Principle #1: Connection

 

Recommendation:  Watch “Principle #1: Connection” video on GracieUniversity.com

(Disclaimer: I am not being paid/sponsored in any way to promote "Gracie University". I have found their "The 32 Principles" videos incredibly beneficial and I hope you do too! And it's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog)

Thoughts:

Wow – I was blown away by all the different connections that Jiu Jitsu offers! This is AMAZING! Feet, hands, arms, elbows, knees, head, etc – so many different ways to connect! My favorite quote from the video was “If Jiu Jitsu is the language, then connection is the alphabet!”

The Connection Principle teaches us that there are three basic purposes in each connection: 

(1) movement prevention, (2) movement promotion, and (3) movement prediction.

We either use connection to PREVENT a move, to PROMOTE a move (make something happen), or to feel the push and pull (energy transition of our opponent) to PREDICT a move.

Now I’m going to pivot with this principle to my walk with Christ…

Connection with Jesus is key for us – we have the Holy Spirit who is given to us when we surrender our hearts to Christ. This spiritual connection to Christ is real and is something that changes us from the inside out...we're no longer the same people we used to be...we are different now (2 Cor. 5:17).

My favorite passage is found in John 15:1-5 (NIV), which is all about connection to Christ:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain (stay connected!) in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

We are also challenged in Scripture to stay connected to the local church (or some type of local gathering of Christians).  Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

So we see in Scripture, like the two legs to stand on, that we need to stay close to Jesus (this takes intention) AND we need to stay close to other believers (this also takes intention).  These things don’t just happen — but like Jiu Jitsu, we need to be intentional about these connections.

Now, the takeaway for me from this principle are the three applications of it:

 

1. Movement Prevention

2. Movement Promotion

3. Movement Prediction

That means, the Jiu Jitsu that Jesus wants to practice with you — is to work in one of these three directions in all the different areas of your life.

There are things he is working to move you away from (Prevention); and things he is trying to move you towards (Promotion); as well as things that he’s trying to prepare you for (Prediction).

When you look at your life through this lens, you soon realize that like Jacob wrestling with the angel of the Lord in Genesis 32:24, YOU are doing Jiu Jitsu with Jesus every day – he’s your best grappling partner for life! His goal is to train you and see you grow, not just to make you tap out.

Challenge:  Think of the ways in which Jesus is training you in these three things:  What things (or people) is he pulling you away from? What things is he trying to pull you towards, but you are still resisting? And what things is he trying to prepare you for – so you can be of greater effectiveness for him down the road?

If this is true, and I believe it is, then the Gospel is not just the Gospel, it’s the Grappling Gospel. And that means the training never ends!

-Brian