10 Years of BJJ - My Jiu-Jitsu Journey - Part 10 (I Give Up!)

(This is part 10 of this series. If you haven't seen part 9 it can be found HERE.)

So... I medalled in my first BJJ comp! Talk about ecstatic, I was on a high for a few days after the competition had finished.

It was moments like this where I realised maybe I could be good at Jiu-Jitsu. Even though in the past few previous competitions I had my ass handed to me, and I looked like I had never spent an hour on the mats, for some reason on that day I was a different person. On that day I felt almost untouchable, and I wasn't going to get annihilated out there. This accomplishment was exactly what I needed to fuel my fire to keep on training and carry on my journey to get the prestigious green belt.  

I kept training for about 3-4 months after the competition in good spirits. In that time, all I wanted to be was good at Jiu-Jitsu, and was going to try my best to be as good as I could ever be. But after that period, probably around July 2008, I had a drastic change of heart towards Jiu-Jitsu, and as far as I was concerned I was done. Even though I carried on going for a few months after that, I didn't really want to be there. I was just going through the motions as I did previously and each session just felt like one big coast and I wasn't really going anywhere.  

Now, there are a few reasons I didn't want to carry on with Jiu-Jitsu. The main reason was the kid’s class. The fact was there was no competition. I was thirteen at the time and quiet big for my age and the rest of the kids were eight or nine. I could just dominate everyone with ease, and not rely on technique. This is probably why I picked up so many bad habits and when I went into competition I would just get smashed. I did always have my brother with me, but how often can you roll with him before it just become predictable?

In short, I had outgrown the kid’s class. However, I was at that age where I was too young for the adult’s class and maybe too old for the kid’s class, so I was in a weird predicament. Anyway, those decisions were not up to me, those were up to my instructors.  At the time though, I never even thought about the adult class. The thought never even entered my mind. I thought I would move into the adult’s class when I turned sixteen, but that would mean waiting three and a half more years and quite frankly I didn't think I could carry on going for that long.  

Another reason was I just didn't like Jiu-Jitsu anymore; in fact I would even go as far to say I hated it. There so many times I remember just not wanting to go and literally had to drag myself there. I mean what was the point? I'm not getting any better, there is no competition, my technique is sloppy, and my determination is zero. I know I said I had a moment like this before, but this was different. This time around I was older, and going twice a week to roll with a group of eight year olds just didn't appeal to me. As far as I was concerned I was done with Jiu-Jitsu, and sometime in August 2008 I stop going. 

Now, I want to make one thing absolutely clear, it had nothing to do with the instruction I was receiving. The instruction at my academy was, still is, and always will be top notch! And that's a FACT! 

Obviously, I did go back as otherwise I wouldn't be writing this right now.

For a few months after I left, I didn't think about Jiu-Jitsu at all, it was the furthest thing from my mind in all honesty. But then in December of that year, I started to miss Jiu-Jitsu. I couldn't even tell you why! But for whatever reason I just did. However, because I was thirteen and a stubborn little s***, I thought it would just a moment and it would pass and got back to playing Call of Duty: World at War (which is a great game by the way).  

After Christmas had passed, and I returned to school in the New Year, I made the decision to return to BJJ and carry on my journey for the green belt. I would put this down as one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life, and since that day I have never looked back. Even if that meant going back to the kid’s class and being much older than everybody, I was willing to make the best of what I had and continue the journey. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this part of 'My Jiu-Jitsu Journey', and part 11 will be published soon.

Catch you later,

Giordano