Quote from BJJ Brick Podcast

Haratio Nelson – “The measure may be thought bold, but I am of the opinion the boldest are the safest”

Bold – (of a person, action, or idea) showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous.

I recently did an interview with Byron with the BJJBrick Podcast. The interview was fun, although I’m sure I probably rambled on too much, as I often do. Towards the end of the interview he asked if I would like to share a particular quote. I chose to share a quote that has stuck with me the last couple of years.

Nerd Out

The quote listed at the top of this post comes from the most celebrated naval commander in British history, Lord Haratio Nelson. If you don’t know anything about him, he’s worth reading about. He is one of those figures in history that stand out to me because it’s clear he practiced what he preached. Losing an arm and eye in the service of his country and still continuing to push the envelope. He expected much out of his crews but was in turn willing to bare the same difficulties and responsibilities. This is, to me, one of the signs of a good leader. He would eventually lose his life, during his most celebrated victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Here he defeated a combined Spanish and Napoleonic French fleet, effectively securing the seas for the British.

Why the quote stuck with me.

Quotes themselves are just words from someone else. I think the power of quotes comes from the interpretation of us, the reader, and where we are in our lives. I stumbled onto Nelson and this quote around April 2012 fresh off the loss at a tournament. At the time I was still a young Black Belt and had only competed a few times. Some performances went well and others . . . not so well. The performances that didn’t seemed to have a general theme to them. That was, I was afraid to open up . I think this is why the quote really stuck with me. During the previous month (March 2012) I competed in an 8 man invitational tournament. During my first and only match I played very conservatively. I ended up pulling full guard and played from that position for almost the complete duration of the match. Anyone that knows me knows I’m not a full guard player. My opponent ended up scoring an advantage by pushing through to half guard but I was never in danger of being passed, submitted or anything. But I failed to open up and go on the offensive. I don’t know if it was because I had a large group of my students there watching or if it was because I was still a young (under a year) black belt and lacked confidence. Whatever it was, it caused me to play very cautiously and for this half-hearted “play it safe” effort I was awarded the loss. The thought of that match still gnaws at me to this day. I don’t enjoy losing but I have no problem losing, as long as, I lose giving it my all. I definitely did not give my all during this match.

My interpretation

Being willing to take risks is the best way to grow and win matches. Playing it safe will only end up leaving you vulnerable in some way. Simply put, playing it safe is no way to achieve anything in BJJ. I can look back at my BJJ journey and trace most of my worst moments to my decisions to play it safe. Whether it was when I was a blue/purple belt and felt afraid to open up and try new things in my game which ensured I had a one-sided BJJ game and consequently led to a lot of bad tournament performances. This “play it safe” mentality also plagued me during several of my early black belt matches where I was still trying to find myself on the mats and coming to terms that I was at this new level. The other side to that coin is that I can trace back my best moments in BJJ to my decision to take a chance and go after something. Whether this was when I took the plunge to work for little money as a BJJ instructor with the hopes of making something with it later, or during matches where I said, “fuck it” and got after someone. I believe that my ability to be bold correlates with my success both on and off the mats. In addition I hate boring matches and don’t want my name to be synonymous with being boring or that of a staller.

Lastly, is that someday I am going to be an old man and my body will not be able to do the things it does now. When this day comes I’ll have to relive my glory days through videos, pictures and memories. When I look back at my performances I don’t want to remember myself as being afraid to go after the win, unable to perform at my best because I was worried about things other than the opponent that stood in front of me. I want to remember myself as aggressive and exciting. Winning and losing, but always going after it.

I got a little deep with that stuff towards the end, but the big idea is to go after it when you’re on the mats. If you’re competing, lay to rest your fears of losing or coming up short. Leave everything on the mat win or lose. In the gym be willing to open up and expand your game. Don’t worry about winning every time you step on the mat. Remember to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and try new things, it’s the only way you will improve. Be safe play it bold.

As always, thanks for Reading

Chewy