The joy of being a beginner

Being a beginner in judo can be a frustrating thing. None of your techniques seem to work. All the colored belts are "beating" you in randori. Some of them seem to be able to throw you at will. We've all been there before. Even the most skillful black belt was once a beginner and had to go through all the frustrations white belts typically experience. But together with those frustrations come a lot of joy. And when I look at some of the beginners at the club now, I recall many of the blissful experiences I had when I was a beginner.

Learning new skills
When you are learning a new sport, every session is interesting because you are learning new things. Some sports require learning only a few moves but knowing them very well. Other sports require you to learn a heck of a lot of things before you can play them well. Judo is one of those sports. There are so many throws, so many different types of groundwork moves, different grips, counters, combinations, strategies. And to top it off, there are the rules which are frankly, quite complex though fascinating to learn. You will literally learn something new with every session you attend.

Learning about your body
You will use muscles you never used before. You will feel aches in places you didn't know was possible to ache! And you will discover things your body can and can't do that you didn't realize before. Through judo you will get to know your own body really well.

A change in mindset
People often say judo is not just a physical endeavor but a mental one too. It sounds cool to say that but it also happens to be true. I was delighted when one of my beginners told me about how judo is now an important part of her life. That sounds like a rather over-the-top thing to say but I realized she was being sincere when she explained to me how judo has really knocked her out of her comfort zone. She said before, she was always one to take the easy way out in all things. Judo has made her realize that if you want to attain something, you need to work hard for it. There's no shortcut, no easy way out. Perhaps not every beginner who takes up judo experiences this positive change in mindset but even if one of my players benefits from this, I feel a great sense of fulfillment.

Understanding human behavior
In judo you don't train alone. You train with colleagues. For two or three hours while you are training with them, you get to see how they are like and how they respond to success, challenges, failures. You see the many different quirks that different people have. And you'll be exposed to all kinds of people because judo attracts a diverse crowd. Through the judo club, you'll get to know people whom you would never mingle with in the "real world" where most of the time you'd just be with colleagues and people from your industry.

Personal growth
If you stick with training, you will improve. With judo, it's something very clearly observable by you, yourself, and those around you. As you get fitter, stronger and more skillful, it will be obvious. Seeing such progress happen before your very eyes on a weekly and monthly basis will be a great boost to your self-confidence. You will feel anything is possible if you put the right effort into it.