On Transience

The Transience Trap:

Transience offers a strange kind of evolution. As long as you’re on the move, training drop-ins, you don't “grow” the way others expect. The transient practitioner exists in that in-between space—untethered, light, and free.

But freedom comes with trade-offs, and navigating them requires cultivated selfishness. Unlike those at a single academy, they can’t put down roots. This isn’t negative—it’s survival. They are there to get rounds, stay sharp, absorb what they can, and keep moving. They may not be around long, but they bring a fresh perspective, new energy, and maybe a story from halfway across the world.

Then there’s the strategically incompetent. They might claim to “not know the gym’s way” or “forget” that heel hooking the white belt is frowned upon. Sometimes it’s genuine—They don’t know local customs or house rules—but sometimes it’s strategic. Staying slightly on the margins keeps them from being pulled into obligations that don’t fit their lifestyle.

By refusing the anchor of a single academy, they sidestep the expectations that come with stable advancement. They remain forever in the middle: competent enough to thrive, yet “incompetent” enough to dodge the burden of being seen as an expert.

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself wondering what just happened after a visiting blue belt gives you all kinds of trouble. Many of these practitioners have been training for years—sometimes decades—but without a true “home gym,” they’ve never been promoted. In these cases, the belt matters less than the time on the mat, so approach with caution.

This doesn’t make the transient practitioner any less legitimate. It highlights the paradox at the heart of BJJ: a martial art obsessed with survival. The white belt learns to survive under pressure; the traveler learns to survive in constant flux. Both require awareness, cultivated selfishness, and occasional strategic incompetence to get through.

The trick is to own it. Just as someone might embrace the structure of a single academy, the transient grappler should embrace their role: not a permanent fixture, but a visitor, a spark, a moving piece in the global puzzle of jiu-jitsu.