In almost all academies the talk of training with no ego, checking your ego at the door or some variation of the phrase is often talked about, typically by the upper belts and usually by the instructor. To train with no ego, to willingly tap when you’re caught, concede a position when some one earned it and to train with the goal to learn is an amazing way to train and the sooner you realize why they say no ego your BJJ Journey will take a turn for the awesome.
There are many reasons why people tell new guys this, and every instructor has their reasons. When I say this it’s typically for two reasons, first one is to keep the new guy safe so he can keep training injury free and enjoy the sport with out hurting others. Secondly, and one not too many talk about, is that I am constantly aware of my ever growing ego and have to battle it daily. Seeing the new guy reminds me of this and my own Journey and I want to prepare him for whats ahead!
The reality is every one has an ego. Almost everyone one I’ve ever met who enters a comp thinks they have a chance to win whether they say it or not, in reality 50% of all competitors will be out in the first round. To compound the ego problem if you think right now you don’t have a big ego or ego at all GREAT! Because what no one talks about is that with EVERY NEW BELT, EVERY TOURNAMENT WIN, EVERY YEAR LONGER WE TRAIN OUR EGO CONTINUES TO GROW BIGGER AND BIGGER. No one can deny this, if you ask any black belt or decent competitor do they like losing and they honestly say yeah it’s great I get to learn, they are lying. I have NEVER met a competitor who likes losing. If you ask a person would they mind if the class was taught by a lower belt and/or a person they can tap out I am guessing their answer would be yes they mind. When a new lower belt comes to the school and catches you how does this make you feel? This is the myth of No Ego. Jiu Jitsu training doesn’t reduce your ego, it increase it ten fold, but also teaches you how to control it.
Is this a bad thing? Yes and no. It’s good in that as your ego grows so does your confidence in Jiu Jitsu! Your ego and pride to not quit enables you to push past your limits and find about more about yourself that you would have normally never known. There are a lot of positives but in the end the negatives far out weight them.
Ego is bad, majority of the time. It leads to injuries because we were to stubborn to tap or went to hard because we thought we were better. It’s really ugly side is seen when we belittle or judge others in their journey whether internally or externally because they don’t meet our own standards. How often have you heard some one say he’s legit or he isn’t legit? Why does it matter he plays the same sport as us, and at some point some one deemed them worthy of their belt. We should support our brother or sister, but ego prevents us (this doesn’t mean we should watch out for fakes but to discredit some one who legitamtely earned their belt from a recognized instructor isn’t good).
Ego is what I attribute most of the blue belt blues too. The Plateau, I’m not getting better as fast as before and am stuck in my game. To open your game up means you will get tapped more, you will give up position more you will “lose” to people your “better” than. So you’re not winning tournaments or killing people or are getting rolled up by the new guy. Here’s the truth, in the end no one cares and it doesn’t matter. Keep training
Our sport has a fail self built in, at some point, if you put yourself out there you will be humbled over and over again because there is always some one better and eventually you will realize you can always learn something from everyone! Thanks for reading, hope the next time you train it’s with no ego or your ego in check! You will find that instead of winning and losing you’ll be learning and having fun, and that’s always a win!
“Jiu-Jitsu is perfect. It’s humans who make errors.” – Rickson Gracie