Why I love Jiu-Jitsu

*This is the first edition of Mastery Jiu-Jitsu Connect, a newsletter created to share my personal testimonies, stories, thoughts and views on all things Jiu-Jitsu. I’ll try to send a once a week e-mail. Thank you for subscribing!

Please share with your friends and help grow this community.

Marco Moreno.

1. REFLEXION

JIU-JITSU LOVE

Jiu-Jitsu is hard on the body, you are constantly under someone’s weight, being folded in the weirdest positions, it’s hard on the joints, people squeeze your neck and bend your limbs in painful submissions. Not to mention that, like any sport, you are at risk of getting injured in every practice.

There is also the mental challenge, you are under the stress to think quickly to make the right move at the right time and avoid getting caught at the same time. You have to deal with the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped without a way out. It’s hard to deal with the idea of tapping out. To surrender to another person’s will is a tough blow on your ego. Finally, you have to put yourself together somehow and do it all over again.

So why do we love Jiu-Jitsu? Why do we like to roll on the mats over playing tennis or soccer? why not other martial art, Judo or Muay Thai?

Let’s see.

I think that the practice of any sport or martial art is a great way to channel one’s energy and will bring great benefits to the individual, stimulating discipline, focus, creativity, mental challenge and fitness.

Despite the fact that the skills learnt in Jiu-Jitsu are transferable to real life self-defense (unlike baseball, golf, soccer, etc) I like Jiu-Jitsu over team sports because you cannot blame your performance on anybody else. You are the sole responsable of the decisions, the performance and the final outcome of a match. There are no excuses if you get beat up. This level of accountability is a great test of one’s character.

What about individual sports such as chess or tennis?

I’d say the lessons you learn in Jiu-Jitsu are deeper. You can learn about sportsmanship, the importance of discipline and other great values in other sports. However, there is something different about Jiu-Jitsu (martial arts in general). For example, if you lose a match because the other team/opponent scored more goals or points, ok, it sucks, but not like Jiu-Jitsu. A check mate can’t compare with the feeling of getting submitted. If you get tapped out in Jiu-Jitsu, you feel that loss in your body and soul. They made you give up, they essentially “killed” you. The martial artist is forced to dig deep to find the answers that will help them stay alive in subsequent matches and not “die” again. In doing so, the warrior stumbles upon a wisdom that may go beyond fighting, maybe they’ll find answers to the biggest questions of life itself.

What about other martial arts?

I like Jiu-Jitsu over other martial arts because even though it’s hard on your body, like I mentioned at the beginning; it’s not as bad as Judo, Wrestling, Muay Thai or MMA!

Striking arts are tough, getting kicked in your legs, torso, punched in the stomach, face; it’s not fun. They are amazing, but they are really, really tough on your body.

Judo and Wrestling are definitely harder than Jiu-Jitsu. They favor speed, explosiveness and high intensity action. Even in practice, the throws and takedowns from Judokas and Wrestlers are no joke. Being slammed to the ground repetitively takes a toll on your body, no doubt.

Being mainly a grappling art that specialize in ground fighting, in Jiu-Jitsu you can lay on your back and chill for periods of time. It’s fun! The most advanced AR video game pales in comparison. I’m not saying is not without its risks of injuries, Jiu-Jitsu is a contact sport after all, but there is a reason why many wrestlers and MMA fighters switch to train entirely in Jiu-Jitsu once they stop competing at the highest level. You can train Jiu-Jitsu as your lifestyle/hobby in your 40’s, 50’s and 60’s; it’s way harder to train other martial arts at this age.

In short, I love Jiu-Jitsu because it’s a martial art that challenges my body and mind, it keeps me accountable for my actions, the skills learned can be used in real life to defend myself or others, it gives me a code to understand life’s lessons, and it’s the least hard on my body.

What do you think?

2. STORY

THE ADVICE

It was one of my early competitions and I was super nervous. The waiting is the worst part. Nowadays, there are apps that you can check on your phone that tells you what time and in what mat area your match is going to be.

But in those days, you were in the dark. They could call your name in the next minute or 6 hours later. I didn’t know if I should eat something, take a nap or start warming up. The anxiety was killing me.

I remember losing every match in my first three competitions and I had enough, I wanted to win. All that pressure added to my paralyzing fear. I was going to the bathroom several times to pee and had a permanent feeling of nausea. I told myself “what are you doing here? just go home, you don’t need this”.

I wanted to play it cool in front of my teammates but finally decided to tell my friend, who was also competing but looked as cool as a cucumber. “I’m feeling so nervous, I’m not ready for this, I think I’m going to leave”.

My friend looked at me and said “I understand”. Then he continued “You know, I’ve been to a lot of competitions and…” At this point, I thought he was going to give me the most inspirational talk, something epic that will pull me out from the dark place I was. “…one time this guy was so nervous he defecated himself in the middle of the match, it was embarrassing.” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. It must have been a truly horrific experience for him and everyone involved.

An then my friend finished his story by giving me the best advice ever: “So, Marco, just go in there…and whatever you do, just don’t shit your pants and you’ll be ok.”

I started laughing because that was totally NOT what I expected to hear. All of a sudden I started to feel better though. “I just need to not shit my pants and I’ll be doing better than that guy. I can do that!” I had a sense of relief. The anxiety, the nausea and the compulsive need for peeing every 2 minutes went away.

Finally they called my name. I had a war with my opponent and…I lost again! However, I was happy with myself: I didn’t quit, I faced my fears and overcame anxiety. I was happy that I gave it all, it was a close match and he only beat me by one advantage. But most important, I was happy that I didn’t shit my pants.

I feel like some of the concepts and mindset that we learn in Jiu-Jitsu can be applied to our every day lives and I’m sure there is a lesson in this story.

Maybe one takeaway from the story is to learn to stay calm, without putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves when facing a critical situation. Another one is that humor is a great method to make the best out of any situation.

Maybe we can learn to appreciate the good things we have going on. I may have been nervous, but I’ll never be “shit my pants” nervous. In other words, the “it could be worse” mentality can help sometimes.

I think the biggest lesson here though is not to worry about the things we create in our minds and instead we can start by taking care of the things we can control in real life.

Marco Moreno.