Jocko Willink: “Your BJJ Instructor Isn’t A God – They’ve Just Been Training Longer Than You”

26 Aug, 2022

You know how some BJJ instructors keep acting like they’re above their students… Almost as if you need to bow before them?
Jocko Willink is well-aware of those kinds of people. And he has some great advice:

Just to say this, for the thousandth time… Your Jiu-Jitsu instructor is not God or a God of any form.
They’ve just been training Jiu-Jitsu longer than you, you know? That’s just the way it is.

So, if they’re trying to treat you like you’re a surf on their giant land and you owe them… Like, that’s not a cool relationship out of the gate to have with an instructor. Your instructor should be cool.
And there’s all kinds of good instructors all over the place now.

I mean, Jiu-Jitsu is so widespread now. Compared to when we started, it’s ridiculous.

The same thing is true between training partners, too. Jocko doesn’t think too highly of himself just because he taps someone out:

When I beat someone in Jiu-Jitsu, I just think: “Well, I’ve just been training longer than them.”
And when someone beats me, I’m like: “Okay, cool, you’ve been training longer than me.”