Thus, it seems to me that both academics and grapplers might want to learn how to allocate scarce resources to multiple competing priorities. (Not all of us are cut out to be nerds, and that’s okay. That’s why we have to be nice to the ones we know.) In my experience, I am far more likely to progress if I develop realistic expectations about my own limits. To me, this means I must get clear about what I am and am not willing to do in the name of my passion – I must own my training.

This may be difficult, particularly if I am a newer, untested and unproven practitioner, and particularly since both academe and grappling are high-energy, high-performance contexts; it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement. But if I let the context sway my decisions, I may end up on a path that is not optimal for me. Only I know what’s best for me; the goal is to develop the fortitude to strive for that.

Again, allow me to stress I’m not suggesting the typical academic or grappler ignore good advice from people who know far more than they do. To the contrary, we who are passionate should be soaking up as much from high-quality sources as we can. But we should also be filtering the information we receive through our own experiences, identifying what’s going to work for us given the tone and tempo of our lives, and what’s less likely to stick.

Let me give you some examples of what I mean. Here is a partial list of things I have discovered or decided I am and am not willing to do to succeed in BJJ. My list is different from other people’s, and I recognize that some of these choices may affect my progress. But I am fully aware of this – and I own it. And that helps me sleep at night! Here goes:

1. I am not willing to cut weight.

I know many grapplers who have cut significant percentages of their body weight to be able to compete in lighter weight classes. I respect the hell out of them and admire their resolve – and I’ll never do it myself. As a woman who lives in the United States, I have body image issues in spades, and these get triggered when I consider cutting weight. (TMI, maybe? My bad.) I have discovered that I am not willing to do what it takes to cut weight, and so when I compete, I fight at the weight I’m walking at. This isn’t ideal, especially if I’m at the bottom of a weight class, but I’m okay with it. The alternative is a lot of self-flagellation (no, not that kind).

2. I am not willing to take performance-enhancing drugs.

If performance-enhancing drugs didn’t work, people probably wouldn’t take them. And as I get older, it might seem like I’d develop more of an interest. But at this stage of the game, I am actually more interested in seeing how far I can go au naturel (no, not that kind). It’s not a philosophical or judgmental thing as much as it is a personal challenge; I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life and, fingers crossed, that doesn’t seem to be deteriorating too quickly. So I want to continue to see what I can do, powered simply by Val.

3. I am willing to shape my professional life around BJJ.

One of my oldest, most treasured, and probably least funniest jokes about myself is that my career is grappling, but since I don’t make much money at my career, my hobby is making a living. I have been fortunate enough to be able to transition from a fairly high-powered 9-to-5-and-later career to a very flexible lifestyle that enables me to train multiple times a day and still pay the bills. I work before and after my training sessions, and all of my work is online, so I can work whenever, wherever, as long as I have my computer and Internet access.

Creating this lifestyle took some doing, both in terms of legwork and in terms of changing my beliefs about what constitutes an acceptable professional persona for me. But it turns out that this was a priority vis-à-vis my training, so I figured out how to make it happen. And I’m here to tell you that participating in conference calls and writing professional-sounding documents while in my jammies is a singular kind of awesome.

4. I am not willing to compromise family time for BJJ.

When my parents and my sister’s family get together, I’m there too. Without question. They do their best to work around my training schedule, but in the event there is a conflict, my family comes first. To me, BJJ will always be there, but time with my family is scarcer, and therefore more precious. And more importantly, if I’m not there, I may miss the latest poop joke, and then I’ll be out of the loop for months afterward.

(As an FYI, this has always been one of my stakes in the ground, but in the past, it was far more difficult to feel okay about it; I would feel anxious that BJJ was passing me by until I got back to a regular training schedule. So it isn’t always easy to adhere to our lines in the sand, and sometimes we may need to revisit them as our life circumstances change. We can always change our minds, as long as we understand and own the consequences.)

So these are just a few of my stakes in the ground when it comes to BJJ and the rest of my life. But I hope they help illustrate what I mean about demonstrating autonomy. Perhaps many of you would not be willing to adhere to these. And that’s okay, because I would hope for your sake that you would consider enumerating your own list, one more commensurate with your own life and your goals.

Give it some thought: What are your stakes in the ground vis-à-vis the intersection of your fitness practices and the rest of your life? The more clearly you understand these things, the more easily you are likely be able to make sound decisions about your life and your training.

Share your thoughts on what your rules are in the comments below.

The post Owning Your Training, Part 2: Setting Your Own Boundaries appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

To my mind, here are just a few of the myriad similarities between the two contexts; maybe you feel this way about your own sport or fitness practice as well:

1. World Class Talent

In BJJ as in academe, there are world class resources and talent. Just as there are award-winning professors and researchers at colleges and universities, so are there international champions, high-level pedagogues and sophisticated technicians in the grappling world.

2. Knowledge Domains

There are complex and ever changing knowledge domains in both places. And in Jiu-Jitsu, those knowledge domains add a layer of complexity in that they require both intellectual and physical sophistication: successful practitioners strive to DO as well as – and sometimes better than – they talk about what they do.

NOTE: A byproduct of this second element is the nerd – commonplace in both contexts. The nerd is the person who devotes him/herself utterly to the study of his/her field, frequently at the expense of other physiological and social impulses. But nerds come in very handy, so be nice to them, and bring them snacks. And lest you feel compelled to tease a nerd, keep in mind that in BJJ the nerd is the person who has committed him/herself to developing a sophisticated understanding of how to subdue anyone who gives him/her reason to do so.

3. Achieving Autonomy

A third similarity between academe and jiu jitsu, in my experience, is the concept of autonomy. Both the university student and the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner enter as novices into an apprenticeship situation, where they are supported not only in what to do, but what to think, how to speak, how to exist in the context. According to various learning theories I have studied, this support from “more knowledgeable others” is a necessary and important aspect of enculturation into such a context.

Over time, however, the proportion of support shifts, such that the learner is able to take on more and more responsibility for his or her learning experience. I do not mean to imply a learner ever stops learning or needing guidance. I simply mean that in both contexts, the learner is slowly but surely expected to assume increasing ownership of that learning.

At the women’s grappling camps I co-lead, I have described this as “owning your training.” Over time, both the university student and the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner can decide how they want to avail themselves of the resources (and nerds) available to them while they engage with the complexity of the content, based on their needs, expectations, and limits. Ultimately, while an academic or a grappling context provides many supports for the learner, it is the learner’s decision about how, if at all, to use them.

It’s on this third similarity, the idea of autonomy, that I’d like to focus for the rest of this article and for the next one. I’ve been thinking recently about what I am and am not willing to do to improve at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. While I know my choices are likely to be different from other people’s, perhaps it is worthwhile to contemplate specifically what I mean by owning my training. And it’s also worthwhile to take an honest look at what is truly within my power and when I really mean “I won’t” when I say “I can’t.”

So, for before you read part two of this series, give some thought to your own fitness or health practice(s). Consider what you do to support your growth, how that compares to what you think you “should” be doing, and how all of it relates to what your coaches are telling you. These are questions academics are faced with all the time, and they bear examining as they pertain to our health and fitness.

Post your thoughts on your fitness practice in the comments here – I would love to hear them and chat with you.

Now read part two – Owning Your Training, Part 2: Setting Your Boundaries

The post Owning Your Training: Why a PhD and BJJ Aren’t So Different appeared first on Breaking Muscle.