Coming back

There arose a question somewhere on the World Wide Web: "What’s the ONE habit that instantly tells you someone won’t last in Jiu-Jitsu?"

From my experience, young dudes come in filled with knowledge from watching MMA on TV and immediately trying to do an armbar. Often they are already in good shape. Well-trained. Young, full of power. Many of them disappear very soon because for them it's too long to wait a couple of years to master it. Few are out of shape. Overweight. Coming out of gas very soon. They put some effort into changing it, but then a slight deviation from their life-changing plans puts them back, and they never come back.

There was a 20-year-old overweight guy who started the same day I did. He was trying to lose the weight. He was out of gas already when he put his Gi on. After a couple of weeks, he quit Jiu-jitsu and switched to the Muay Thai group. They have their class just before us in the same dojo.

After a while, I stopped seeing him there too.

Older dudes have more patience and passion and are ready to put in their time for improvement. The problem with us older guys is injuries, family, and job. Obligations outside the mat.

Life gets in the way.

At 58, I’ve learned that simply showing up is sometimes an achievement in itself. You may miss a class because of work. You may have to stay home because of your family. You may have an injury that keeps you off the mats for weeks.

But if you come back, you haven’t failed.

You just continue from where you stopped.

Maybe that is the real habit that tells you someone will last in Jiu-Jitsu:

Coming back.