Everyone has them. Those team mates or opponents who seem to be your anti-Jiu Jitsu. The ones whose strengths perfectly match the weak points in your game.

They are frustrating, annoying, and my favorite people to train with.

While I may feel like nothing is being accomplished, and everything I’m trying to do is being shut down, it’s helping me learn much more quickly than if I were just breezing through a roll!

Having my normal tricks being shut down forces me to think creatively, step outside my box, and broaden my horizons. It teaches me patience, and keeps me from getting too big of an ego (girls have ego too!)

It’s for sure a frustrating thing and I’m writing this after spending an hour rolling nonstop with one of my krypton it’s team mates. I caught myself getting frustrated several times for not being able to stop the same sweep several times in a row. It required me to pause for a moment, breathe, and figure out what I was doing to give up the sweep, and adjust accordingly. Oh, and then get swept in a different direction. Ha!

The fast track isn’t easy. It’s hard on your body and may threaten to crush your spirit. The question is, will you accept the grind? Will you take the heat? If you persevere and don’t give in to frustration you will come out strong and awesome.

Now I’m gonna go home and watch Netflix with a fresh batch of henna in my hair!