Many athletes who do BJJ are integrating surfing into their life because of how both of the activities offer advantages to each other; both of them require good coordination and strength if you want to keep getting better at them.
When did it all started?
The advent of BJJ and surfing began with Rolls Gracie in 1970, he had a few students who surfed at Arpoador so he himself started going there as well. However, due to his busy schedule, he could not find the time to invest in this hobby so the next pioneer from the Gracie family, Relson Gracie started implementing the surfing lifestyle along with his BJJ activities. It is also the reason he moved to Hawaii in 1988 so that he could teach BJJ and be closer to the most ideal waves for surfing.
When Brazilians moved to the United States, they chose locations that were suitable for being a surfing sport, thus, BJJ grew faster in the West Coast in comparison to the East Coast. Some of the best surfers use BJJ to improve their resilience against the ocean and many BJJ practitioners use surfing as a way to improve their mental fortitude. Given below are some aspects that both of these activities improve and how they are related to each other.
Advantages of doing BJJ and Surfing together
Developing Your Strength and Control
The development of your strength and stamina goes hand in hand in practicing your moves for BJJ. Greater strength means greater control and easier execution; greater stamina means that you can stay in the fight longer without getting too exhausted. In relation to surfing, this increased strength allows you to fight the waves harder when you are out in the ocean and the stamina aspect is self-explanatory, you have to constantly be swimming if you are out on a restless sea and that is where the stamina helps you. Both surfing and BJJ are good sources for improving your conditioning because to become better at both or see more effective developments, you would need to work on improving your conditioning with a strict schedule.
Likewise, the stuff that you do when surfing also increases both of these traits along with your balance. Balance is often an underlooked trait in regards to BJJ but it’s important is significant. The core of your body has most of the weight so that will determine how strong is your balance and how easy it is for you to perform the moves properly. Balance is an essential component because it provides you with control over your move set; you will coordinate your next moves more efficiently if you are adept at controlling yourself during a sparring session. For surfing, balance is obviously important since you are going to stand on the surfboard and ride the waves, thus, practice more and it will aid you in both sports.
Training You to be Calm and Composed
Surfing is a great way to get rid of stress and calm your mind so that you can focus more on the things you do. A calm and focused mind is as beneficial for BJJ as knowing all of the techniques since a big part about BJJ is a strategy; what is the point of all that strength or knowledge if you do not know when to do it? Whenever you go for surfing, you have to determine the condition of the ocean, just like you would when faced with an opponent in your sparring sessions, and then you decide what to do without any second thoughts.
However, when it comes to both BJJ and surfing, things do not always go as you plan and you end up experiencing scenarios you had not anticipated. This is where most people start panicking, which leads them to make those scenarios even worse. This could be the case when you go for a surf and get stuck or trapped in a big wave or when your opponent is highly unpredictable, both of these sports involve a lot of adaptation and evolving. So how does one stay calm and think with a clear state of mind? Practice, which both of these activities allow you to do. The training of these kinds increases your ability to think ahead, take quick decision and not get distraught. With sufficient practice, you will always be one step ahead of your opponent when you are rolling or when faced an unfortunate situation at sea, you will keep your composure.
