When people give up at white or blue, I feel a little sad because they don’t know how much they’re missing out on. It’s not just self-defense, but even if it was just that, it’s seems silly to not want to be skilled in it.

After a few months, students might find the classes repetitive so they think they’ve seen it all, or even know it all.

When children stop, it’s worse because it’s usually their (non-training) parents that pull them out, unable to recognize the benefits of training and how much time is required to realize them. There’s a quick, initial burst at first, then it gets boring and hard.

Knowledge and skill compound quietly, and slowly at first. But the rate of return increases as knowledge and skill increase. That means the greatest gains are made near the end. I’ve learned more in the last three years than the previous ten. It’s a common thing to hear. A lot of black belts will tell you that they truly started learning after black belt.

I started training in the summer of 2011. I got to blue fairly quickly, in six or seven months. Then it took me until January 2018 to get to purple, spending over six years as a blue belt.

I’ve never met someone who trains say they wish they quit. Nearly everyone who trains say they wish they started sooner or they wish their parents put them in jiu-jitsu as children.

Maybe that’s simply survivorship bias. But I don’t think so. Because I’ve met quite a few people that used to train and now regret quitting. I listen to them tell me their reasons for stopping and they’re all similar stories.

Black belts have had the same reasons for giving up. They just kept going.