All sports require a huge mental component in order to succeed. Without it, you will probably not get too far. Negative mental states are huge problem, and the biggest culprit is remembering bad experiences you may have had in the past. This can be from practice, tournaments, or anything you are dealing with. We tend to think about what will go wrong rather than go right, and this usually stresses us out.
With a sport that has a high turnover rate, one bad day could lead to an individual quitting jiu-jitsu. This is the same for competing, too. One bad experience at a tournament could deter you from competing ever again.
Don’t let a bad experience affect you negatively down the road. Use these situations as motivation to grow as an athlete and a person. You can go from losing your first match at a small tournament to getting first at a larger one. There are so many variables that can affect how someone does in competitions that you usually always have a chance at winning as long as you put in the work needed.
This sport is frustrating at times, but that makes it all the better when we get something right or win. Fighting with emotions is usually never a good idea when it comes to martial arts. Instead, use that energy to think about what you can improve or change to make yourself better, and come back that much better and more prepared. This should be a continuous process that never stops no matter how good you are or how long you have been doing it. You will learn the most out of defeats, but only if you are open to it.
Remember, there are current world champion black belts that didn’t start doing well until they were a higher rank. Just because you weren’t good enough today, doesn’t mean you will not be good enough tomorrow. Let today determine how you will become better tomorrow.
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