Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Get ready for the big TEST!

In my lineage of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, there are no big tests. It's not about your performance during one roll or one training session. It's not about how you perform over the course of one week or even one competition. It's more about how you do every day that you go in and train...every day is a test. Every day is different. Some days you're on; others your totally out of it. That's how it goes. How do you handle things when your are faced with adversity? How do you treat your fellow students and training partners? It's easy when things are going well. What happens when they aren't going well? How do you deal with others when they are having a bad day? One thing I can absolutely guarantee is that jiu-jitsu will bring you a lot of ups and downs. How do you respond? What do you do?
Don't focus on the carrot, the next belt or the end of the journey. Focus on taking the next step; putting one foot in front of the other. That's all there is. That is life. Try to do it for the sake of just getting better. There is no final destination. It is truly about the journey. There is always something more to learn, someplace further to go, someone else to roll with and beat up or get beat up by. Just keep moving forward.

1 comment:

Maha-mantra das said...

I used to feel my grappling to be 'two steps forward, one step back', but just accepting that there will always be ups and downs but always progress forward allowed me to gain a greater momentum. Now it's like ten steps forward, one step back.