Get to Six Months
(I originally wrote this in early 2024)
As of February, I'm...
10 months in.
43 weeks of soreness.
108 sessions of sweat.
162 hours of repeated failures.
9,720 minutes on the mat training Brazillian Jiu Jitsu.
When you start anything hard, don’t even begin to evaluate it for the first 6 months. Just go through it. Get to 6 months. You haven’t experienced the highs yet, the flow, the little successes. Get a taste of the good and bad before you decide to stick with or quit something. You need more data.
The first practice, I was so sore that I couldn’t do much the next day.
Same with the second.
And the third. I think I cried also.
Zoom out a little bit though.
Something special happens: we adapt.
The body begins to adapt.
Human bonds and friendships form in the midst of struggle.
One day you look up from a roll and realize all of a sudden how fun it is.
Even as a pure white belt, who needs a good humbling every class.
You see the never-ending game of physical and mental chess. You see a blue ocean of things to learn.
It requires your full presence, your all-in focus of the body and mind. Your creativity is welcome.
I’ve always enjoyed art. I didn't realize how much 'art' is in martial arts until you are on the mat with an opponent and have to create opportunities under pressure.
This one is truly special art. I understand why people are obsessed with it.
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Update Feb 2025: going strong 5 days a week. Sticking with it was the best decision ever 😎
