I have been practicing martial arts on and off since I was kid, and I am 41 now. It started off with Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, then BJJ. There was one major trend throughout my time in practice and in my life, inconsistency. My inconsistency was the symptom of my inability to stay focused on what I valued most in my life, which always resulted in bad timing or not enough money to pay for my training. As life progressed, I spent my time earning a purple belt in Taekwondo, a green belt in Judo, and now a two-stripe white belt in BJJ and have been practicing for about 2 years now.
It wasn’t until I found Christ that everything began to change in my life. I got more consistent at being consistent. I changed the way I thought, which changed the way I acted, ultimately redefining my life in a new habit of being a better version of myself. I found a school out here in Brooksville, FL and began training. Still, I found myself struggling to stay consistent with BJJ. So, (insert sarcasm here) I did what any practitioner would do after a year of not being consistent with BJJ, I signed up for a tournament. This gave me a focal point and though my heart was in it, once on the mat, I was tried, tested, and found lacking. It was then I discovered the truth on the mat. You cannot fake it on the mat and I have never been so exposed and vulnerable in front of my family and peers. This loss I experienced was one of the greatest moments I had with God in that He let me fail and in essence I saw myself naked and ashamed of how I could have all the ability, tenacity, time, and money but not dedicate any of it to the refinement of myself and my jiujitsu.
I searched the scriptures for something, a sign that I could do this, because I felt like I could not. Christ says, “all one needs is a mustard seed of faith and one can move a mountain.” The mountain of my old self was still lingering in the foreground of my life, threatening everything. My soul, my family, my marriage, my jiujitsu. After my loss at the tournament to a man named Jacob, a great guy, I realized God had pointed me to a story in the Bible. Gen 32:24, "And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." MY GOD KNOWS JIUJITSU! It became very clear to me, the mat was a holy place where ALL people come to become better and if we are to become better, we have to be like Jacob. Leave all that matters on the edge of the mat, bow in, and remain alone with God, wrestling until a blessing is revealed. Win or lose, my goal is to try a technique, become faster, become better in every way.
I started BJJ to find out who I was and refine that person constantly. To be a part of a community of people that support that refinement in every way. To learn from my weaknesses and become better at my strengths. I started BJJ to be a better person on and off the mat.
Why did you start training...?
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