I’ve always believed that in order to get better at something, you have to push yourself to your breaking point and keep going. Nothing has taught me this is true more than Jiu-Jitsu.
Just recently, I went through a really tough training session where I had a significant moment of perseverance.
At the end of a class where I was not feeling myself at all, we finished up with three, five minute rounds of sparring.
The first two rounds I felt really slow and lethargic.
I felt nauseas, out of breath, and like every muscle in my body had completely gassed.
After getting thrown around in those first rounds, I had started giving up in my mind.
Making excuses for not doing as well as I knew I could do.
Feeling a lot of self doubt, I was ready to sit out and take the last round off due to just being exhausted and down on myself.
Then all it took was a short phrase from my coach to change that attitude.
“One more round if anyone wants it”.
Then I woke up. Of course I wanted it.
I didn’t get up at 5am to show up and quit.
I don’t keep a journal of all the techniques I learn to take a seat on the bench when I’m not feeling my best.
I don’t put the time, effort, and thought into this sport to sit down when it’s time to truly test myself.
So in an instance I dug deep and found my motivation. I had the best round I put in all week in that last round and afterwards that horrible feeling of exhaustion went away, and I instead felt accomplished. I proved that my biggest enemy is myself, and I can be conquered with sheer mental toughness and grittiness.
This moment of having to dig deep for one more round is a constant feeling in training. Jiu-Jitsu is unlike any sport I’ve ever done, including other martial arts, in that there is so much mental strength, strategy, and confidence required to do well, all apart from the physical side which is equally as important.
This feeling of self-doubt comes and goes but I know I am able to get better, and proved to myself there is never a reason to quit, even when my mind and body are telling me to.
I’m still fairly new at this sport but I know that this is something I will spend years and years of my life doing, and I can’t wait for the ups and downs that will come with it.
Mitchell Davies, Jiu-Jitsu Athlete.
Anyone in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com