Top 8 Mental Health Benefits Of BJJ

1. What is Mental Health?

Mental health is a term that refers to your social, emotional, and psychological health conditions. It determines how an individual deals with his/her emotions, stress, and decision-making.

2. How Does BJJ Affect Your Mental Health?

BJJ is the most effective form of self-defense for ground combat. It teaches you many practical skills and helps build your strength. It's become popular in recent years and is known by people worldwide, not just because it increases your physical strength but also has a positive impact on your mental health.

“Physical strength (hard work), mental strength (perseverance), and spiritual strength (love & acceptance) are the keys to continuous growth.”
(Rickson Gracie)

BJJ has shown many positive effects similarly observed in meditation. Many people don't believe that, but students practicing jiu-jitsu really enjoy these benefits. Many students reported that they felt a positive change in their bodies, mind, and soul after practicing BJJ.

BJJ helps you to identify your limitations, and strengths and enhances your mental well-being. It relaxes your body and allows you to attain a state of peacefulness. All those practitioners involved in BJJ training have improved mental ability and can adopt new BJJ techniques quickly.

3. BJJ's Mental Health Advantages  

BJJ not only physically transforms you, but also improves your mental health. Mental health benefits of BJJ include:

3.1. Stress Reduction

Stress is a condition that occurs when the body responds to some cause of mental pressure. It is normal to experience some stress in everyday life; you cannot escape from it. However, if you do not control it, it can become chronic and a serious condition. One of the most effective ways to control your stress is through physical activity.

BJJ is the best example of healthy physical activity. You can reduce your stress levels in the following ways:

Tough Training Causes Endorphin Release:

BJJ is a martial art that involves tough exercises that release lots of endorphins. Endorphin is a hormone that is released by the nervous system to deal with stress and pain. You feel good after endorphins are released. However, the effect of endorphins lasts only for a short time. However, regular BJJ practice will improve your mood and help you to better manage stress.

BJJ Changes Your Focus:

You suffer from stress when your mind is juggling with too many thoughts at once. It's all a matter of how you organize the thoughts running through your head. When you start your training on the mat, your main focus is to better practice BJJ. Therefore, jiu-jitsu training is an excellent way to keep negative thoughts at bay and improve your mental health.

Positive Support from the BJJ Community:

Whenever you are stressed, you can find someone to support you. Since BJJ has a large community, you will find many friends, training partners, and mentors that will be there for you at every step.

Improves the Quality of Life:

You will notice you are starting to live a healthier lifestyle once you begin jiu-jitsu training. You will learn to go to bed early since you become more aware that if you do not get enough sleep, you will miss out on training. You'll be more aware of your weight, so you'll choose heal thier foods over sweets and junk food. You will try to do your best in BJJ training sessions which become a source of positive influence in your life.

3.2. Practice Self-Control

Self-control is one of the most important characteristics you need to achieve your goals. The more disciplined you are, the more your physical and mental health will improve. BJJ focuses on personal development. Practicing small exercises daily makes you punctual and improves your skills.

You can learn self-discipline through jiu-jitsu in the following ways:

Lowers Aggression:

BJJ is considered a gentle art, but that does not mean the techniques lack power. It is called gentle art because it only requires the necessary amount of force to defend yourself against an opponent. You learn to control your aggression on the first step to practicing self-control.

Self-Awareness:

When you start practicing jiu-jitsu, you start to evaluate your skills. You begin to understand more about your strengths and weaknesses. Working on your weaknesses will lead to improvements in your performance and achieving higher BJJ belt ranks. The possibilities are unlimited if you implement this mindset in your education or profession.

3.3. BJJ Teaches Patience

BJJ will teach you patience. There are two different approaches to being patient and both are taught in jiu-jitsu.

• The first is short-term patience, which is learned by students that are new to BJJ and who have to learn how to properly perform moves.
• The second is long-term patience, which teaches patience in everyday life. It's a long journey to achieving a black belt. You will need to dedicate many years to reach this point. So, for this long journey towards higher belts, you will need the patience that jiu-jitsu teaches you. The lessons learned can be applied to everyday life.

3.4. BJJ Improves Problem-Solving Skills

BJJ resembles chess because it's a game that requires critical thinking. You have to overcome the many obstacles placed by your opponents to win. BJJ needs a high level of thinking to solve problems. When you start training, you will struggle to overcome your opponent’s moves. You may lose a lot, but with time, your problem-solving skills will improve. Moreover, these skills will also be helpful in your daily life.

3.5. Remain Calm Under Pressure

BJJ is a sport where you can be attacked by your opponent at any time during the fight. You need to know how to learn to deal with these sudden attacks. Moreover, if you panic, your opponent may escape or you may lose the match. To win, you always have to be calm and think clearly about how you can defeat your opponent. It's not easy to remain calm in a difficult situation. However, as you progress in BJJ, you will learn to master these techniques. It not only helps you in fights but will also help you deal with stressful moments in your life.

3.6. Improves Self-esteem

Your motivation and confidence levels increase with your progress. To receive a black belt in BJJ, you will have to overcome many hurdles. While following these steps, you will experience many victories that will boost your confidence. You can improve your confidence in the following ways:

• Learning self-defense
• BJJ boosts your physical health and fitness which boosts confidence.
• You learn to interact with the community.
• You are open to facing new challenges.
• You start learning from your mistakes and accept your failures.

3.7. Additional Friends

Joining a jiu-jitsu academy is also termed "joining the BJJ family" because you make close friendships with your training partners. You spend a lot of time with them and create a strong mutual bond. BJJ creates a positive environment for different students that share similar goals. The workout environment can be competitive too at times, as you have matches or compare your skills with your friends.

“Greater than any title I won is the friendships I made through jiu -Jitsu”
(Caio Terra)

• Whenever you learn with friends, you learn better and faster together.
• You also have to face failures in BJJ, but if you have good friends, they will motivate you constantly.
• You won't feel alone, your friends will encourage you in every situation.

BJJ gives you the chance to form a strong bond with your training partners. It feels good to know that you have a group of people who support you.

3.8. Instill Respect

Respect is one of the core teachings of jiu-jitsu. Whenever any session begins, you are taught to respectfully bow to your coach, followed by a bow to your partner before you begin to practice. Jiu-jitsu is based on mutual respect. You're working out alongside your partners to help them grow as well. This teaches you to respect others on and off the mat.

4. Conclusion

There are numerous advantages to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The effectiveness of BJJ is different for every individual, depending upon their psychological characteristics. If your mental health is important to you, then BJJ is an excellent way for an average individual to become more confident, focused, and calm. If you want to improve your mental health, then give Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a shot.