Posts

10 years in BJJ and 10 lessons I’ve learned (Part 4)

/in , /by

Image

“The greatest wealth is health.”  – Virgil

 

“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha

 

“Prevention is better than cure.” – Desiderius Erasmus

 

“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” – Plato

Mobility – One thing that I’ve learned just within the past year that I wish I would have focused on more in the past is mobility. Most of us focus so much on how many hard rolls we get in a training session, how many reps we’ve performed of a particular technique or if our lifts are improving in the weight room. However many of us also fail to focus on mobility. I’m talking about keeping our joints, muscles, and our body’s movement patterns healthy.  By no means am I pointing the finger at anyone because up until this last year I gave mobility little to no thought. Sure I would stretch a little here and there, but this is much different than old school stretching. Let me give you a brief explanation of how I stumbled upon the idea of focusing on mobility and how it’s improved my BJJ and at the end I’ll give you some takeaways and resources for your own use. Alternatively, you can skip my story telling and fast forward to the bottom to get the resources and links.

 

How I found out about mobility work

Well first off, I was never blessed with ample amounts of flexibility. My muscles have always been a bit tight and wound up and in the last couple of years I’ve also began to “feel” my body much more after  hard training sessions. I wrongly attributed this to getting older. I mean I’m nearing 30 which seems to be that magical number that people fixate on when they talk about their body breaking down and becoming more injury prone.

So . . . about a year ago my friend, student, training partner and fellow coach here at the gym, Brent Weedman, turned me onto the idea. He started weight training with a very competent trainer here in Louisville and would rave about the results. What struck me as different was that he didn’t just tell me about his PR’s(personal record) in the gym but he also made it a point to share the improvements he was making in his mobility. When he first started talking about mobility improvements I was pretty ignorant to the idea but as he explained more, it made sense. Brent, like any other high level athlete, had experienced his fair share of wear and tear on his body provided to him by long hours of training and fights. Couple this with a lack of concentration on his body’s movement health and you have tight muscles and joints and poor range of motion. I remember Brent telling me that before he revamped his conditioning program he wasn’t sure how much longer his body could take the rigors of fighting professional. If you were to ask him now he would tell you he feels like a new man. He fights like one too. By using the different techniques he was learning from his conditioning coach he was able to rid himself of problems like tight shoulders, hips and back all while making great gains in strength and power.  

I hold a great deal of respect for Brent so I began using a few different techniques he shared with me and started looking deeper into the whole mobility thing. When you type in “mobility” into an internet search or Youtube you will be bombarded with information from a guy named Kelly Starret or MobilityWOD, and for good reason.  Kelly Starret is the leader of a mobility movement that is gaining momentum in the athletic world. He works most closely with the CrossFit community and uses his mobility techniques to keep athletes who are doing tons of volume healthy and in the gym instead of being sidelined due to injury. He is also helping tons of people, including myself; restore proper movement in their body.  After watching videos and reading through some of his literature I found myself buying his book, Becoming a Supple Leopard which in my opinion is fantastic. The book literally goes through and shows the proper movement mechanics to many basic and advanced lifts. The book also goes through helping its readers identify what problems they may have based on some easy to follow tests. Then the best part! The last chunk of the book is loaded with tons of corrective exercises, stretches and techniques that will help you improve range of motion, get rid of tightness and help you alleviate pain you may be experiencing. I was also lucky enough to meet with a woman who was an FMS trainer as well as a physical therapy student and she helped me identify specific areas of my body I needed to focus my attention towards. After a month of solid effort and focus on improving the mobility of my rust bucket body I began to feel some noticeable differences.

 

Alright so let’s get to the part you are actually interested in hearing about, How it improved my BJJ and training.

 1.       My range of motion improved. My squats were getting deeper, I was able to maintain better thoracic extension when doing particular exercises, and my shoulders were moving smoother during overhead presses. I was also less sore after hard lifting sessions.

 

2.       Tight areas that were chronically in pain began to feel much better. Most notably my hip flexors. I remember constantly struggling and having issues with them. Which as you can imagine hindered my ability to train or compete at 100%. In addition injuries have since become less common.

 

 3.       I was able to warm up quicker. As I’ve gotten older it seems like it takes longer and longer to get my body adequately warm for BJJ training and competitions. One of the most noticeable changes after the mobility work was how fast I was able to get my body loosened up and ready to compete. What used to be nearly a 20-25 minute ritual was now condensed into about 5-10 minutes. While this may not seem like a big deal to some. Being able to get warmed up quickly on the fly is a valuable. If you’re a competitor. I want you to think about an experience you may have had where you had a tournament match and were not properly warmed up. Either due to a screw up on the tournament coordinators end or your own. Competing without having your body revved up is not a good thing, so it’s nice to be able to get warmed up on the fly.

 

4.       I could train harder and at higher volumes without being utterly destroyed the next day. Doing a heavy lifting workout, multiple hard rolling sessions and being active during my 4 hours of teaching classes a day can definitely take its toll. What a great feeling it is to be able to maintain that kind of training load and still feel physically able to do it again the next day. The mobility work enables me to keep up high volumes of training and still not “feel” it like I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I still get sore and fatigued but I don’t find my body being completely shot.

After reading above the takeaways for you, and why you should consider investing your energy towards mobility should be clear.

1. It will improve flexibility and range of motion

 

2.       You can decrease frequency of injury. Yes injuries will still happen but you can still decrease the amount, especially those that would be a result of muscle tightness and imbalance.

 

3.       You will be able to warm up faster for class or competitions.

 

4.       It will improve rehabilitation after hard training and you can maintain a high level of training for a long duration of time.

If you’re interested in learning more check out http://www.mobilitywod.com/about/faq/  or go look up Kelly Starrett on Youtube. Checking out the supple leopard book that I mentioned earlier wouldn’t be a bad idea as well. Lastly, if you’re able, get in touch with a competent conditioning coach who knows about mobility.  If this is not available then use what resources you can gather to help identify areas of your body that need help. Heck, it may not be that hard in some cases. I mean after all, you are probably aware that your shoulder range of motion sucks or that you can’t get into a deep squat to save your life.

Good luck on improving your body and your training! I hope it helps you preserve your body and helps reduce the damage caused by training.

 

As always, thanks for reading!

Chewy

 

Oh and be sure to check out the podcast on my other site at http://www.matwind.com

10 years in BJJ and 10 lessons I’ve learned (Part 3)

/2 Comments/in , , , /by

Image

“Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It’s a state of mind – you could call it character in action.” – Vince Lombardi

 

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.” – Napoleon Bonaparte” 

(I like to think to interpret this quote with “courage” replaced with “mental toughness.”)

 

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Fun video of Cary Kolat sharing a story of mental toughenss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzVVT8JTeM

 

10. Mental Toughness- I often talk to my students about the pesky voices that will present themselves when they find them in bad positions, when they become tired, or when they are nervous. Do you know what I am talking about? Have you ever been exhausted and stuck under someone’s crushingly heavy top pressure, having a conversation inside your head about whether or not to give up the fight? I have. The situation reminds me of the old cartoons where you would see a devil and angel sitting on top of the character’s shoulders. Except instead of urging me to do something nefarious or kind, part of me says “keep fighting” and the other side says “He’s so heavy. Just give up position, its ok”. If you’ve never experienced these sort of thoughts, then you are tougher than most. Over the years of training I’ve been able to minimize and for the most part extinguish that voice that tells me I should give up. Early on it was very tough for me and required a lot of mental focus not to succumb to those mental suggestions caused by frustration and fatigue.

One of my favorite aspects of competitions or extremely competitive rolls is that they can definitely help bring out the best in us. They can also bring the worst out. If I may, I’d like to share a story of a tournament match I had years ago.

One very insightful competition match that I experienced came from the days when I was a blue belt. I had finished finals for school and came down to a tournament in Tennessee. I did not cut weight nor did I pay much attention to my weight. I had been busy with school, barely trained for the tournament and just figured, “what the hell, I’ll just compete.” I ended up winning my division fairly easily, but the real fun came in the open division. As luck would have it, I fell right at the weight cut off. The weight divisions were 193.9lbs and under and 194lbs and over.  I weighed in at 194.5lbs. . . go figure.

My first match pitted me up against a bruiser wrestler. His name escapes me but I do remember that he weighed around 225lbs with a substantial amount of that being lean muscle. I also remember that he had wrestled in college for 4 years. I also recall being a bit intimidated by his much larger physique. Once our match began the first few minutes went very poorly for me. I was taken down several times and the point spread was up to 12-0 in his favor. Then he mounted me, and this is where things got interesting. See, this tournament had a skunk rule. Meaning if he was up 15 to my 0 then he would receive a technical win. The mount being a 4 point move, meant that he was 3 seconds away from securing the win and thus making me look like I didn’t belong on the mat with him.

This is a moment where I personally had this conversation with myself. I remember this moment vividly. I was so angry for letting him get so far ahead on points. He was strong and had used his wrestling to deny me my usual comfortable top game position. I was just frustrated. Somehow I dusted away the frustration and turned it into determination. I thought to myself “I can’t give up this easy! I need to at least make him work for his win.” Fun Fact, when I compete I am not always worried solely about winning. Yes, winning is high on the priority list, but win or lose I want it to be a good competitive match. Anyways, after having these thoughts rush through my head I manage to escape mount and rally back. Once I made it out of mount he never scored another takedown or a single point for that matter and I was able to rack up 10 points. With about a minute of the match left and the end closing, he shot in for the takedown, I sprawled and attempted a guillotine choke and pulled guard. The choke didn’t stick and my arm slipped off his sweaty neck.  Then I attempted a kimura sweep. He stuffed the sweep but I caught a snag on his arm, transitioning to the kimura, I desperately tried to crank the arm to finish. This moment in the match was kind of neat because it was only a few seconds but I remember noticing everyone in the crowd around us, minus his teammates of course, cheering for me. I was the smaller BJJ guy trying to topple the larger wrestler. I also remember looking of my shoulder as I held onto the kimura lock. I could see his face getting redder by the second as he flexed his arm, keeping it stiff and denying me the finish. Lastly I remember looking at my arms shaking as they were fully flex and fatigued from the long match and a voice in my head encouraging me, “Come on!”.

Sadly I was not able to finish the lock and the bruiser wrestler had his hand raised in victory. I suppose the silver lining was that I wore him out during our match. Because in his next match he was finished in 30 seconds via armbar by a guy we all called Brazilian Mike. Strangely enough Brazilian Mike wasn’t from Brazil or Brazilian. If I was able to wear him down that much, in my mind, meant that it was a good match. The best part about this particular match was that it gave me a clear example of how powerful the mental side of things can be. After reflecting on this match, I realized how valuable it is to have the ability to deal with frustration and uncomfortable feelings while being under heavy physical and mental pressure.

There is an interesting feeling that happens during a tournament match or competitive roll in the gym. That feeling is when you feel someone’s body relax and give up, even if it is just for a second. Think back to your own experiences. Have you ever had a good roll with someone and were trying to secure a pass, sweep or submission, and eventually after a struggle you felt their defensive hand positioning and body positioning give way to your attempts? You may even know this sensation from being the one who mentally broke and allowed the person to pass, sweep or submit. During this match I was almost the one that mentally broke. I was fortunate enough to have the resolve to wipe away the defeatist mindset and come back strong in the match. This was a result of hard training and preparation.

 The Take Away

After reading this I want you to think for a second. Have you ever let your own personal demon get the better of you during your training? Have you ever found yourself rolling in the gym or in a competition having a conversation inside your head contemplating giving up when things get a little tough? Have you ever been training and just got frustrated because you were in a tough spot and ended up making tons of mistakes as a result of your own frustration? Maybe you just find yourself not pushing through a little discomfort caused by fatigue and sitting out a round during training. If you do any of these things, like most of do, then I have a simple challenge for you. Push through it. Developing mental toughness is very much a personal thing. I can’t develop mental toughness for you and you can’t develop it for me. Your coaches and training partners can help assist, but ultimately, it is up to you to push yourself past your perceived limitations.

 

5 Tips

  • Simply be aware of your faults. Start by thinking about situations where you feel the most frustration of discomfort. After pinpointing them, prepare for it next time. Drill to correct mistakes and be ready to relax in those rough spots. It’s always easier to deal with something if you’re prepared.
  • Positional rolling. Let’s say that you have a horrible time escaping mount and it’s a position that causes you the most trouble. After you drill some escapes. Grab a partner with a good mount and perform escape or submit rounds from mount. Meaning, if you escape, restart in mount and if your partner submits you, restart in mount. This concentrated exposure will desensitize you to the position and allow you to become more calm and composed.
  • Learn to push yourself in training when you’re uncomfortable.  When you become tired or fatigued and feel like you’ve reached your limit. Keep going! Train yourself to push through the mentally accepted limitations and learn to function even when you’re uncomfortable or tired.
  • Hard rolling. Going hard in the gym will help you develop the kind of grit you need to be assertive on the mat. It will also help you develop the resolve to continue fighting even when your opponent is coming at you strong.
  • Being in good shape helps. If you are preparing for a tournament it really helps to be in good physical condition. From my experience many times people mentally break because they get tired and fatigued.

*Note that training hard and pushing yourself past your limits is not necessary day to day, all year round. However, if you are experiencing hangups anywhere or are preparing for competitions, its definitely worth doing.

As always, thanks for reading!

Finding my reason, finding your reason to compete

/in , /by

 Image

Competition is one of the most exciting experiences I think a person can have in BJJ. You test yourself against another human in a “full out” setting. You truly find out what you’re made of and sometimes push yourself to new limits that you didn’t realize you could reach.

Getting ready for a big competition can be tough though. The hard work that is involved with getting ready for a competition (if done right) can be exhausting both mentally and physically. There are days when you’re sore and tired. You still feel whooped from the night before and you just want to take a night off, but you find the motivation to train and continue to prepare.

Whenever I get ready for a big competition I have to find a “reason” for competing. Some reason that will help my focus and drive even on the rough days. Everyone’s reasons are different and you may have different goals for different tournaments. Don’t get me wrong I love training and train everyday regardless of a tournament, but left to my own devices, I would slack much more. I would roll relaxed and not develop the aggressive movements that are needed for tournaments. I wouldn’t drill quite as much, and in general I would just lack that desire that is needed to win matches against hungry competitors.

 

This is where that “reason” comes into play. Before I get ready for a competition (and when I used to fight in MMA) I ask myself, “why am I competing?” This seems simple right? I am competing to win, and win medals, right?

Wrong!

When I was younger I was only fixated on the medals. Now the medals are typically an auxiliary goal. Yes, I want to be the one wearing the gold medal and standing on the top of the podium, no doubt about it. But there are other things that push me in training during the weeks of tough training and dieting.

 

My reason for continuing to train hard and compete

I love movies where faced against tough odds, supported by everyone else around them, the hero overcomes and saves the day. When I was walking out of a movie this weekend I got hit by this light bulb moment. I realized that my most memorable wins in BJJ and MMA were always memorable, in large part, because of my students. Winnings matches at the Pans and seeing my students take screen caps of the match and knowing they were watching me have my hand raised, having  500+ Derby City (my gym) shirts staring back at me and cheering after an MMA fight, hearing a student convince me to compete even though I was jet lagged and sleep deprived.

The biggest motivator for me now, besides my own drive to test myself . . . is my students.

I am not sure if everyone in my position feels this way, but I feel obligated to step out there and compete for my students. I ask them to do it, so I feel that I should lead by example. Also, why would I stop competing now that I am a black belt? I feel like now is the true time to test myself.

 

One of the most amazing moments in my BJJ career was during a recent local tournament. The tournament had a round robin black belt division and there were around 100+ people from our gym. Either to compete themselves or to watch their friends and family compete.  When I was on the mat my students would cheer loudly and each time I landed a move or had my hand raised more cheers and slaps to the mat came from them.  I’m not going to lie; it felt like being a superhero for a moment. Superhero might seem like a silly comparison because I’m not flying around or fending off an alien assault to earth. However, I am setting the tone for many of my students and proving myself to be a worthy role model by putting myself through the same rigors that I ask of them. They’re cheering because I’m their instructor and they are proud of me and my wins, and this means everything to me. Now when I prepare for tournaments, the motivator is easy. When I am tired and have to push myself a little more, I just think about how great it feels to represent my gym colors victoriously for myself and also for my students.

Find your motivation!

I know that not all of you are in the position I am in, but my advice to you is to find something that motivates you. Remember, it doesn’t have to be just medals or titles. You sometimes have to dig a little deeper and find the motivation somewhere else. Before your next tournament prep begins, try and find something that motivates you. Having that deep motivator within you will help you slide your kimono on a little easier on those days when your body still aches from the night before, and this drive will make it easier to get yourself on to the top of the podium.

 

Thanks for reading guys!

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to send them to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Training with a purpose

/3 Comments/in , /by

Just finished another interview for the podcast project I have coming up. I’m having so much fun and learning so much about these awesome people. I hope everyone has as much fun listening to these podcast episodes as I’m having making them. The launch date for the podcast is September 1st, 2013 in case you’re interested. Even though the podcast is still a little over a month out, I figured I would take a minute and share 1 little chunk of advice that seems to keep coming up during these interviews, and its something I’ve blogged about before. The reoccurring tip that these black belts talk about when it comes to improving at BJJ is . . .

“to train with a purpose”

I know sometimes its fun to roll and not focus on anything, but If you feel like you’re not growing on the mat or that you are hitting a plateau. Then take some advice from some high level guys and train with a purpose! Give yourself a goal to achieve during your training session, try to hit a new move you’re working on or try and improve the weak areas of your game. If you’re a good bottom guy, try and work your top game. If you’re a good sweeper, try and submit from the bottom. You get the idea. Hitting those goals will build some positive momentum mentally and improve your game by focusing on improving in a particular area.

Hope everyone’s training goes well and I hope you hit whatever goals you set for yourself!

7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 4)

/in , /by

Alright, now that the Pans are over and I am ready to continue on in this series. In this post we will talk about training with a less skilled partner and how to make the most of it in regards to further developing our technique. When rolling with a person who is less skilled than you, what should you do? Should you beat them mercilessly over and over again or play around with different techniques you’re improving? Well. . . both. There is always going to be a need for the people under you to feel the pressure and to be pushed by a more experienced BJJ player. This helps shed light on weaknesses in their game that you are able to exploit. During hard competition training sessions where the environment has to be tough to prepare someone for a match this is also helpful.  However, it is also beneficial to work on specific techniques and in essence use your less experienced partners as active drilling partners. This is the style of training we will focus on for this post since this series is about developing new techniques for your game. We will call this Restrictive Rolling.  Again I will stress, I am not writing about anything that is ground breaking. Instead this series is just reminding you of ways that you can train deliberately and with a purpose.

Restrictive rolling against lesser skilled training partners

When trying to develop techniques and build them up, every bit of exposure with the moves and position is huge. Each successful or failed use of a technique inches you closer to mastering it.  With this in mind I find it valuable to use people that I exceed in experience as active drilling partners, a sort of testing ground for new techniques.

I’ll explain what I mean. 

I am a black belt and if I roll with . . . let’s say. . . a blue belt. I can certainly put the “brakes” on their movements and grind them with pressure till I submit them. Over and over and over again. Now like I said previously, this is sometimes necessary but certainly not always. I find it mutually beneficial when I work towards very specific movements and techniques and at the same time giving my partner a chance to attempt something. For example, if I am working on getting to back mount. I will fight furiously to find a way to my partners back. I will avoid finishing them in any other position even if the opportunity is there to get to the back. Once I get to the back I will let them escape so that I can find a way to regain the back position again. This allows for my lower belted training partner chances to attack and practice their escapes. Another example is I will let my partner pass my guard and get to a dominant position. I will make them fight for it but eventually (as long as their technique is good) I will let them pass my guard. Once they have secured a good position I will them work my way out of it. These are just two examples but obviously you can do with this almost any situation or technique.

 

The difference of restrictive rolling opposed to situational rolling which we talked about earlier, is that you do this during full rolls where everything is fair game. This has the potential to make it more difficult to get to the desired positions and use the techniques. Since during a full roll, your partner may not give you the necessary openings you need for your techniques. While this is more difficult it has the ability to make you better at finding your way to the positions. Essentially as the name implies, you are restricting yourself to a very specific group of techniques or positions regardless of what your opponent does.  

 

Benefits of Restrictive Rolling with people less skilled than yourself

  • Allows the lower belt to work with techniques as well, rather than getting smashed the whole time.
  • Gives you more exposure on the techniques you’re perfecting in a live setting.
  • Since your partner is less skilled than yourself, it allows you to mentally relax in unfamiliar positions you’re working on.
  • Helps you find new ways to get the same techniques or positions.
  • If you are a higher belt or in an instructing position, it allows you to see possible weaknesses the lower belt has. Which you can give them advice on.

 

So the next time you are rolling with someone whom you know you can beat. Give them a break and help yourself improve. Throw your “A game” and ego to the side for a bit and try and play with techniques that you are either not as experienced with or still perfecting. The partners will appreciate the ability to work on things and you will gain valuable experience with the moves you’re implementing into your game.

7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 3)

/1 Comment/in , , /by

Back to passive drilling!

So now that you have been doing reps of your techniques and you’ve also been doing some situational rolling you have probably become much more comfortable with the position and techniques you are trying to use. Along with being more comfortable you have also probably hit some snags during training. When I say snags I mean that you’ve experienced someone countering or defending your techniques.  Maybe you go for a pass and your opponent brings his legs in to counter, or maybe you go for a triangle and the person shoots their head and body up to deny you the lock. Whatever it is, these situations can prove aggravating and unless you address them your techniques will be somewhat ineffective.

A solution

Once you encounter problems and the moves stop working by themselves, its time to move onto chain drilling. Wrestlers would be familiar with this as chain wrestling. This is where you do repetitions, much as we talked about in part 1, but instead of drilling them as standalone movements you will combine them with other techniques. Thus creating a sequence that will prepare you for possible obstacles you may face when executing your moves.

Here’s how to do it

  • Take a move that you are using but are having some problems with. (i.e a counter, defenses, etc)  
  • Next consult with your instructor or research a solution to your problem.
  • Once you have the technique you need to combat the issue you’re having, drill it just like you would any other move. Just perform it as part of a sequence with the other techniques.

This is pretty much just a modified version of part 1. I consider the first post to be about introducing a move into your repertoire. This post is more about refining the techniques or adding to them after you’ve used them. Lets face it, you have to use a technique before you can be sure about the kind of problems you will run into.  Consider this type of drilling as the next stage of a moves progression.

 

Benefits to chain drilling

  • Further develops the techniques you are trying to build up.  
  • Develops solutions to problems you are having during live training.
  • Allows you to combine multiple movements for a dynamic BJJ game.

Thanks for reading!

Open Guard Sweep with Mustache

/in , , /by

If you’re watching this open guard sweep video and thinking to yourself, “man, this guy looks like an idiot”, then you are a well adjusted human being. After No-shave November I decided to have some fun with the guys at the gym and dress up like. . . well like I am in the video. The goofy mustache got some serious laughs so it was worth it.

Now while I may look like a mega turd bag, the sweep is legit and myself and several of my students have used it in tournaments and rolling session.

Enjoy!

Having a bad day?

/3 Comments/in , , /by

BJJ has so many benefits. Everything from physical fitness to mental well being. I think it’s one of the reasons it’s so popular and why people often get “bit by the bug” after training for just a very short time. I noticed these benefits when I first started training, and have noticed them with my students as well. They vary from person to person, but typically have a very positive effect on everyone’s physical and mental health.

One of the benefits that has always had an overall positive impact on my life is the stress relief that comes from a great training session.

On many occasions, I find myself troubled by all sorts of problems as I head to the gym. At times I feel overwhelmed and as if the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” is nowhere to be found, but nevertheless, as I walk through the doors of my gym, I am greeted by the contagious smiles of my friends and students. Almost immediately my body queues itself up for training, and seems to turn the tide on the bad mood I walked in with. I then take in the distinct smell of the gym — depending on the time of day, it may smell like bleach and cleaning supplies, or a sort of misty sweat. There is also the sensation of putting the gi on, as the kimono’s thick cotton construction brushes along my, and ends with tying the belt around my waist.

Likewise, the feeling of the firm, yet slightly giving mat below my feet, coupled with the unique sound of my feet touching the mat as I walk to greet my training partners and students. Finally comes the sound of a gi scraping across the mat as we perform warm up drills.  That sound. . . gives me a strange feeling of comfort. I know it may sound silly, but even when I watch an instructional or techniques demonstration from the seat of a chair at home, and I hear the sound of kimono moving along the mat, I instantly have a slight feeling of comfort. 

My body and mind is conditioned by these smells, sounds, and feelings since they are always followed by a training session. A good workout always leaves me more mentally relaxed and happier in general, but it also allows me to clear my head of negative thoughts and feelings that once seemed unbearable and to think more rationally. This side effect of training has been invaluable to me over the years. When I was 18, one of my old lifting mentors said to me, “Nicky, I never make a tough decision until after a good lift”.  Although he was referring to lifting weights, the same endorphin boosting properties of a good lift with friends, are fully present in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training.

I like post relatable personal experiences, so I will do the same in this post. In August 2010 my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Over the next year I would experience the hardest thing I’d ever had to deal with in my life. I moved in with my mom to help provide better care and make sure she always had someone around. I would take her to treatments, cook her meals, talk to her, etc. Things that I know we would all do or have already done.  Without my students, gym and training, I am not sure what kind of mental state I would have been in. The whole ordeal was incredibly taxing and broke me down mentally more than people probably knew. Hell, more than I knew at the time. When you are in the middle of something like that you have no idea just how much of a toll it’s taking on you until it is over. Those hours that I spent on the mat teaching and training provided me with a release and a few hours for my brain to turn off. When it was over I would go back to reality to face the stressors, but I could face them with a renewed sense of strength and resolve that came from the stress relief of the training. Over the course of the year the cancer did what cancer does, and my mother passed away in July of 2012. The release provided from training allowed me to be there for my mother in any way I could be, and helped me to be happy and perky around her, even if deep down I wasn’t. Along with this, the support from my friends at the gym was amazing and it made things so much easier to bear.

So, next time you’re  feeling a little crummy, depressed, frustrated, overwhelmed, upset or just down right terrible, be sure to make it in to your BJJ Academy. Converse with your friends, perform the drills and techniques, roll and let your brain turn off for a while so that you can be clear headed for yourself and your loved ones.

Thanks for reading and as always be free to share your thoughts or experiences.

—Chewy

 Image