Ask a Black Belt - Jiu Jitsu Podcast

133. How a Positive Outlook Shapes Us in Jiu Jitsu

Thomas Rozdzynski

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Have you ever been in a situation where negativity just seems to seep into every corner? Picture this: you're at an academy, or perhaps in your everyday life, and there's that one individual whose bad attitude is spoiling it for everyone. We're all about the power of positivity and the damaging effects of a negative outlook in this episode. With the help of a thought-provoking question from Johnny B, we venture into the cultures of various academies, stressing the importance of a sunny disposition, regardless of the circumstances. Spoiler alert: a bad attitude won't get you far - in fact, it could even get you expelled.

Drawing parallels from my own academy, I delve into the role attitude plays in learning and teaching Jiu-Jitsu, leadership, and life strategies. While I also share some personal insights about my academy, the main focus is the significance of self-management and seeking help when negativity rears its ugly head. I urge you, listeners, to maintain an open dialogue, to reach out to your friends, training partners, and instructors, or to seek professional help when needed. Remember, one conversation could be the game-changer. Don't let a toxic environment of negativity ruin the fun and progress for everyone. After all, you can't change others, but you can definitely change your own attitude. Listen in for some revealing insights from this enlightening discussion.

Ask me questions on IG @rozdzynskibjj, I will personally respond to you and record the episode with an official answer.

Links you need to check out:
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Speaker 1:

Johnny B sends me a question all about attitude and it's kind of a long story that he's presenting here. But listen, the moral of the story, that the underline or the highlight part of all of this is that bad attitude will get you kicked out. I mean, that's the bottom line I think you know. As far as the academy cultures are concerned, all of them are different. The instructors have tolerance level in different points. Some of them are more tolerant, the others have a little bit less of a tolerance of the bad attitude. But no matter what, i'm yet to find an academy, i'm yet to learn or visit an academy where bad attitude would be welcome. It just isn't. So the recipe is simple Bad attitude always will get you kicked out. In fact, when I speak of myself or my academy, i often think about it.

Speaker 1:

Listen, i can teach you Jiu-Jitsu. I can teach you strategies about life. I can teach you leadership. I can teach you how to be an instructor. What I can teach you is attitude. Attitude is something that you manage, something that you have inside you, is your approach to life, is your perspective on life, and if it's negative, unfortunately that will set you back quite a bit in life and on the mat. So be very cautious how all of this is approaching Now from your training partner perspective.

Speaker 1:

If you see somebody who has a bad attitude, who has a negative approach to life, i would highly encourage to really talk to them. Try to figure out why that happens. Is this one time occurrence we're having a bad day? We all have bad days. Is this a bad day or this is something that carries on for days, weeks, months, even in years? I've known some individuals in the past. I have came across individuals who have just negative outlook on life and, to be honest with you, i don't want to be around them. I don't want to be around people who have negative attitude in life, and I know life is not easy for everybody. I know life sets a lot of obstacles and challenges for all of us, but the outlook on life is so important for us to continue progressing. So if you are in a dump, if you are in a headspace where negativity is really creeping up, talk to somebody, talk to your training partners, talk to your friends, talk to your instructors, seek professional help if necessary, because that attitude will carry on. And I'll tell you from my own experience what I've seen on and off the mat at the academies.

Speaker 1:

The one negative person will ruin everything for everybody. So negative attitude will get you kicked out. At least at my academy, we come to the academy, we come to the mat, we step on the mat to have fun, to get away from quote unquote reality of life. We had rough days and long days of work and sometimes our family is putting stress points on us and we simply want to get away. We want to clear our mind, we want to train, we want to challenge ourselves mentally and physically and that negative attitude is just not welcome. It's just not welcome.

Speaker 1:

So listen, if you're struggling with this, i highly encourage you to talk to somebody, whether it's friends, training partners, instructors start there, but sometimes we need somebody who is just by far more knowledgeable about this to help us out, and I know personally that one conversation, one conversation, really could change the outlook, could change everything here. So don't be afraid to speak out. At the same time, if you do see somebody who has a bad attitude, i would encourage you to start these conversations, because that to toxic environment of negativity will continue very quickly, continue growing, continue growing, continue growing kind of ruins for everybody else and it's just not healthy training environment. So change the attitude. Change the attitude. The attitude is everything We can teach you as instructors.

Speaker 1:

We can teach you how Jiu-Jitsu, we can teach you leadership. We can teach you everything we know. Or we can't change is your attitude. What do they say? you can bring the horse to the water, but you can't make them drink it. And that's the big one. We can't make you do something you don't want to do. Outlook on life it all starts within us. Keep on training peace.