Do you ever wake up in the morning after Jiu-Jitsu class and question why you are doing this in the first place? Your fingers are swollen and stiff, your elbow hurts because your ego didn't let you tap when you should have, there is a gash on your foot because someone decided not to clip there toe nails before coming to class, you have severe mat burn on your other foot, your struggling to pay your dues and are having a hard time justifying paying an arm and a leg for a gallon of gas/diesel just to get to class, you are struggling to find a balance between jiu-jitsu and your family, you want to compete but are too lazy to prepare for it, .....(insert cheese for my wine here)......(insert tiniest fiddle in the world here)......(insert crying symbol here).....ha - most of you know exactly what I talking about!
So why not quit? It seems like the sensible thing to do - doesn't it? It seems like that would solve all the issues I was crying about in the above paragraph. But what about the benefits that are on the other side of the Jiu-Jitsu fence? When I compare the pros & cons of grappling there are a lot more pros than cons.
We all get something different out of Jiu-Jitsu. For me: it relieved my chronic wrist pain that even surgery didn't take care of (probably from all the stretching), it helped a lot with my consistent lower back pain, I no longer felt lethargic, I lost about 20lbs, good stress reliever, good way to meet new people as I had just moved to the area, initiated better eating habits, invoked goal setting and working towards them, and it is just plain fun! Yes, for those of you reading this and are not yet Jiu-Jitsu practitioners - getting choked out and armbarred is fun, although it is more fun to be the one applying said techniques.
So when you are crying and complaining about your latest boo boo (put honey on it and call it your "honey boo boo" - ha!) and the thought of quiting pops in your head just think of all the benefits. If you still decide to quit then you'll have to try and make peace with that decision years later when you're watching a BJJ match on YouTube and wishing you would have stuck with it!
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