When I decided to start jiu jitsu, it was in the middle of the kids class. My kids had been going to these classes for over a year, and they always had such a good time. On top of that, all the adults that rolled in for the night class looked super fit, and I thoughtā¦ fun+fitā¦. why not??
The thought that jiu jitsu could be even remotely hard didnāt enter my mind. I meanā¦ if my kids could learn it, surely I could! I ran it by their teacher and he enthusiastically welcomed me to check out one of the adult classes. I rolled into my first class, a little nervous and a little excited.
There were (what felt like) 100 guys and one other woman who trained there. They had these warm up routines that everyone knew already, and I was supposed to just follow along. These body movements felt so completely unnatural, like asking a dog to meow. How in the hell do I get my body to move like that? Why am I so slow? Why do I have to do these in front of everyone and hold up the whole damn line while they all watch meā¦ oh god. This kind of sucks. Then came the technique portion of the class. I know they were speaking English, and I know they were showing the move, but I comprehended 0% of it. I was lost the entire time, and nothing made sense. THIS WAS REALLY HARD.
My kids were excited enough about me starting to learn jiu jitsu, that I felt obligated to keep going to at least a few more classes. I made a point to actually pay attention during my kids classes, and try to pick things up. I showed up, and I sucked really bad. The movements continued to confuse me. I constantly held up the warm up lines. I was last picked when it was time to pick a partner to train with, and I didnāt understand the stuff they taught. But I kept going anyway, because showing up meant I sucked a little less than the last time.
Almost two long years of showing up, sucking, and not giving up later, I was promoted to blue belt. I hadnāt worked so hard and been humbled so consistently in my entire life. But I think thatās what made it so special.
Through those two years, I saw the power of showing up, no matter how bad you are. Having the courage to be bad and keep going will inevitably lead to becoming good at something. As I think about the many things in life I want to be good at, Iāve realized that itās no different. If I want to get good, I first need the courage to be bad and to keep showing up anyway.
