If you have been training Jiu-Jitsu for any length of time, then perhaps you have experienced a phase where you felt burned out? We all have felt less enthusiastic about training at one time or another. It’s usually when I am getting crushed by someone at the end of class, and I think, well this sucks, maybe I should choose a less depressing hobby. But we don’t actually want to quit training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu do we? How do we work through this?

Well one answer is to talk to a friend, someone who also trains Jiu-Jitsu, and who knows us well, and someone who we feel comfortable opening up to. So we find that friend and we confess our dark secret that we are feeling burned out on Jiu-Jitsu, and they look at us with kind eyes, and they say: “YOU NEED TO STOP BEING A LITTLE BITCH!”

OK, well we tried that, and it didn’t work, so what should we do instead. Well I am going to suggest a method that I heard someone say that the famous coach John Kavanagh employs, at his gym SBG Ireland. In case you have been living in a hole in the ground and don’t know who this is, it’s Connor McGregor‘s coach. And of course, I may have this all wrong and maybe he doesn’t do this, but who the heck is going to let facts get in the way of a good story, not me. The tale goes that whenever one of his students even hints at the fact that they maybe are feeling a bit burned out, experiencing a bit of ennui, maybe not sure if this is for them, blah, blah, blah, John immediately kicks them out of the gym for a month. As soon as he does this the student is like, woah man, I didn’t mean it like that man, I’m sorry, and John is like, I don’t care, you are out for a month.

So after a week or so of the forced break, the student says, I think I’m ready to come back, and John says, no you’re out for a month. Long story gets short (as Ricky says in Trailer Park Boys), by the end of the month, the student is freaking out and can’t wait to get back in the gym. Burnout avoided. Simply brilliant. So if your a Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, Sambo, or even interpretive dance coach, consider using this clever trick to prevent burnout. And if you’re a student of the game feeling a bit fried, try it yourself. Try not to spend the whole month eating Doritos on the couch. See you on the mats when you get back.