I compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I also train and do sparring in Muay Thai, but do not actively have fights.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is a great sport, not only for the physical activity, but also as it requires constant learning and humbles you very quickly.
You learn to let go of your ego, regularly getting tapped out by smaller people, including women, and forces you to reflect on your mistakes and learn from them.
I feel as though it is equivalent to a real-life RPG, where you're constantly grinding and gaining experience and gaining abilities to take down better opponents. It's also a ton of fun and stress reliever after a long day at work.
It's always interesting to see the dynamic at the beginning of class where everyone is significantly more quiet, as compared to after several rounds of hard rolling and submissions. Everyone is in a great mood and talking to each other about how they were caught in an impressive and sneaky choke or asking for open criticism from others.
I feel as though this has translated well in my professional life, realizing that situations are not as bad and I believe and can take a step back, relax, and assess the best course of action.
Highly recommend giving it a shot if you want to be challenged to an extreme and learn every single day.
