Craig Jones - Power Ride
Recommended for intermediate and advanced practitioners who want to up their game—especially in pinning and control.
Why BJJ Is Hard
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is beloved worldwide. Despite being a young sport, it has gained global recognition through Mixed Martial Arts. But make no mistake: it isn’t for the faint of heart. Its nature, combined with the demands it places on your growth, makes the journey both brutally hard and deeply rewarding.
1. Brutal Honesty — Checking Your Ego
When I first stepped into a BJJ class, I was a 95kg sports student packed with muscle. Yet a smaller purple belt toyed with me, tapping me at will. The harder I fought, the faster I lost. That day I learned: in BJJ, brute strength means little if you lack skill.
You either tap or you get hurt. Not tapping hurts your body; tapping hurts your ego. And that’s the beauty of it: BJJ is honest. A roll leaves no doubt about who was better. Each tap is a reminder that skill matters more than excuses.
2. Physical Demands
BJJ exhausts you differently than other sports. You can be a soccer player with 90 minutes of stamina, yet collapse in five minutes on the mats. The constant pushing, pulling, squeezing, and scrambling demand an energy system you never used before.
3. Mental Demands
BJJ is as much mental torture as physical. Being crushed under 120kg in side control, or stuck in mount with pressure on your ribs, makes you question your life choices. Sometimes it’s not even a submission — just pure suffering. The challenge is resisting the urge to quit when your body screams “enough.”
4. The Steep Learning Curve
The techniques feel endless. Instagram bombards you with “100 new moves” daily, and at first, you feel hopeless. Even as a black belt, I still hit walls. First you must decode the move, then coordinate your body, then apply it live — all while your opponent tries to break you.
But this complexity is also freedom. BJJ lets you express yourself. You can build a game around your body type, preferences, or personality: pressure, speed, creativity, control. It’s a language of movement that becomes uniquely yours.
Why Train Then?
Because the hardship is the reward. BJJ is torture-filled, yet beautiful. Over time, the grind pays off — you start to feel like you’re playing with cheat codes against less experienced partners. And more than that, BJJ builds character.
It’s hard, humbling, and exhausting — but it gives you lifelong friends, inner growth, and a sport that never stops challenging you. That’s why we keep showing up.
