BJJ Black Belt is a rank few people will stay in the art long enough to earn. But far fewer still honestly are of good enough character to lead. In 26 yrs on the mats, I’ve seen so much poor behavior by so-called “professors.” 

Once you’re an upper belt you start to see the skeletons in their closets. My problem within the arte-suave has simply been expecting instructors to live up to that ideal I had presented to me as a child of what it takes to be a sensei, because so many fall short... I work my butt off to make sure I don’t destroy the vision for the kids coming up now. Good character is a higher quality than even earning the black belt. Believe me.

Coming from being a strength athlete gives me an interesting perspective on martial arts and combat sports. As someone who relied on my strength to get me out of tricky situations, technique was never a huge concern for me. When you’re benching almost 400lbs and squatting 600, it’s hard to not feel like you can push, punch, kick, or squeeze yourself out of pretty much any situation. 

Then I found Jiu Jitsu at Mat Lab. 

I won’t lie to you and say strength is unimportant in the world of BJJ or fighting, but I have definitely noticed it doesn’t mean very much. I’ve rolled with plenty of guys smaller than me with less strength and been beaten to grips, had my guard broken, and even been submitted. That’s the thing about Jiu Jitsu - it puts people on a level playing field. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, how much money you make, or even if you’re male or female; when you’re on the mat the thing that matters more than anything is technique. 

I think that’s one of the reasons people tend to become close like a family in gyms. You have this mixing pot of people from all different backgrounds coming to one place to do one thing, and we all start at the same place. That’s the equalizing factor. I’ve come a long way in my few weeks training, and I have a long way to go. I’ve certainly learned a lot of Jiu Jitsu along the way, but I’ve also learned humility and patience. 

I look forward to meeting my peers on the mats, learning, and refining my technique every day. It’s seriously the highlight of my week. Thanks for reading, I’ll see you on the mats!

Joshua

Feeling down because you don’t see progress in your Jiu Jitsu training? Let me ask you this. When you were younger and went to visit an aunt or an uncle that hadn’t seen you for a bit, didn’t they always comment “how much you’ve grown?” But you didn’t see it. Hell you couldn’t tell one month to the next, let alone one day. 

Guess what? You are living within your own body & mind in a moment to moment existence! You won’t be able to see your own progress any more than you can “see” your grass grow in your yard in an hour! 

It can be difficult to understand that we are progressing in Jiu Jitsu when we are unable to step outside of ourselves and see a “time lapse” version. We only notice the high points; such as beating an upper belt in training or winning our division at a tournament, or even just getting a nod of approval from a coach or our professor that THEY notice our growth. But we ARE getting better! EVERY MINUTE you spend dedicated to your craft is propelling you forward! So trust in the process, trust in your professor and believe in yourself!

I had the pleasure to train with Travis Haynes. Travis is both a highly skilled and seasoned black belt. His teaching style is easy to understand and will prepare any BJJ practitioner to reach a higher level. White belts will definitely develop a strong foundation for their Jiu-Jitsu to stand on and Travis is a strong piece of iron for other black belts to sharpen on. - Michael Cox

Mat Lab Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Thank you so much for the recommendation, Michael! You have a lot of knowledge yourself & bright future ahead of you as well in the Martial Arts!