Zahabi: Two most important aspects of BJJ training
Firas Zahabi: “Mastering BJJ entails for the most of us getting your ass kicked for close to a decade before achieving the status of black belts.”
TriStar gym owner Firas Zahabi is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but is critical of the direction many academies are taking. In a recent interview, he identified the two most important aspects of BJJ training.
“Many great and powerful martial arts have over time been watered down so as to appeal to the masses need to move forward in the belt system without having to go through what mastery truly requires,” said Zahabi as transcribed by BJJEE.com. “This has happened in many arts and is slowly also happening in BJJ. Luckily BJJ is not an easy art to fake or water down since sparring is still very much a central theme. Still many schools are feeling the pressures of giving out more strips and belts to keep memberships flowing. This puts a the BJJ community in a difficult situation, water down or lose members to those who do.
“All this to say be careful when choosing an instructor. This is the first important decision you must make on you road to mastery. The second most important decision is to cultivate an attitude of learning. When you go in the practice room go to learn and not dominate. Mastering BJJ entails for the most of us getting your ass kicked for close to a decade before achieving the status of black belts. If you are too sensitive and you go into a negative downward spiral every time you get tapped out, you will not survive the journey. Instead focus you attention on what you have learned and not whether you dominated or not.