Eleven years ago since I got my black belt and I thought this would be useful advice for anyone who is in the earlier stages of their JiuJitsu training.
Although it’s definitely important to have goals I think it’s also important to realise that goal setting will only get you so far. You have to enjoy the training in order to stick with it and to train consistently.Most people won’t really enjoy training, they might enjoy it for the first few weeks or months but after that the novelty will wear off.
That’s why all the gradings and coloured belts in martial Arts were invented in the first place. To motivate people into training consistently because they feel they will get some kind of tangible reward at the end.
The bad news is these rewards can be meaningless and don’t really work. If you don’t train consistently you won’t make progress and if you don’t make any progress you won’t enjoy the training.
Even after you reach a major milestone such as a black belt you realise that you still need to keep training to maintain and improve on the progress you have made. The longer you train the smaller increments of progress you will make and the time between these improvements seems longer.
Real Martial arts and combat sports training is tough and it isn’t for everyone. I think most people will figure out within a few weeks of their first sessions whether they want to do this long-term or not.
To me, martial arts is a lifelong pursuit. It’s about gradually improving my skill level, understanding and ability even if it’s only a small amount every year for as long as I possibly can.