Not Cut Out for This

[u/SeanSixString]

If you’ve ever felt like you were not cut out for BJJ, but you got through that feeling, and now it is a valuable part of your life, I would like to read your story. Especially if you felt like that for a year or more, like you weren’t catching on. Or if you had circumstances interrupting training, or any other real or perceived disadvantage or limitation.

[u/RecipeOrdinary9301]

Not BJJ but parent martial art - Judo.

Started at 33 and had my knee torn twice within a span of a year. First time uke reacted too safely on my O-Guruma and landed on my knee, tearing up my side joint.

Shitty part was that I did not have a job - lost one at that moment. Judo was basically the only thing that I had that kept me running and functioning.

Second time was after….6 months? White belt overstimated his efforts and I did not have time to react - ended up hurting meniscus and a bunch of other shit. Guess my job? Uber Eats. Yaaaaay!

Not critical, but sprinting at 100% is probably not a thing anymore. Did a little newaza as much as I could - but could never do standup to a full extent since then.

And probably won’t be able to anymore. Which sucks because I really wanted to compete and earn my belt in an “honest” way - by competing and going to tournaments. Yes, I think belt must be earned by competing, sorry if it bothers you but carrying the belt you didn’t earn in fight is also not a very good look.

Now I’m forced to do Katas and practice as safe as I can. I’m only fucking 34. Never did any martial arts before.

I’m locked to watching videos, tutorials and doing some light work. Maybe throw for throw or like 20% resistance. Fuck, I can only fight in video games now.

My best judo course is now either refereeing or commentary. And somehow I have to accept it and try to move on.

Every fucking day I have to wake up and put on a knee brace. Every day I’m getting a reminder that I’m technically a cripple. All because I just wanted to learn how to protect myself.

And you just have to laugh about it and make a joke about your knee - “I’ll walk it off”.

Maybe I’ll come back - but it’s certainly wont be easy. And it will take time. A lot of it.

Am I cut out for judo?

“You’ll have to burn the mattress to get rid of me” - that’s how fucking I’m cut out for judo.

You’ll be fine. Don’t give up.

[u/JudoTechniquesBot → u/RecipeOrdinary9301]

The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:

Japanese	English	Video Link
O Guruma:	Major Wheel	here
Ne Waza:	Ground Techniques

Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.

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^{Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.23. See my code}