Winning and losing is a part of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for both kids and adults even if you don’t compete you’ll win some and you’ll lose some in training. No one likes to lose, but it is important to learn how to use it as fuel to improve rather then letting it break you down. Don’t let your ego get in your way by letting it keep you from training with people who might beat you because you’re afraid to loose. If you want to improve your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu loosing is part of the journey and it’s best to learn how to embrace it. In order to grow we must face adversity, so don’t back down from the fight. Here are 5 tips that will help you deal with loss in a constructive way.
Treat the loss as a learning experience:
It is important to use loss as a chance to grow and learn. If you loose it’s because you made a mistake or there is a hole in your game, and the faster you find it the faster you can address it. This is one reason why competing is such valuable feedback, and why it can help you improve so much faster. It forces you to go out and test your Jiu Jitsu on people you are not used to training with, and see where you need to improve.
Don’t make too much of the loss:
If you loose don’t treat it as if it’s the end of the world. One loss doesn’t mean you’re going to continue losing forever, even if it feels like it at the time. Losses are inevitable and it’s important to keep things in perspective, especially for someone who competes and trains a lot. You have plenty of years of competition and training ahead of you, and there will be plenty of other competitions and chances to train. Figure out where things went wrong, and make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.
Don’t take too much time off after losing
For some people it’s tempting to take time off after a loss because they are discouraged. Fight this urge and get back on the mat as soon as possible. Try to get used to the stress of competition and compete as much as possible. If you are fighting once a month it will be much easier to handle a loss than if you’re only doing them once a year, and letting too much ride on the success of that one tournament.
Try to separate what can be control with what can’t be controlled
If you compete long enough you will experience a loss because of bad calls by the ref. It’s important to separate this as something you can’t control. It’s best to avoid this by not leaving the match in the hands of the ref or by winning a match without any room for doubt, but sometimes this is hard to do when you are facing an extremely tough opponent. Don’t dwell on the things that are out of your control, instead focus on your training, your strategy, your technique, your conditioning, and your mindset.
Don’t be afraid to put in the work and address your weaknesses
It is important to always be humble and be open to constructive criticism. In BJJ there is a lot of problem solving and adjusting that needs to be done in order to plug all the holes in your game, and it is important to do this every training session. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is constantly growing and changing so in order to keep up you must continue to learn. Don’t be afraid to put in the work. Whatever problem is keeping you from getting to your peak performance, you need to find it and alleviate it.
If you are interested in learning more about our Kids and Adult Program please give us a call at 858-292-5040 or email us at staff@atosjiujitsuhq.com and get started on your FREE one week trial today.
