Congrats on the purple belt!

For everyone looking to find a studio/dojo/dojang/barra:

THERE IS NO BEST MARTIAL ART!

Now that some of you fanboys have had time to scream at the monitor, hear me out.

I've heard people, over the years, go on about how Hung Gar Kung Fu is the best, because that's what Bruce Lee started in, or how Jeet Kun Do is the best because it is the product of the greatest martial artist of our generation.

Bruce Lee was the greatest because of his unvarying devotion to improving himself. Period. Full stop.

There. Is. No. Best. Art. There is only what works best for you.

Go check out the schools in your area. Watch the classes, and see how the instructor interacts with the students. While students should show respect to the Instructor, acknowledging the time spent to pass on their skills, the Instructor should likewise show respect to the students - who out of the masses have made the choice to better themselves.

Avoid arrogance! Arrogant instructors will only create tension and impart bad habits that will get you in trouble.

*20+ years in the MA, 2 2nd Dan black belts

How many IQ are you guys losing to combat sports though? As someone who did martial arts for 10 years, I wouldn't let my kids do it. Maybe soccer.

Doing BJJ for over 6 years now. BJJ is full of highly valuable lessons for both your intellect and animal side. It is a brilliant philosophy of life, really.

Easily one of the best if not best things I've done for myself. The mental, physical, spiritual benefits aren't done justice with words. You learn a lot about yourself and the other guy during sparring. I'm about 148-150 lbs got super strong powerlifting and decided to jump back into martial arts been training 7-9 times a week minimum at pretty much the MIT of grappling and probably the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school in the world depending upon who you ask for a year now (currently 4 stripe white) and I love it the things I can do to untrained men with 40-50 pounds on me compared to a year ago is honestly like a cat playing with a yarn ball can't imagine what type of monster ill be at purple (in 3 more years) if I keep up this pace.

Lifting weights is awesome but learning to defend yourself and others is a fucking powerful feeling.

When you look like a wall no one would try to pass that wall...

Is practicing at home better then not practicing at all?

Congratulations on your purple belt!!!!

Grats!! I'm a little over a year in enjoying my white belt while I can. Hope to get a couple competitions in before I make the plunge to Blue.

I always get laughed that after 2 years I'm still white belt, and guys with 5 or more years are only blue. When other martial arts get a black belt after 3 years and almost no physical exercise.

I know how incredible hard is to get a purple belt. Hell many mma/ufc stars are just purple belt in BJJ. Congrats!

Nature is my apparatus. I run, jump, climb, crawl, throw. I walk on my hands, swim, lift heavy shit, kick stuff. I like to go for nature fitness hikes and kick leaves and branches and climb rocks and trees, chase squirels...all that shit!

There is no place more humbling than a training gym. You practice the act of killing and tearing limbs apart every spar session and the only thing that is keeping you alive is rules. Amazing feeling like no other, and I agree it should be a staple part of TRP.

Purple belt here as well.

I completely agree with your lessons. Jiu Jitsu and any other martial art also gives you this primal confidence around people. Knowing how to relatively handle yourself in a physical fight makes you less timid around other dominant males in the area, which I'm sure women will pick up on.

Jiu Jitsu is a constant source of trial and error and mat experience, but you have to learn from it. If you get tapped a thousand times or you tap somebody else a thousand times, none of that means anything in the long term if you can't pick apart why you got tapped or how to make the tap come easier and more efficiently. In a social sense, you can't improve yourself unless you go and experiment.

The one tip I'll give mimics what I do with my Jiu Jitsu training. Every week I set a goal for myself in class of what I want to achieve, whether it's to get better at a certain submission or maybe to escape from Bad positions quicker. At the end of the night, I have a journal that I write down notes from that nights training. I write specific things of what made my goal easier to achieve and what made it hard to achieve. The hard part is that some people train without any specific goal in mind, and because there's so many things to focus on in training, they can't develop an area and they get lost. This is the same people have to do when interacting as social environment. Pick a specific goal you want for the interaction and then after it's done write down notes and ask yourself what made that easy and what made that difficult. If it was easy, try to up the challenge for next time. If it was difficult, analyze the situation for possible obstacles that made it difficult. If you still can't figure it out, reference your knowledge base or ask sources like this subreddit for advice.

Hope that helps!

I learned even more from self defense lessons and kickboxing lessons. No stranger has the right to approach you, especially after dark.

Also, I learned the hard way I’m responsible for my own safety and security. Cops neither show up or show up way too late.

Solid post, please consider this an "and."

My biggest martial arts (judo) mistake was neglecting base fitness. The whole idea of progressing in martial arts is things getting easier. You don't need to he-man a guy a mile into the air to throw him, you need about a quarter of an inch, and gravity is plentiful and cheap.

I have increased my base fitness and the results have shown. I run 3X's a week, only 2.5 miles, but the difference is amazing, when guys are huffing and puffing I'm even. And I do bodyweight fitness (fuck off GLO, I heard you the first time, your girlfriend isn't aspiring to dips over rings or the Iron Cross). Plus a place I did listen to GLO: I have a standing desk, no cheating, not adjustable, and am barefoot all day.

During yesterdays workout (4 black belts, 1 brown belt (me, different rank from BJJ), and 1 green belt-amazing) I didn't have a partner for the last round of ne-waza (mat work) so I was practicing my ukemi (falling ways). My sensei noticed.....I actually have an arch in my feet these days. I was using them as springs to flow into my falls. They used to be flat as a board. I'm 45 and rebuilding my body. It takes time at this age, but no excuses.

Movement based work, and martial arts in particular, are awesome....never mind the camaraderie. Also....the Big Local Sports Team lost, but my testosterone levels did not drop. On Saturday, I went in and threw people around (and got thrown around......yesterday, I'm lucky to get people off balance) then Sunday I introduced a buddy to rock climbing.

I know it's a bit of a trap, but it's hard to not walk around feeling pretty superior these days. I'm in the best shape of my life, better than many 25 y/o's, and clearly most guys my age. I often hear "Is so and so Red Pilled?" "No, doesn't matter how Alpha he is, he doesn't lift." I think there's something to it. This is a sub on male sexual strategy which depends on the AF/BB dynamic, and many martial arts are Alpha as fuck (and some are McDojos)

I agree man. Doing BJJ for the first time really changed me as a 13 year old. Developed a lot more grit, and was a lot more humble, but never afraid to fight for the right reason.

I'm 21 now and went back for like 5 months (took a break to work on other goals and going up in weight), and holy shit I realized how much of an influence it can have on your mind.

Tapping out 200lb+ powerlifters and bodybuilders, seeing yourself progress, etc.

I know it's expensive, for me, BJJ twice a week is $85, and Muay Thai twice a weak is another $85 or so (this place is really legit, well worth the price). I understand, so I'd definitely recommend just going into boxing. Most boxing gyms are way less expensive and often offer more hours to train and so on. It still teaches you to toughen up, how to take a punch, throw a punch, and develop grit and just believe in yourself in general.

Depending on how you box, for the knockout or for points (hopefully for the knockout), it can apply quite well to the real world, especially against untrained guys if the situation ever comes up.

Later on when you're doing better financially, you can try out other arts like Muay Thai and it'll translate good.

I stress boxing because it's a high contact sport, where you guys really go at it. I know some other arts basically just have you train for tournaments or aren't very applicable to real situations.

BJJ is expesensive AF that is my excuse lol

I can attest to the lifts in the gym. Have never been the bulkiest guy. I have buddies i lift with that can get those 20 inch arms yet im still curling the same weight as the and everything yet mine stay at 15's and long. All pull lifts i excel greatly at more so than push. That in itself thinking about how my body functions had made me want to try jui jitzu myself. I know im going to get straight man handled my first few goes probably several. But I did have a mini lesson with a buddy whos a para trooper. He got mad. Not because i hurt him. Both the same height at 6"1" hes just a little light i was probably 185 and alot weaker back than. Called me the squirmiest untrained guy hes met. Told me he wanted me to start training and I put it off so so long. Now. To be honest im getting a little bored with just lifting. Maybe i should make the jump. This post is definitely nudging me thanks

Most important lesson I learned from BJJ is getting soap in your wounds really hurts

I agree about BJJ being added to the canon of universal recommendations of TRP, alongside Lifting.

It checks many of the same boxes:

1. Builds Strength, Nature's greatest virtue.
2. Develops Discipline, Man's greatest tool.
3. Gives purpose and direction in life. Is an excellent hobby to have in the wheelhouse.
4. Great way to meet other cool Men. Comraderie with other males is a must for a man to reach his full potential. If you don't know how to make friends, or are outgrowing your pot-smoking/ videogame-playing circle of friends, get involved in BJJ.

In addition to this, BJJ addresses something beyond what simply lifting will provide: expertise in physical combat, and comfort in confrontation. Struggling against Iron is excellent and a must for all men. Struggling against other skilled men in a life-and-death physical chess match is a different thing entirely.

Being big and strong is great for confidence, and the self-worth you derive from it (and its positive effects on game) have all been discussed.

Being physically capable of strangling someone or snapping their arm is just like this. A man needs to know how to fight. Period. Granted, the outward effects won't be as readily apparent as they are with lifting (that's why you should do both), but the inner confidence is 100x stronger.

Other combat disciplines (boxing, judo, etc) could be practiced for very similar reasons. But BJJ is the squats and deadlifts of martial arts. Highly recommended.

Not to mention that martial arts give you REAL confidence. I trained muay thai for many years also started BJJ year ago. I saw so many fake alphas from the gym break down and all off a sudden asking to 'chill out bro' when it was about to go down. And always the same surprised look(saying wtf im bigger than you how come youre not scared). Dont get me wrong,lifting is not bad. I do it myself sometimes,cause its good for getting girls and building up some confidence. But the real confidence comes when youre not scared of a fight and martial arts give you that. Im not some insecure tryhard who spent some time in the ring and now has to prove to everyone bigger than me that Im better. Mostly the fake alphas who failed to AMOG me started the fights,and quickly tried to quit when I didnt back off or someone told them about my thropies.

Congrats OP, this is a milestone.

Any thought on Muay Thai? I was planning on joining in the next few weeks. I would like to join BJJ however the prices are too expensive for me at the moment. I’d like to get in shape while doing Muay Thai for the next couple of years and then begin my BJJ journey. Thoughts would be appreciated!

[deleted]

I did Brazilian jiu jitsu as well.