6 Cool Lessons Martial Arts Teaches About Mental Health and Resilience
by Dr. Victoria Ranade, PhD, MBA, ABPP
Recently, I discovered a new passion: martial arts — specifically, jiu-jitsu.
I am an unlikely person to enjoy jiu-jitsu. I don’t know how to throw a punch and have never been in a fight. When I first went to the jiu-jitsu studio, I naively assume it would be like yoga or any other exercise class I’ve been to—something with structured exercises and drills. I didn’t realize it would involve grappling and rolling on the floor mat, being thrown onto the ground, or protecting myself from being tapped out.
None of these things had ever interested me, but to my own surprise, I found myself returning to the studio week after week. What drew me in wasn’t just the physical aspects of the sport; it was also the lessons in resilience, humility, and inner strength. The truths I’ve uncovered on the mat have followed me far beyond it. This isn’t just martial arts training—it’s mental health, life, and even leadership and business training, all in one discipline. In other words, IT'S AWESOME!!!!
Here are 7 cool mental health lessons jiu jitsu has taught me:
Lesson 1: Get back up after being knocked down
They say the white belt is the hardest one to earn because of the constant humiliation you endure by not knowing how to defend yourself or what to do. It’s the belt I wear now. Most days, I find myself on the mat being pinned, twisted, or thrown into positions that feel uncomfortable. I lose more often than I win. But still, I keep showing up, again and again.
This repeated act of rising after defeat is one of the most essential life skills we can learn. Life itself is a contact sport—it will knock us down again and again with illness, disappointment, loss, and unexpected stressors. The question is never whether we’ll fall, but how we’ll stand up again. Training my body to be comfortable with falling has slowly trained my spirit to do the same. Each time I rise, I feel a little less afraid of whatever life might bring, because I know I can do it.
Lesson 2: The importance of doing things you suck at
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate doing things I’m terrible at. There’s something deeply unsettling about feeling clumsy, lost, and exposed. The older I get, the more I notice how easily we, as adults, retreat into the comfort of competence. We get really good at what we know, so we stick to it. Mastery is rewarding, and proficiency feels safe.
But here’s what I’m realizing: doing things you’re bad at—truly bad at—is one of the most life-giving decisions you can make. Because when you allow yourself to be a beginner, something shifts. You get curious. You become a student again. You discover parts of yourself that would have stayed buried in the routines of mastery. You meet new people, your ego loosens its grip, you laugh at yourself more easily, and you stop needing to be impressive all the time. This is the space where growth happens. As adults, that kind of growth is vital, because it reminds us that we’re still evolving.
In jiu-jitsu, I lose constantly. There’s a particular kind of vulnerability in showing up to something you’re bad at, especially when there’s no hiding from failure. What I’ve learned is that there’s power in that vulnerability. If you can stay with the discomfort long enough, you change, and transform. And that alone is worth all the discomfort!
Lesson 3: Fighting can be healthy—and can build grit
I grew up in a home where fighting meant screaming, slamming doors, and long stretches of silence heavy with tension. Conflict felt chaotic and unpredictable—something to fear or avoid. For most of my life, the word fight carried a bitter edge.
Jiu-jitsu has taught me that fighting can mean something entirely different. It can be controlled, respectful, and even sacred—a form of protection, a kind of presence. On the mat, fighting has structure and clarity. It’s not about domination but about survival, skill, and awareness. In truth, our bodies are always fighting—against infection, illness, and injury. When I think of it that way, fighting no longer feels toxic. It feels life-affirming, an expression of our instinct to stay alive.
There’s also something deeply empowering about cultivating a fighting spirit in life. I think of it as grit—the voice inside that says, This won’t break me. I see that same spirit in my jiu-jitsu partners: their bodies tense with effort, eyes focused, sweat marking their refusal to give up.
When it comes to mental health, we often feel consumed by anxiety, grief, depression, or trauma. But we don’t have to surrender. We can fight, not in anger or resistance, but with courage and heart. We can learn to live alongside our struggles rather than be defined by them.
Lesson 4: There is possibility in every moment
There are moments in life when you feel trapped—stuck in a situation that seems impossible to escape. The pressure builds, the options narrow, and it feels like there’s no way out.
Jiu-jitsu teaches something different. It reveals that even in the most compromised positions, there is always possibility. The way forward isn’t always through brute strength—it’s through creativity, calm, and the confidence that an opening will come if you stay with it long enough.
In jiu-jitsu, the solutions are often unexpected. You learn to twist your body in ways you’d never imagine. It doesn’t always look powerful, but it works. Life, I’ve found, is much the same. The path forward isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it asks us to respond not with force, but with flexibility and imagination.
That’s what makes it beautiful. The stuck places become spaces for transformation. You learn patience. You realize that what seems like a disadvantage might, in time, become your advantage. You realize that what is forward is sometimes backward and what appears to be backwards can be made into something that advances you forward. Possibility is always present, even when you can’t see it yet.
Lesson 5: You are allowed to be powerful without apology
Like so many women, I was deeply conditioned to be agreeable, kind, and empathic. These are beautiful qualities, but they’re often taught at the expense of assertiveness, instinct, and power.
On the mat, I’ve learned that power isn’t about domination or force. It’s about presence—about being grounded and centered even when someone’s trying to throw you off balance. In jiu-jitsu, true power comes from awareness, not aggression. It’s knowing how to move with precision, how to redirect energy, and how to stay calm under pressure. The smallest adjustment in your breath, your hips, your timing can shift the entire dynamic.
Power in jiu-jitsu is also about adaptability. Every roll is a conversation between reading and responding. Through this practice, I’ve come to see that real power is quiet, intelligent, and deeply intuitive. It’s self-trust embodied. It’s the moment you stop doubting your own capacity and start allowing your strength to move through you.
I didn’t realize I needed permission to access this side of myself, but it turns out I did. It’s like discovering a door you didn’t know existed inside you, and once it opens, there’s no going back. Now that I’ve found it, I want every woman to know: you are allowed to access this, too. You are allowed to be powerful without apology.
Lesson 6: The mind is meant to be united with the body and spirit
In our modern lives, so many of us live primarily in our minds, overthinking, analyzing, and planning. Our bodies, meanwhile, become afterthoughts. But jiu-jitsu demands that you inhabit all of yourself. In jiu-jitsu, you have to strategize, anticipate, read your opponent’s next move. You must also respond physically, intuitively, without time to second-guess.
When you’re fighting, you become fully present. You enter a different kind of zone: one where mind, body, and spirit move as one. It’s what people often describe as a flow state, a harmony that feels both effortless and alive.
It’s important to be reminded of this way of being, especially in a world that so often pulls us into our heads. Jiu-jitsu invites us back into wholeness—to remember that thinking, feeling, and moving are meant to happen together.
In sum, here are my recommendations:
If you have a child, jiu-jitsu can be a powerful way to build inner strength and resilience.
If you’re an adult, it offers a lifelong opportunity for learning, humility, and growth.
It’s an empowering practice for self-defense and for becoming comfortable with your own strength and power.
If you’ve experienced trauma, jiu-jitsu can help reprogram your body—teaching safety, trust, and presence from the inside out.
If you struggle with anxiety, jiu-jitsu can help you face it head-on and move through it, building calm and confidence in the process.
Definetely worth checking out!
You don’t have to practice jiu-jitsu to benefit from its wisdom. Life will always challenge us, twist us, and sometimes pin us down, but the same principles from martial arts apply: stay calm, trust your body, breathe, and find your way through. Jiu-jitsu can be a powerful complement to therapy and healing, and a reminder that we can all learn to roll with life.
