bjj and your social life

[Matt Thomas]

The biggest thing I have struggled with is having normal conversations. Being absorbed into jiu-jitsu all the time I tend to forget that not everyone trains. I'll often find myself deep into conversation with a friend about something jiu-jitsu related and realize mid sentence that they have no idea what I'm talking about.

[eoin ahern]

get on great with everyone in my club/gym. id say i made more friends through training

[Mike Nall]

if anything it's the opposite. I mean in some ways, yes. I have less time, so a lot of my long time friends I have less time to spend with. But on the other hand I'm in my 30's now, so I sort of think that once you get to that age it's important to have circles of friends with similar interests. Jiu-jitsu has given me a lot of really close and valuable friendships, and our school has cookouts, we surf, all types of stuff. And then beyond that I have people that I've maybe met once or twice while visiting other gyms but I'm able to stay in touch with online, and then we can hang out if we're traveling in each other's neck of the woods. It's sort of like a fraternity to me.

The I think it gives a lot of people more confidence, and I've seen people come out of their shells, that were socially awkward or just shy people. Even if they didn't hang out or date other people they train with, they've said that jiu-jitsu gave them the confidence to approach a girl that they liked, or to be more social and make new friends.

So I think it's very beneficial, socially. It's like Crossfit. Those people that are super into it hang out with each other all the time. It's like tribes. People get into social circles based on similar interests, and it's a good thing. You need to have balance in life, and if you just crack out on training all the time I've seen it mess up personal relationships or outside friendships. Anything can do that though.

[Apperz]

BJJ is my Social Life. Whereas friends go to the pub / play Playstation / etc / etc - I'm in the gym doing what I love.

When I'm 50 I don't feel I will look back and say 'I wasted my life in the gym', but 'man, I had so many great experiences in the gym'. With that in mind, I wonder whether my friends will be able to do the same about the pub / Playstation / etc.

[Chris Matts]

Not really. I've always been an introvert. it might of helped a little though, Having people walk up to me and go dude how the fuck did you do that? or people talking to me after class, it helped me get a little more comfortable around groups. I'm kind of a quiet guy. Same amount of friends since I started.