The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - The Value of Training BJJ when Traveling to New Cities | You-Jitsu #27

Episode Date: May 1, 2023

I've been traveling lately, and I took my BJJ gear this past trip. It was great to visit the BJJ gym I started at and train with a different group of people. In this episode, I expand on the value of training at other gyms and provide perspective on the diversity of the BJJ community.

When you start training Jiu Jitsu, you join a brotherhood and a sisterhood that welcomes all and is universal in its languages. I've been traveling lately and fortunately back to where I grew up actually or near there where I used to live and where I grew up really in jujitsu and where I started. And so I reached out and I was welcomed back with open arms, which is great. Open arms and wrist locks, which is not so great. But the gist of it is really once you start training jujitsu, you've got your gi, you've got your belt, or you've got your rash guard and your shorts if you're doing no gi. It's the same everywhere. And really all you have to do is ask.

Ask when you travel on vacation or for work. Look for jiu-jitsu gyms and ask them, hey, can I come in and train in the morning or the evening? Is there a mat feed? Do you have an open mat? And then try and work it into your schedule. For me, I've been super busy this week, so I got one class in, and I know all my excuses are lies, but it's fantastic because it's the same, and it's so welcoming, and it's fantastic because it's the same and it's so welcoming.

It's so refreshing to know I tie my belt similar to you. We do the same kind of moves, right? Jiu-jitsu is a universal language. We roll together, pass or sweep, drills, right? You'll learn different moves from different folks in slightly different ways. But in the end, really, it's this magical ability to go to different jujitsu gyms and learn and keep growing while you travel. And I think that's so invaluable. You know, it's similar to, I guess, exercise gyms where the weights are basically the same, but you get that human connection, that struggle, that hardship that we love

in practicing Brazilian jujitsu and that we gain so much value from. So I say all this to say, when you travel, when you're going on vacation or when you're traveling for work, take your stuff, pack your gi, pack your belt, take some rash guards and shorts and whatever braces like me you need, knee things and ankle things, and go train there. It also will give you a feel of what it's like to roll with other people to gauge yourself and not that you have to go level 5,000 spas when you roll. In fact,

you shouldn't, if you're visiting other gyms, what is it like? How do these folks roll? How do I kind of measure up? So to speak, especially I got to, I got to catch up with folks that I used to train with that I started with

that were a little ahead of me. And it's just neat to see each other's progression and congratulate each other and be proud for each other. They're still with it because right. I've been training four and a half years and there's not many folks that I started with that are left. And I like that about jujitsu. Right. And I'm not an elitist or anything, but it's made to weed folks out. It's not for everybody. That's fine. Right. It's, it's no different. You know, when I was in the Navy, I didn't make it through the dive medical technician course and it's it's no different you know when i was in the navy i didn't make it through um the dive medical technician course and it's not for everybody and in hindsight i didn't really love it right a lot of the water work we did i got through it but it was awful and i don't think i wanted to do that so for some folks in jiu-jitsu

they feel like they're drowning right they feel like they don't want to do it and that's cool so don't so find another art or find something else or just live your life. But for those of us that stick with it, it'll get ingrained in you. And I love seeing that in the newer white belts that come in since I've been practicing for a while, four and a half years now, and see them stick with it for a month and then three months and then six months and then a year. And then they get a little tougher to roll with. And, you know, it's pretty awesome to watch in their persistence. And these are big folks, little folks, men, women, it's, it's, it's all different shapes and sizes. And so when you travel, try and see the world of jujitsu and other gyms and figure it out. That's, that's my advice is, is travel with your jujitsu stuff. If you can, I get it. Sometimes we travel and

we're limited on space and things, but, um, it's worth it. It's good to either go back to where you came from when you're traveling or try new gyms, and that's something I'll try and do this summer is I'll be traveling to different areas and just look for the gyms in that area and go train with them. And same thing, so look at the gym. If people are going a little crazy when you're there or it's not your level, then just do the drills and pick who you roll with. Just be smart.

But it's cool to see kind of the world of jiu-jitsu, or at least for me in America, the differences in jiu-jitsu gyms and people and how we learn and what we've learned and what's this belt level mean in this gym versus that. Because there's differences, right? You know, different gyms give belt levels to different people at different skill levels. And it's not universal.

You can see that in competition too. I've competed against folks that have multiple stripes, but the same belt color as me. And I was way better than them. I also competed with folks that were brand new at the same belt level than me and they're better. So it's all these different things you'll learn. So thanks so much for listening to the KevTalks podcast,

this jujitsu edition, this kind of mashup of shows that I've done for being here, for going to the Kevtalkspod.com website. Search jujitsu at the bottom of the page there. There's great information. I think I'm probably a little biased because I created it, but it didn't all come from me. It's advice from other folks and things that I've learned from other people. But thank you so much. Please subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Those are the big dogs that help the show grow.

Remember, when you're practicing that jujitsu, breathe, get those frames up, and survive. Godspeed, y'all.