% focused on the technique or task at hand, you will shed pounds without even realizing it. The simple fact that weight loss is a side effect of training jiu-jitsu, and that you will fall in love with SOOO much more than just the fitness benefits means you are far more likely to remain committed for the long haul. Not to mention, once you fall in love with jiu-jitsu, you will start eating healthier so you will perform better on the mat…once again, weight loss just the side effect!
Weight Loss Warning: If you’re overweight, and you want to do jiu-jitsu, DO NOT accept this mindset: “I want to learn jiu-jitsu, but I am going to try to lose weight first and then sign up.” Remember, the reason you are overweight to begin with is precisely because you don’t have jiu-jitsu in your life. Here is the right mindset: “I am overweight and I know that the only way to reach my ideal weight is to fall in love with a fun physical activity that I can do for the rest of my life. Although I would be out of my comfort zone at first, I trust that the Gracies are on to something here so I have no excuse not to give it a try. Let’s do this!”
4) Patience that will make you a better mother, brother, friend, lover, etc.
In jiu-jitsu, you don’t make the move you want to make, you make the move your opponent lets you make. This single principle, when applied to everyday life, will have as much positive impact on your relationships, professional and personal, as any other concept you will learn in jiu-jitsu. Jiu-Jitsu is gentle by nature, and practicing the art makes you patient and so compassionate that if you take two weeks off of training, your loved ones will notice a such a difference that they will beg you to get back on the mat. Try it, it’s amazing.
5) Street Readiness that will help you avoid street fights.
If you ask someone why they don’t do jiu-jitsu, there is a 90% chance they will say, “I’m a lover not a fighter.” These people clearly don’t realize the golden rule of martial arts: The more you learn how to fight, the less likely you are to ever get into a fight. People who pick fights are the people with ego problems who feel they have something to prove. Whereas martial artists know what they’re capable of and feel no need to puff up their egos at the expense of some untrained hot-head in a senseless road-rage incident. The bottom line: If you truly are a lover, learn jiu-jitsu so you can avoid fights, and IF you are physically assaulted, you will have the tools to neutralize the threat without causing any unnecessary harm to the assailant.
Source: Gracie University
So make the decision for 2013 to get over to P5 Academy and get on the mat for a couple of weeks and see what all the hype is about. The only way to know for sure if BJJ is for you, is to give it a try. You will always get free introductory lessons at P5 Academy when you join so come speak to Sensei Phillip Palmejar about embarking on the Jiu Jitsu Journey!!!
