Whats really important in BJJ
There are so many things that contribute to make BJJ such an awesome martial art / sport. But over the years the thing that stands out for me the most is the community; the people. The people I’ve met over the last 10 years have literally changed my life. I’ve learned so much from them, both in regards to my BJJ and life. I now have friends all over the U.S and in plenty of places around the world.
This weekend was another reminder of that. I went to Nashville to take part in my friend Shawn Hammonds’ association meetup and Pans team training. There were over 100 people on the mat from all over the U.S going after it and the atmosphere was incredible. After the training my students and I had dinner with some friends from Tucson, and Beau (a brand new black belt) said it perfectly. He said something to the effect of, “It’s amazing how close you can feel to someone after a 3 hour training session. You’ll see someone everyday and you don’t feel that close to them, but then you see this guy you met at a gym somewhere and trained with for a few hours. When you see that guy you get excited like its one of your best friends.” I agree with that completely. When I see a training partner from another gym I get excited and in almost every instance I give them a hug instead of a hand gesture. I would say handshake but not that many people handshake anymore, its weird. That fellowship that exists in BJJ is what I believe makes it so special. We live in a world with so much technology separating us from any real human contact. It’s nice to have an outlet where we can let our social barriers down and be around like minded people.
Because I couldn’t train this weekend (my nose) I ended recording video of everyone else. I did a pretty poor job of it, but I pieced together what I could and made a short video of the training. If you ever had a chance to stop by Shawn’s gym you really should. He’s a fantastic coach and just an all around good dude. Oh and in the meantime be sure to take advantage of the community in BJJ around you. Go out to dinner with your teammates after training, go make trips to friend’s gyms, go compete. . . you get the idea. You only have so long to do this stuff. I know that sometimes going out of town to train or compete can be a hassle, but you’ll never regret it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAnYQbW8JA4&w=560&h=315]