For the last several years I have been training Brazilian Ju Jitsu, something that I wound up getting talked into while my kids were working on their own martial arts training programs. Both were at the time pursuing black belts in their arts and I wound up sitting there six days a week basically twiddiling my thumbs.
At the time that my kids where training there was a Adult class in BJJ running and I was talked into jumping in because otherwise I was basically just sitting there doing nothing. At the time I was also looking into something to improve my fitness because I had just dropped a pile of weight and was looking to make sure that I kept it off.
At first I figgured that I would stick with it while my kids where training, and as they wrapped up I realized that I was spitting distance to a blue belt and figured that I may as well stick with it long enough to at least finish off that level of training, however around that time I also started to enjoy learning the art, and some of what was going on started to make actual sense.
It’s been a few years since, and that blue belt is now replaced by a brown one and i’m still digging through the training.
A good portion of why I’ve stuck with this comes down to the school that I train at. We are all very aware of the potential to hurt people and train in a way that protects our partners so that we can all make sure we can get to work the next day. Not to say that I have never been hurt when training, but it’s pretty rare and usually because I did something specifically stupid while training.
I have gone to some other schools over the years, and frankly a lot of those places seem come across as places that exist to just try to tear you apart. I’m sure there’s some value to that type of training but personally most of the folks there seem to be so focused on force and strength that I can still find ways to attack and progress forward.