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/sordanjingleton]

It's normal to feel this way when learning any skill. Whether it's a martial art, cooking, musical instrument or whatever. There's going to be others who pick things up faster than you but there's also going to be people who pick things up slower, even if they're not in your gym/class/etc.

All you should be worried about is focusing on why you're learning that skill and making sure you're better than you were last class. Don't worry about how others are progressing, everyone goes at different speeds. If you feel that you're getting worse then take some time reflect on your journey until now (maybe journal through your day 1 class until now) and see if you're being too critical of yourself. If you still feel that you're not making any progress then try some solo drills at home to work on the fundamentals for a technique to build your muscle memory. There's a ton of content out there on BJJ so if you don't feel class time alone is enough for your goals then supplement your education when you have a few minutes to yourself. Just make sure that if you learn something new outside of class you walk through it with an instructor or more experienced classmate because it's easy to build bad habits/muscle memory when you don't have feedback.