How to Tell You’ve Fallen in Love with Jiu-Jitsu

For some, it’s love at first roll.

The thrill of that first awkward fumbling of faux-combat, as you scoot around on your knees with your hands clutching air like a toddler. The first awe-inspiring time you tap to a woman half your size with a sadistic gleam in her eyes, or to a pimple-faced teenager that smells like hot pockets. The first morning you wake up full-body sore, but already looking into how to change your last name to Gracie.

For others, it takes some time.

“Do I really, actually love this? Is this my thing?” you might ask yourself. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Here are four symptoms that show that you have, indeed, fallen in love with Brazilian jiu-jitsu:

You Wear Your Gi Pants – or Rashie – Everywhere

We’re not just talking about that post-training run to the grocery store on your way home from the academy. That’s normal. That’s functional. No, we’re talking about that intentional, every day, everywhere wearing of jiu-jitsu training attire. We’re talking John Danaher level. We’re talking regardless of whether you actually trained – or plan to train – that day, you're out-and-about in jiu-jitsu gear. You may or may not even be wearing your gi belt. 

Those comfy cotton drawstring pants lets everyone know “I’m a martial artist.” The academy logo emblazoned across the pant leg or sublimated on the back of your skin-tight rashguard says, “This is my community, these are my people.” You walk through every aisle at the grocery store and hit every coffee shop in a three-mile radius, silently pleading for someone to ask you, “Oh, do you do jiu-jitsu?” That’s when you shine.

Congratulations, you’re in love.

The Smell of a Sweaty Training Room Invigorates You

Ooooo yeah… you know the one we’re talking about. That musky aroma of sweat and stress hormones, with a layer of never-quite-clean-enough spandex. That’s eau d’ jiu-jitsu right there.

It might have been off-putting at first (unless you’re a former wrestler… then it’s like mother’s milk). It might have singed your nose hairs and taken you back a step on your very first whiff. But slowly you became accustomed to it. It stopped being so repulsive. Then, wham! One day you strolled in through the academy doors and found yourself taking a big, deep breath of it, prepping yourself for the legendary battles to come.

Don’t you know it… you’re in love.

You Try to Recruit Random Strangers

Maybe you started jiu-jitsu because you wanted to try something new, or you wanted to lose weight, or you wanted to spend more time with your significant other – who was already a jiu-jitsu nut. Maybe it was because Joe Rogan said it was cool. Or maybe you accidentally stumbled into the academy looking for your local D&D chapter, and just… stayed.

Whatever the reason, at first it was “your” thing. Then, you started thinking… why don’t MORE people try jiu-jitsu? If more people join, then you have more training partners. The more people you have on the mat, the more white belts you can simulate murder on, and the better you get! You developed a compulsive tendency to recruit everyone you know – your brother, your cousin, your next door neighbor… heck, even your grandmother. Then suddenly, you found yourself extolling the virtues of Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the check-out guy at your local Trader Joes, to your seatmate on the airplane, and even the old guy who walks his dog every morning at 7am sharp.

My friend, you are in love.

Your Gi Collection Has its Own Closet

When you first started, you probably had to borrow a BJJ gi. Maybe you brought your own, but it was an old karate kimono from when you were in high school. Then, you were the proud owner of your very first gi. Just one, though, because you weren’t quite sure about this jiu-jitsu thing just yet.

Flash forward to today, and you now own more Brazilian jiu-jitsu gis than you could possibly wear in a week… or maybe even a month. You have every version of your favorite Kingz gi – every new colorway and limited edition. You’ve started scouring Ebay for vintage gis, shelling out twice as much as they originally sold for. You might even have won a bidding war for one, because it was worn at the IBJJF Worlds and has a blood stain from when the champion that year broke her nose in the finals but fought on for the win. You have so many gis, that you’ve designated an entire closet in your house just for your gi collection (organized by color, of course).

Not only are you in love… you might be a little obsessed.

Whether it was love at first roll, or it took some time, if you’re reading this, the odds are good that you are in love with jiu-jitsu. Sometimes it may seem like a toxic relationship – when that FOMO hits hard and you re-tear your ACL because you didn’t stay off the mat – but more often than not, it’s one of the best kinds of love you'll have in your life.

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Kingz.