ALLDAYBJJ

I giggle a little every time I see memes about people who get upset when their significant other goes to jiu-jitsu or when I hear teammates talk about how they need to leave immediately after class before their significant others (both girls and guys) get mad.

Luckily, I don’t have that problem. I met my husband in 2012 while he was visiting my academy on Kauai. He trained there before but had moved back to the mainland prior to me moving home. At that time, I was in the middle of training for a couple of competitions coming up, including Worlds. So after hearing about how much of a “killer” he was on the mat, I asked him for help and the rest is history.

Our life, collectively and singularly, revolve around jiu-jitsu. Our vacations always include new places to visit and train, our free time outside of work is spent at the academy, and our gifts to each other most always include fancy new gis.

I’ve had numerous people (guys) tell me that they wish they had a girlfriend/wife like me. Not just so that they can get the “nagging” about gis and time spent at jiu-jitsu to stop, but so that they can genuinely share their love of jiu-jitsu and their lifestyle with someone that they love or care about.

While there’s no quick fix for a hesitant significant other to at least like jiu-jitsu, or even get them to try it, there are a few ways that may help ease them into it.

Introduce them to your “other” family, your jiu-jitsu family. More likely than not, some of your closest friends will come from the gym. Once your significant other sees what kind of relationship you have with your gym family, the better chance that they might lighten up and even want to spend time with them too!
Bring them to the gym and let them watch you train. They might be so inspired or intrigued that they might want to try it too. On that same note, if your gym has a women’s program, see if they would be interested in observing that class as well.
Include them in important jiu-jitsu decisions, like what gi to wear for competition or which gi you should buy next (admit it, those are pretty big decisions). The more pride they can put into your lifestyle, the more support you’ll get.

So what's the key word in all of this? Involvement! Happy wife, happy life... and happy rolls. :)