“Jiu-jitsu is life.” Even in jest, this statement encompasses the drive students feel to practice and incorporate jiu-jitsu in their daily activities off the mats. The lessons taught in classes—how to persist in an exceedingly uncomfortable position, overcome an obstacle that seemed impossible, or push yourself past self-imposed limits—teach the benefits of persistence and discipline that create strong individuals.
I am currently four weeks post-op after a major hip surgery, dealing with the fact that sometimes you must do hard things outside of jiu-jitsu. Like many other individuals who start in the sport and get absolutely obsessed, I overtrained on an injury and am paying the price. While I cannot imagine many students come to the sport with a circus-arts-related injury, I am not the first to push the bounds on the line between persistence and stupidity when it comes to training, and I am sure that I will not be the last.
It is not uncommon for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners to train through an injury. Taping toes and fingers and wearing braces under gis or over spats, practitioners do their best to protect their bodies. But they also do their best to push their bodies to the limit. I have met some of the best athletes I have ever encountered in this sport, and they are all persistent in their pursuit of their goals, both long and short-term. That same persistence, well-shaped by hours on the mat, is why I will recover.
Jiu-jitsu has taught me that every bad position is an opportunity. I could let this injury be an excuse not to come back, to take it easy, but that would not align with the values I have encountered throughout my time in this sport. My coaches and peers have echoed this sentiment tenfold; their injuries have not held them back from the sport any longer than they were required.
I’m sure those who have been practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for any time know how difficult it is to walk away from the mats. It takes a lot of discipline to understand when to step back and allow yourself to rest and recover, especially when the urge to keep training is louder than the voice saying it’s too dangerous. Understanding the difference between pushing yourself to your limits and pushing yourself deeper into injury is difficult to see firsthand. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way.
It also takes discipline to come back to the mats after time away. At one point in my training, the pain I felt in my hip was an impossible obstacle. But instead of pouting about the situation I was in, the situation that I put myself in, I educated myself and sought advice from doctors until I got the answer I needed, even if the answers were not the ones that I wanted. Even post-op, I was proactive, focused, and goal-oriented. That has not changed.
This injury is also an opportunity to focus on other areas in my life. While I adore this sport, I am an academic at heart. I will be a published author due to the persistence and discipline I have learned in jiu-jitsu. It doesn’t matter that I don’t want to sit down and write, that networking is uncomfortable, or that copyediting is a tedious task that lives in my nightmares; I have my eyes on the end goal and can work through any discomfort. This once-impossible task, broken down into writing exercises I can work on daily, is achievable.
Also, like the nerd I am, I can study jiu-jitsu at home. Just because I cannot physically practice on the mats does not mean I cannot continue learning. I am as persistent in my jiu-jitsu education as I am in academia, which is paying off tenfold while I’m stuck on the sidelines.
If jiu-jitsu is going to be a part of my life for the long term, which is the plan that I hope to stick with, I cannot keep having major surgeries. They cut into my gym time. But I’m sure more injuries will come no matter how safe I try to be. The question becomes: What does a sustainable jiu-jitsu practice look like? Is it finding the specific number of practices that I should go to a week? In how many rolls I do in a practice? Perhaps the answer will come as all the others have: through learning jiu-jitsu.
