Saturday, September 27, 2014

Ari Kay from Submissions 101 sent me the following message, after I reached out to him through email. I was very discouraged a few weeks ago and was seriously questioning my place in Juijitsu. This is what he said:

"Brandon
You are no disgrace to anyone. A blue belt in 10 planet is something to be very proud of. It's hard enough without having physical disabilities to get one. You are the inspiration.
Getting tapped means nothing. So what. Can you teach others? Is there value in Jiu Jitsu and what it has done for you and others? The importance is doing it, not winning.
I could care less if someone got tapped out. 1 time or 1000. We ALL get tapped. It's part of the journey. Keith Owen says you will be tapped out over 10 000 times on your way to black belt. It's called learning. You'll get harder to tap as time goes on. We all learn at different speeds.
Don't quit. Keep moving forward. Make a difference. Keep learning. THAT is Jiu Jitsu."


 I am truly thankful for his words, they have been a deep anchor for me as this journey continues. Every time that I have to crawl out onto the mats, I have to empty myself every single time. Why? Because that is how it has to be. I have to fight harder and be wiser about what techniques will work for me and what will not. Mostly, its the simple and basic things that I have the most effectiveness for me.



It just seems odd at times, because while the techniques seem to get more advanced. My game gets simpler. I love my chokes, leg/foot-locks and what arm-locks I can do. I think one of my biggest obstacles is that I want to be like everyone else. But the truth is, I can't be. I can't be as fast or as strong as everyone else.

I fear greatly being left in the dust, amongst the endless onslaught of techniques that keep popping up. Rickson Gracie once said that, you need five submissions and you need to practice them a thousand times. In my case that seems to hold much merit.   

... Not sure where I wanted to go with this, I guess I just wanted to get a few things off my chest.

-Brandon