The Grappling Gospel

  Recommendation:  Watch " Principle #11: The Kazushi Principle " 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 helpful and I hope you do too. It's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog.) I was recently frustrated and didn't know what to do... At the end of class, we transition to a time of 'open mat' -- when you can roll with someone and focus on things or just roll and see how it goes. It's a great time to get extra practice and experience, and I really enjoy it. But I was frustrated, because it starts with each person on their knees, facing each other. You grab your opponent, and one of you eventually goes down first, and the other tries to take mount, and the roll begins. But as a big-time newbie to Jiu Jitsu, no one prepared me for this intro time of the initial sparring from the knees...

At the end of class last week, our Professor called my name with a surprise:  I had earned my first stripe! As a newbie to BJJ and a White Belt, this is very exciting for me! Maybe you're reading this and you're a seasoned Brown Belt, or battle-scarred Black Belt, but for someone like me who is new to the sport of Jiu Jitsu, this feels HUGE . I feel humility and gratitude at the same time... Humility -- because I know this is just a first step in a journey that hopefully will last well into my later years of life.  And Gratitude -- because I'm thankful for this opportunity to be learning Jiu Jitsu, especially when there are so many others who would love to do this if they only had the opportunity. This journey is lot like our faith in Christ.  It's one step at a time, always learning, and always training. We are never "there" -- never a completed "Black Belt" in our faith. We are always growing, practicing, and trying to get better. Sometimes we ge...