Lincoln Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center - College View

Competition class on Saturdays is where it’s at!

Starting next week, we’re making a change to the Thursday evening schedule at College View.

Beginning Thursday, September 3:

Adult No Gi: 7:30–8:30 PM
Adult MMA: 8:30–9:30 PM

Please make note of the new times.

Competition day.

There are matches to prepare for and nerves to manage.

But even on a big competition day, Dad still has to be Dad.

Ben Terry sharing a moment with his kids at Nebraska Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Stop Chasing the Belt. Start Chasing the Skill.

Sometimes Jiu-Jitsu might actually be simpler without belts and stripes.

Think about other sports. Soccer players don’t receive stripes for improving. Baseball players don’t get a new belt after developing better skills. Swimmers don’t need a promotion to prove they’ve gotten faster.

They practice. They learn. They keep showing up.

Jiu-Jitsu really isn’t that different.

Belts and stripes are an important tradition in our sport. They recognize progress and give us milestones along a journey that can last a lifetime. But a promotion should be the result of training, not the reason for training.

It can be disappointing to watch someone else receive a promotion when you don’t. That’s natural. The problem begins when disappointment turns into comparison:

“Why did they get promoted and I didn’t?”

“Does Coach think I’m not good enough?”

“I need to prove myself.”

That mindset can turn every roll into a competition and every teammate into someone you need to beat. Ironically, that’s often the opposite of what a coach wants to see.

Promotions aren’t simply about who you can tap. Coaches look at the whole student: technical development, consistency, composure, attitude, how you handle adversity, how you treat your teammates, and whether you’re ready for the responsibility that comes with the next rank.

Someone else’s promotion doesn’t mean you failed. Their progress doesn’t diminish yours.

Especially with kids, we never want the reward to become more important than the activity itself.

We want students who enjoy learning. Competitors who challenge themselves. People developing legitimate self-defense skills. Teammates who help one another improve.

And people who understand that progress often happens long before there’s a piece of tape or a different-colored belt to acknowledge it.

When you earn a promotion, be proud of it. Then come back to class and keep doing what got you there.

Fall in love with the process. The belts will take care of themselves.