Self-Improvement Tool For Becoming The Greatest Version Of Yourself

At the Grapplers Graveyard, we embody these principles and look at martial arts as an excellent tool to improve in all facets of life. Since we started training our personal growth journey has exploded in a positive direction. Yes, we still have our days where things are worse than others but the overall trajectory of where we are headed is the best thing we could have asked for.

Personal Growth Using Jiu-Jitsu

Practicing jiu-jitsu is the ultimate self-improvement tool. Many people around the world take on discipline and have stuck around because of the positive impact it has had on their lives. While training jiu-jitsu there is not much you can focus on outside of the mats while you are in the heat of a live sparring session.

All the negative self-talk goes out the window. You are just left with a meditative feeling when your think through the problems that arise in front of you and how you are going to solve them. It truly is a beautiful thing.

Whether you’re a hobbyist or a high-level competitor, there is an unspoken confidence you walk around with. You know in the back of your head that if a situation were to arise where you needed to stand your ground, you could protect yourself or at a minimum de-escalate a situation.

A real inspiration to us here to start training BJJ in the first place was the film Fight Club. If you have not seen the movie please go do so. It is an absolute classic that should be on everyone’s top five.

We asked people who have been training about the benefits that training has done for them in their personal development journey. This is what they had to say:

1) Increased Sense of Clarity

Jiu-Jitsu gives you a greater sense of clarity and will improve your self-esteem for a number of reasons. First, you train pretty consistently, you will get into great shape and feel amazing after sweating with your teammates.

Second, jiu-jitsu is just as much of a mental sport as it is a physical one. We believe that you do not need to be in shape to do the martial art (because it will naturally get you there) but what you will need is the tenacity and mental fortitude to stick it out to the promised land. The first 6 months of training are going to be rough.

Chances are you will have no experience grappling and have to pick up the essential aspects through trial and error. This is an excellent way to learn and lean into the new skills you are wanting to acquire.

Something magical happens when you are rolling on the mats. Nothing outside those four walls matters. You could have the worst day and come into your gym get a few rolls in and realize that the whole time, not one thought of what was bothering you crept in for a whole hour.

Jiu-jitsu will teach you to think on your toes and how to problem-solve in real-time. If you cannot see the implications of this I don’t think there is much we can do to help you.

2) Getting into Better Shape

Most people set goals to get their fitness in line every year but fall short time and time again, why is that? Well, chances are it is a mix of things but we would wager that discipline and lack of patience are the bigger issues there.

It is not a surprise that BJJ will get you into better shape. Well, at least for those that are already in the community I suppose. We have seen countless people just within our small community completely change their physical health in a matter of years. We would wager any amount of money that anyone that wants to take their health seriously and would commit to the martial art for one year would be shocked at how drastic their body would change.

Self-improvement journeys always start with health. When you take care of your body every other aspect is just easier! You are not too old to start. Our coach, who is now a black belt, started BJJ at 40 years old and we are 65 lbs overweight! The average age of a white belt is close to 30 years old! Do not let age be a factor in your getting started.

Lifting weights every day is boring. It is very easy for you to just go through the motions when you’re at the gym… not to say that we do not mix our training with weights but it never hurts to spice things up. There is nothing more exciting than training in a way that is both dynamic and boosting your overall strength!

3) Learning a New Skill Set

Learning new things is fun and exciting.

Getting a deeper understanding of yourself is a lifelong process and a huge building block to this is educating yourself. Whether you are taking on martial arts or not, it is so important for you as a human being in the 21st century to take your personal growth seriously.

In the age of the internet, we have access to almost anything within a few clicks of a couple of buttons.

Jiu-jitsu is just one of the many skills that someone can learn in todays world. Take a leap and try something new, when was the last time you did that?

4) Seeing Progress in Your Goals

Progress is well documented in martial art due to the belt system so setting goals and watching people achieve them in real time is a huge pleasure in training martial arts. We are firm believers that if something is easily attained the reward is not really satisfying. Well lucky you jiu-jitsu has got to be one of the hardest martial arts of those that can be practiced!

People fail to reach their goals because they get discouraged along the way. Seeing progress in the things you do will not only boost your confidence that you are doing the right thing but also keep you motivated to stay disciplined along the way.

5) Self-Defense

There is something primal about training jiu-jitsu that you have yet to discover. As humans, we have a built-in radar to detect danger pretty much at all times. Our intuition kicks in when we see sketchy activity going on around us and we just know something bad is going to happen. Maybe you’re in the wrong neighborhood or God forbid something serious happens.

The world is in a fragile state right now. Riots are going on that are turning violent, crime has skyrocketed, and people are starting to get desperate. There is no longer an excuse for why you start doing some form of martial arts, you must be able to protect yourself and those you care about. Jiu Jitsu is more than just a great exercise, it’s a way for you to practice violence in a controlled manner.

No other martial art allows you to go full-out and practice the art of being violent. This prepares you for a real-life situation that can occur, especially in today’s chaotic world. We hope the time never comes when you have to experience violence on the streets or in your day-to-day life. You will never have to prepare for something like that to happen if you stay ready.

Freedom from fear and danger is something you have not felt in your core until you have practiced some form of martial art. Just knowing that you can handle your own in some capacity if something were to go do is a mental edge for the elite-level humans of this world.

In human history, it was very common for society to practice and train in some form of combat. We would wage wars on neighboring villages and would need these skills to protect what we fear losing. In the 21st century, we have completely strayed away from this, the world as a whole is softer than it has ever been. You may have heard this quote before but it goes something like this:

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” 

Unknown

Jiu Jitsu as a Spiritual Practice

Something that we have only recently started to discover is how much we have been impacted by jiu-jitsu from a spiritual standpoint. As we stated earlier, self-improvement is a mix of four things, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth.

In my adult life, I have not had something that kind of woke me up to a sense of self-actualization. I will be diving deeper into my own spiritual beliefs and finding ways to come back to look people in.

BECOMING THE SUPERIOR VERSION OF YOURSELF

Getting our of your comfort zone is the only way you will ever be able to truly improve in a way that is meaningful in this life. We know that you are on the cusp of something, you Google’d this term and happened to stumble across this article. There are positive assumptions that we can make about the readers of this post, take the leap my friend, what do you have to lose?

The self-improvement benefits of jiu-jitsu and many other martial arts is something you must consider when thinking about how you are going to start taking care of your health. Set a personal development plan for the rest of the year and like we said earlier, jump out of that comfort zone that you have been living in for way too long.

What are you waiting for?

There is nothing more supreme than confidence. Confidence breeds success and success breeds confidence. Applied properly you are unconquerable.

Mike Tyson

OSS