Progress isn’t a Straight Line

People talk a lot about progress—how to get better, how to grow, how to “level up.” But that progress is rarely linear. It moves forward, yes… but also sideways, up, down, and backwards. And yet, in this uneven motion, something real is happening, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

The shape of progress is jagged. Some days your guard is sharp and alive, while on others it collapses under pressure. Some days you feel your timing click, and others you move like you’re underwater. The ups and downs don’t mean you’re doing anything wrong—they’re simply the reality of learning something complex and dynamic.

Real progress isn’t guaranteed, nor is it permanent. You have to nurture it. You have to guide it. You have to keep pushing, even when you’re frustrated. That’s resilience. But resilience isn’t just grinding through the hard parts; it’s recognizing where you have moved forward, even if it’s just an inch.

If you're convinced that nothing you do will make a difference, well… it’s going to be hard to find hope. Hard to stay committed. Hard to believe that you can shape the direction of your growth. But when you hold onto those real, undeniable moments when your work made something better, that sweep you finally hit live; that split second where you recognized the pass before it happened. Those moments matter. They are the proof that you’re growing.

Imagine you always get stuck under side control. You drill the frames. You practice the escape, but get crushed over and over. Weeks go by with no sign of change. And then, in one round, you feel an opening. You connect your frame, move your hips, and recover guard. You don’t sweep. You don’t submit. But you created space where there used to be none. That one escape, as small as it seems, is a marker of progress.

This is the hope you build your practice on: the idea that your effort matters, that your technique can evolve, that your body and mind can adapt. You won’t get everything you want. There will be setbacks, frustrations, moments where you feel like progress has skittered backwards again. But better is real. Better is buildable. Better is good.

Take better every time.