Getting back after a longer break can be difficult, and I expect that many will find themselves in this position after the pandemic.
There is one phrase I hear all the time from people who had a break and want to have a comeback.
”I will come back. But I need to get in shape first”
Followed by that he or she plans to go do cardio or lift weights for a year before coming back to the mat. 9/10 times this in reality means that we never see this person again on the mat..
You Will Be Out of Shape
Having a longer break means you will get out of shape and things will suck on the mat. It will be tenfold too, because not only will your cardio and technique suck, the people you might have beaten on the mat when you left will probably kick your ass now, and the people who used to be at your level will kick your ass even more. So yes, you will SUCK and it will be a rough time for sure.
But think about it for a while, you want to train something else so you can get back to train? It’s like you saying you want to go running, but need to work up your cardio before you do? It’s rather silly isn’t it?
Don’t Fool Yourself
I do get it, it’s not fun to come back and just be a shadow of yourself, but you will just have to embrace that and not give up. While you probably have put on weight and your body wont react as you’re used to, the technique will still be there-It will just take some time for it to awaken again. Most stuff is like riding a bike. You take a break for a year and it might be unstable to bike for the first 200 meters, but after that your brain adapts and gets the feeling for it again. Those 200 meters are the first 2 month in jiu-jitsu after a break, you just have to dig in and let your body adapt.
So people, don’t fool yourself. The only way to get good at jiu-jitsu is to train jiu-jitsu.
