I have had my own jiu-jitsu academy for 20 years now and it is a great privilege to see the positive effect that training has on people’s mental as well as physical health. I have seen this in my students, but also in myself as well.
Because it is a martial art, a lot of people assume that jiu-jitsu excludes people with certain physical limitations, but this is absolutely not the case. We have students from all different backgrounds, with all different physical abilities. I have a student who is blind, one who is an amputee and another who is paralysed from the waist down.
The challenge for any teacher is to develop a style that will suit your students. Because students have different abilities it is important to look at everyone as an individual and focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t. The beauty of jiu-jitsu is that as long as you can move your body, you can find a way to train.
We also have lots of veterans who train at the academy, and of course a lot of them come with their own injuries and physical challenges. I was also lucky enough to be invited to the Royal Marines base by Sam Sheriff, and seeing these guys in action was awesome. All of the military and first responders do a great job and it is wonderful that jiu-jitsu and REORG is having such a positive effect on them.
Missing out on exercise is the worst thing people can do for their health, especially in times of stress like we have seen recently. We will see the effect now as the lockdowns are lifted. For sure there will be more people who are overweight, and who are depressed. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel now. It has been an incredibly challenging time for every individual and for every business too. But now that everything is reopening, life is getting back to normal and hopefully we can put this difficult time behind us.
For me, I never see jiu-jitsu as a job, it’s a way of life. When you have a good training session, it is like you sweat your problems away, and you leave lighter. I love doing jiu- jitsu and want to continue as long as I can, until I’m 92 if I am lucky.
Roger Gracie is 10 times world jiu-jitsu champion
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