Future

​This topic is surrounding me, so it must mean something. What direction is most beneficial for Jiu Jitsu? I was having a conversation with a friend about how we came up in a Jiu Jitsu environment that put emphasis on the overall martial aspect of what we do. Competition wins and losses were helpful, but they were not the only thing that mattered. Promotions came from being consistent, improving, being an asset to the team, as well as could you carry it. Maybe I couldn’t carry some of the belts I got at first, but I put in time, I was consistent, and I didn’t cause my coaches or the owners of the gym much hassle. Promotions like that take a long time though. Competition is a Jiu Jitsu accelerant, you will get better faster through competition, but that life is hard and it’s not the whole picture of what we do. On the flip side of that effective Jiu Jitsu is not sunshine and unicorn farts, it hurts. To preserve the things we say Jiu Jitsu can do, very few people will make it to their first stripe. I can acknowledge that the direction I want Jiu Jitsu to go is not necessarily the lucrative path, but at the end of the day I have to be satisfied with the standard of the grappling I am putting out in the world.