In the middle of an open mat the other day, one of the newer guys said that exact thing. Maybe it does, but there is also an accountability piece that goes with getting better. Let’s look at some things that may cause you to believe this sport sucks.
- How long have you been training? If you haven’t been training very long and you don’t train very often, there is no reason that you will be magically good at grappling. Most likely you will be terrible. Time and time again people who believe they are athletically inclined walk into BJJ gyms thinking they’ll be fantastic grapplers, and almost always they are disappointed. Developing skills takes time jiu jitsu is no different.
- How often are you training? If you are training once or twice a week and decide to compete, the odds you will succeed are low. If you train three times a week, but one of those is an open mat and you just started training, that’s not enough for you to magically know jiu jitsu. If you only come to open mat, and are not intelligent about the way you train, you will be a white belt forever.
- Are you actually putting the work in? Did you go through the full 8 weeks of fundamentals? Are you listening to what your instructor says? Are you correcting your mistakes? Are you doing the techniques properly? Are you short changing the drills? Are you on time so you can do the whole class?
- Unfortunately, your coaches/ instructors/ professors can really only help you when you are physically present, and I can almost guarantee all of them want you to succeed, but you are responsible for making yourself better at grappling. You are also responsible for being realistic about how much you are actually doing and the results you can expect from the work you put in. This sport only sucks because you suck at this sport.