Imagine you're playing beer league softball. You're at third base, locked in, waiting. A ball rockets straight to you. This is it. Your moment. But instead of making the play, you stand there—halfhearted, motionless. Your teammates stare, confused. You shrug, “Eh, this is just a hobby. I don’t think I need to give full effort. It’s not what I’m here for.”
They'd look at you like you're crazy.
That kind of mindset isn’t accepted in any sport. At any level.
Except in jiu-jitsu—sometimes.
In grappling, it’s common to hear coaches say, “They’re just a hobbyist; competition isn’t their main focus.” Which is perfectly fine—jiu-jitsu doesn’t have to be about tournaments and world championships. People train for all sorts of reasons—to stay in shape, to be part of a community, to challenge themselves mentally and physically. And those reasons are valid.
But sometimes, calling someone a "hobbyist" becomes an excuse. A way to justify a lack of skill or effort. A way to let someone off the hook for not working as hard as they could or for failing to reach their potential.
At No Limits Grappling Academy, we don’t have “hobbyists.” We have non-tournament athletes (NTAs).
We hold our NTAs to the same expectations as our competitors—show up, work hard, push yourself just a little more than the day before. Challenge the competitive athletes. Grow. Improve.
We’re building something bigger than individual goals. We’re building a standard. A training room bonded in purpose—to be the absolute best grapplers we can be, day in and day out.
This isn’t Fight Club. We understand that every single person—competitors included—has a life outside the gym. Jobs, families, responsibilities. But what we’re fostering isn’t just a hobby. It’s a lifestyle. A commitment to striving for excellence, not just in grappling, but in everything that they do..
No hobbyist here.