[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][x_image type=”none” src=”4843:full” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][cs_element_text _id=”5″ ][cs_content_seo]004 – TIPS FOR PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL BJJ COMEBACK
February 2, 2021
Introduction
There are many reasons why people take breaks from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Injury, family/work priorities and burnout are all common reasons people give for a hiatus. 2020 saw COVID-19 impose a mandatory break for most, if not all of, the community. That said, coming back to the sport and lifestyle can be very challenging. Some never even attempt to return fearing they will fail to be as good or they’ve fallen too far behind peers. And others quit for good as soon as they meet adversity. Here are some tips for people who have taken a break and want to ensure a successful return to BJJ!
Set Winning Expectations and Goals
Before opening up my gym, Buckhead Jiu-Jitsu in Atlanta, I was in outside sales leadership for over a decade. Every year in that profession I started from scratch and began with Goal/Expectation Meetings with my bosses and my direct reports. We sat down and clearly defined what “winning” would look like so that together we could plan for success. The targets were to be both attainable and challenging therefore providing a pathway to success for the individual and team/company. I felt like that clarity gave us great power and helped us achieve (and overachieve) regularly. As a BJJ athlete, I sought to bring that to my journey so annually I sat down and defined what BJJ success would look like for me. I found that clarity enabled me to stay on track. When lay-offs (injuries, work, etc) came into play, it became especially important to find the balance between attainable and challenging so that I was not setting myself up for failure. Today, as a coach, I offer 1on1’s and an open door to all my students to help them set the same type of “winning” goals and expectations in the context of THEIR journey in the sport and lifestyle. For some, it revolves around competition, for others it is more attendance based and others are more concerned with fitness targets . Getting expectations and goals right is like gasoline to the car driving towards longevity in BJJ…especially when coming back from a break!
Focus on What Can Be Controlled
One of the main reasons comebacks get derailed is people get discouraged. They come back to the mat and feel like they are not as good as they once were, cannot do the things they once did, or, like I mentioned earlier, others have passed them by. Focusing on things like this suck the joy right out of and lead to dissatisfaction with training.
When I moved to the Washington DC area and started training at the Yamasaki Academy Murilo Santana (now head coach at Unity in New York) was one of the team’s top competitors. We overlapped for a couple of years and Murilo had a tremendous impact on me as a practitioner. One of the things I took away from my time observing and training with him was how he was laser-focused on what he COULD control: his training, his attitude, his effort. I not only saw that mindset bring him back from different injuries and set-backs but it also accelerated his incredible improvement from blue to brown belt (before he moved to Brazil). Murilo’s example inspired me to have and to later coach my students to have that same mindset when considering our training…which is especially beneficial when coming back from a lay-off. That kind of mindset will stave off the negativity and help generate real progress.
Be Ready to Overcome Adversity and Obstacles
I wish I could say that restarting BJJ would be all smooth sailing, but that’s not realistic. Even when we decide that we are all in, things outside of our control will conspire to get in the way. We have to go into it understanding that and ready to overcome the obstacles that arise.
When the legendary, late David Jacobs and I were purple belts together, he really started “hitting his stride” in competition. He was really enjoying himself at practice every day and was excited about the strides he was making in his game. Then, out of the blue, he broke his thumb and that threatened to take him out for eight weeks…which to him at the time was forever. Dave was tempted to fall into the pit of self-pity but after about a week, he showed up at practice focused on learning via watching and working around his injury limitations. That can-do attitude not only got him on the mat but also ended up making him better as working around his injury improved Dave in somewhat neglected areas . Ten weeks post-injury, I remember thinking Dave was the best BJJ version of himself I had seen! Because he was ready to deal with the adversity, it ended up making him stronger.
Define and Have Fun
When talking with my students, I often ask about and seek to identify what they find fun about BJJ. Identifying what we find fun makes it a lot easier to find a way to potentially fit that into our BJJ situation so we can consistently enjoy our time on the mat. And that enjoyment lends itself to consistency and longevity in any activity.
My two first black belt promotions at Buckhead Jiu-Jitsu were Kenneth Yeung and Daren Roberts…and I lucked out. Among their many outstanding qualities is a shared one that that they genuinely love participating in the growth of others. Discovering that, I enlisted them to start teaching classes and to actively mentor up-and-coming students. Obviously I , as the head coach, and the students benefit from additional, top-flight coaching resources but what I have also noticed is how much fun Daren and Kenneth have while helping out. It has manifested into even greater training enthusiasm and sense of purpose for them both. They are a clear example of the value of identifying and participating in what is fun about BJJ for/to you.
Conclusion
Our sport can be time-consuming and hard as far as hobbies go. But, it is worthwhile as it can enrich our lives in many ways! I have seen many people take breaks in my 20 plus years of training. In all that time and in all those situations, I have never known anyone that said they regretted coming back to the mat. If and when you find yourself in the position of coming back after a break, I hope you use some of the above tips to set yourself up to stay with BJJ long-term. See you on the mat!
**The author, Sam Joseph, is a 3rd degree black belt and is the owner/head instructor of Buckhead Jiu-Jitsu ( www.buckheadjj.com ). Sam is a two-time IBJJF Pan champion, multiple time IBJJF Open champion, undefeated MMA fighter and former contributor to Jiu-Jitsu Style. Connect with Sam via (sam@buckheadjj.com ) or instragram (@buckheadjj ). **\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”6″ ][cs_element_row _id=”7″ ][cs_element_column _id=”8″ ] [/cs_element_column][cs_element_column _id=”9″ ] [/cs_element_column][cs_element_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_social _id=”11″ ][cs_element_social _id=”12″ ][cs_element_social _id=”13″ ][/cs_element_column][cs_element_column _id=”14″ ] [/cs_element_column][cs_element_column _id=”15″ ] [/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]
