We recently registered with the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF). Ourselves and our students, under the Stoic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu “Flag”, will be able to enter into IBJJF sanctioned competitions. It is a crazy thing to think that we went from competing in these competitions to, very soon, having students that are competing in them. A weird feeling to go from calling someone ‘coach” to being the one called “coach”. This is a role we feel comfortable transitioning into because it isn’t a big leap. Coaching isn’t something we just decided to do once we opened up Stoic. We knew early on that this would be the end goal, even from the start of our BJJ journey. They say it was a long time in the making, I say it was made a long time ago. Watching our students grasp concepts and execute techniques- understanding fills their eyes- is rewarding. We are sharing our art, and to anyone who doesn’t do martial arts they may not understand, but it gets personal. You spend hours, days, weeks, the time just continues to add up. Let us say you train three times a week at 1.5 hours per class. Based upon that metric and assuming no breaks are taken, at a rate of 7.5 years to black belt, you can expect to spend almost 1,755 hours with your coach/coaches. That is a lot of time to spend with someone and quite a bit of investment for both parties.
It is a relationship, plain and simple. Coach to student relationships transcends monthly dues and contracts. It becomes more than business-we compete together, travel together, sweat together, win and lose together. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is often thought of as an individual sport. When you compete, you are on the mat individually, but as you battle your opponent you become an expression of your studies. It is a beautiful thing to some and to others, it never reaches that level. If it was easy, everyone would do it-it is not, and everyone does not do it.
We are very excited to be able to offer this level of competition and validation to our students. We want to give them nothing but the best. Every action is made with our student’s best interests in mind.
I’m done rambling. Until next time!
www.ibjjf.com
