You Should Still Make Jiu Jitsu Resolutions

This time of year we are likely to hear "Don't wait until 2019 to get your life in order" along with "Go hard year round, not just for a holiday." While these tropes are nice, they aren't realistic for everyone. Sometimes we need to fail to see where we should be. When you're on the bottom, the only way out is up. Going into a new year it is natural to question what you did, what you didn't do, do some introspection and readjust your goals. This is, in fact, a resolution.

The history of New Years resolutions can be traced back to the Ancient Babylonians. Just before the New Year, they would crown a new king, pledge their loyalty to said King and make promises to the Gods to tie up lose ends, pay debts and return anything they had borrowed from another person. They believed that if they kept their word for the entire year, the Gods would favor them.

So, you're asking, "How does this apply to Jiu Jitsu?" Simple really. When we set goals and keep them, we see results. Results are what we crave in Jiu Jitsu. That could be winning the World Championships or Pan Ams, it might be getting your purple belt or just promising you will make it to the gym one more day a week than you did in the previous year. What all of these things have in common is progress. As human beings, we have been obsessed with the idea of progress since the world began. Someone invented the wheel and we suddenly moved forward faster in motion, another discovered that we could make medicine from moldy bread.  We have tried and tested ourselves again and again to become the best possible versions of ourselves. Jiu Jitsu is no exception. Once you have tasted a bit of success- weight loss, confidence, winning one of the biggest tournaments in the world- it becomes an obsession. Sometimes, setting resolutions help us to realize, not where we failed or fell short, but rather areas we can strengthen to further our success. Some people train hard year round and make it look easy, while others struggle simply to get to class, day in and day out.


Often people will complain "Well it's January 1st, gym is full again. Let's see how long this will last!" In the New Year, the first weeks are full of people with good intentions, pledging to lose weight, do their first tournament or simply have the courage to try something they've been thinking about doing for a long time. If you are on the opposing side and have never struggled with motivation, you train consistently and you've competed successfully, I urge you to make a new goal. Make your goal to help retain those people who might otherwise leave. Make your goal to put in extra time with them, the way someone did for you when you were a white belt. We always say "Jiu Jitsu is for everyone." I challenge you to prove it! We are, all of us, in it to be better than we used to be. What will you resolve to do this year to be the best practitioner and training partner you can be?