Jiu Jitsu Lessons

I haven't posted in a while.  Recent months, however, have been a rough patch for me.  Full of painful decisions and mixed emotions.  It is always these times that I feel I grow the most.  When things are going smoothly in my life I always talk positive.  I tell my self that I will always be positive and always have faith in God to see me through tough times.  When mildly challenging issues arise I stay positive, I have faith and I think, "Wow, I handled that well."

But then the really hard times come, and damn do I lose sight of things.  I've been fortunate in my life to have people who love me and a roof over my head.  I know I have it good, but every once in a while, I find my faith tested.  Every once in a while, I find my self in one of those times when something so big comes down on you that the outlook just seems bleak.  I think its these times, not the good times, that make us who we are.

The last few months have been tough, and I know I can't say I stayed positive though all of it.  While I never thought of giving up, I truly did not want to be where I was.  Being on the tail end of this trial now, I can look back and see the lesson that I am starting to learn, and it is invaluable.  As to what that lesson specific lesson
was, maybe I'll share it in a later post, but I just want to address this in a broader scope right now.  What I've learned is, what ever trial I'm going through, there is a purpose.  I should be thankful in those hard times, learn the lesson that they are teaching me, and them form me into a better, stronger person.

I think this relates back to Jiu Jitsu in many ways.  If you follow this blog you'll know that my life aspirations are in Jiu Jitsu.  If you don't, I think the message will still apply.  On the mat we face many opponents.  Some are better then us and can make us tap.  Others, we can over come with ease.  However, we never improve if we constantly train and spar with the noobies.  We have to get out there and swim with sharks, get our asses kicked,  and learn from it.  That is, I believe, how we get better.

I know I have many hard times in front of me.  I know there will be a lot of good too.  I don't think, however, that any of it will be bad times.  It's all a lesson.  I can learn from all of it, and while I admit that my lack of knowledge and the mass of knowledge to be learned is daunting.  I can't wait to learn it.  Time to do some Jiu Jitsu!

Thanks for reading,

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Nick

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Why Do I Fight

When you truly dedicate your life to something, and you put that something above all of the other things that happen in your life, people think your crazy.  You get asked a lot, "Why do you do it so much?" or "Do you really enjoy doing it that often?"  To me, those people are missing out.  They're missing out on having something that they're so passionate about that the question "what do I want to do with my life?" doesn't come into their reasoning.  Maybe I am an extremist, but name any great man or women in history that wasn't?  So when someone asks me why I do it, I tell them some of the few things that I know for sure.  I know that I want my life to have an impact on others.  I know that I don't want to settle for an average career.  I know I want to die knowing that I accomplished something, and I know that I want to live a life that is worth living.

Its always been important to me to reach others with my life.  I think, ultimately, the the thought of eternity scares me.  I want to know that when I die I will have done something that lasts longer than I do.  If I can share my passion with someone maybe I can put some passion in their life. When you have passion in your life you have happiness.  I feel that if I can share passion and happiness with people then I'll be leaving the world a slightly better place.  I hope that maybe I can do well enough that I will reach a platform high enough to truly reach a lot of people.  Most importantly, growing up I've always been in the average group when it came to athletics, I've never been terrible at them, but I have never been exceptionally good at them.  If I reach the goals that I have set by myself, then it will be from nothing but hard work and God's blessing.  I hope that in doing this I can inspire so many more people to really work hard for their goals.  Imagine what kind of world we would live in if every one strove to do something great?

Photo by: Elisa Alves

I have never been someone who could handle any mundane activities.  I feel like so many people underestimate their abilities and settle for a middle of the road job.  Now, let me make this clear, there's nothing wrong with working hard at a blue collar job to take care of your family.  There is, I think, something wrong with working a job that you never wanted to do, because you don't think you have what it takes to do what you really want to do.  I have never been able to accept being average, or to accept the statistics that people recited to me about how many people actually grow up to live their childhood dreams.  I have a need to do something that stands out.  I have a need to do something special.

When I am ready to die.  I want to sit there and think back on my life, and think, "damn, that was cool.  I really did it."  I want to know that I left my mark on the world with the things I did and the people I inspired.  Will fighting really do this for me?  I think so.  In the end, it isn't really about the fighting, its about overcoming extremely tough obstacles and getting past everything in my way to get where I want to be, and showing other people that they can do what they want to do.  All you have to do is try; really try.


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Thanks for reading,  :)

Nick

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natural ability: Jiu Jitsu

The thing i love about Jiu Jitsu is that everyone can do it.  Of course, there are those with severe situations, but no one will be held back in this sport by lack of natural talent, physical strength, speed, or any thing of the sort. Natural ability itself, is a western idea.  In Thailand, the Muay Thai gyms raise fighters from a young age, these kids eat, sleep, train at the gyms.  There is no physical ability test they have to pass, they just have to have to be young enough to be able to put a sufficient amount of time in.  In Jiu Jitsu, even the age hardly comes in to affect.  Thai fighters usually retire by the time they are in their late 20s, due to the physical toll it takes on your body.  In Jui Jitsu this is not the case, at my old gym, there was a brown belt that didn't have a single colored hair left on his head, and he was one of the best guys there.

The point is, all jiu jitsu requires is time.  If you can put the time in, you get the skills.  In a book called Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell, it talks about the 10,000 hour rule.  If you put 10,000 hours in to something, no matter what you natural ability level was, you will be a master.  There was a study done in Asia where they looked at the famous musicians playing in the big orchestras.  There was a connection made that showed if the kids growing up practiced 30 hours a week, they would become successful musicians.  There was not a single person who put in 30 hours per week, and just couldn't cut it.  On the other side of that, the study was full of musicians who were brimming with natural talent, and there for practiced less than 30 hours per week, these students grew up to be high school music teachers and other things of the sort.

When Marcelo Garcia started Jiu Jitsu, he lived far from the gym, so he could only train three times per week.  Eventually, he moved in to the gym, and reportedly trained for 4 sessions each day, with the sessions being upwards of an hour.  Marcelo Garcia is now widely considered the best pound-for-pound grappler in the world.  In fact, it was Marcelo Garcia's story that inspired me to commit to Jiu Jitsu and begin living at the gym that I train at.

Never get discouraged when you train.  Do not worry if you have what it takes.  If you have the time to commit, you have what it takes.  Just keep training and keep motivated, and you will reach your goals.  Take it from 78 y/o Gene Pace.  Check out this link to read about how he got his black belt at such an advanced age.