I received my brown belt at North Shore Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy under Professor Danny Morera yesterday. It’s quite a task to communicate what this means to me. It’s much sweeter that Danny and NSBJJ gave me this honor. It’s an accomplishment that I never really had in my sights. It was always so far off. I had started on the path of Jiu-Jitsu three times. I finally took to it when signing up at Williamsburg Mixed Martial Arts. Roger Mamedov encouraged me to learn Jiu-Jitsu. I was resolute to just learn only striking, but he insisted on it. So, I listened after a couple of weeks.
The weeks turned into years; the years became filled with experiences; these experiences transformed me into this current incarnation. We are all many things. I’ve been an artist from the very beginning, and discovered Karate around the same time (my parents had me and my brother train with Billy Blanks). I just wrote a book (which is getting a second edition with a professional copyeditor). If any of you have read the book then you’ll understand the tandem path that Jiu-Jitsu was and is for me.
We’re all shaped by habits. We are shaped by every decision. The decisions we make become actions. Talking is great, but just talking isn’t enough to shape a life. I spent a lot of time living in my head, and not engaging in the world. The practice of Jiu-Jitsu has given me the outlet to grapple with the hardships of life. People can use all sorts of practices in order to make sense of the world. John Updike wrote a book on golf, and he was a writer first and foremost. Hemingway boxed; Teddy Roosevelt practiced Judo; Sting does yoga. So, why did I pick Jiu-Jitsu or why did Jiu-Jitsu speak to me? It has treasures in it that only those with patience can find. I can’t completely convey what these treasures are for me, and they may be different for you.
I have been dedicated to Jiu-Jitsu like a religious man dedicates his service to the almighty. Yes, sometimes I lose my faith. Sometimes I have existential doubts. I meditate on a bow and arrow choke, and ask for guidance from a source outside myself. I don’t get it right every time in practice or mentality, but I made the vow as a white belt. The first time I got choked I saw the light. It was bright, it was awesome and it was more real than anything else. It’s been a long road, and I’ve met many travelers along the way. I believe we’ve all been searching in the temples of wrestling for truth. The most beautiful thing about the art is that we all become the same in the practice. Nobody is different when doing Jiu-Jitsu. Yes, some are more technically skilled; some are stronger; some have spent more time; and some have won more medals. It doesn’t matter if you have a three hundred dollar gi or a crappy one with short sleeves. What matters then? All that matters is that you show up willing to give yourself to the room, to the practice and to something bigger than yourself.
I decided years ago to serve Jiu-Jitsu with my body and mind. There are so many things to do in this world. I could have been a golfer, a dancer, or an archer. I found a way through the hardships of life with Jiu-Jitsu. I’ve met people, and understood them in a transcendent way. I don’t care about their politics or what flavor of ice cream they enjoy. Hell, we may not even speak the same language. We communicate in a deeper way through the act of Jiu-Jitsu. Yes, I drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago. No, I’m not sorry I did. I am blessed to have been able to train with amazing people, suffer the losses, cherish the small victories, and come out the other side with a brown belt.
So, here I stand with my brown belt. It doesn’t mean I am invincible. It doesn’t mean I’ll win forever and never lose again. It means that I’ve trudged along through the thorn bushes bloodied and alive. I gave myself to the practice of Jiu-Jitsu. I sacrificed in order to do it. The trade was very much in my favor. I gained the spoils of knowledge. Everyone has the chance with Jiu-Jitsu to makes their own way through the thorn bushes, and gain a treasure that only they can know.