First off, we would love to thank everyone who has supported us and shared the GD love this year. We started so we could support the sport and each of you. In the haze of 2020, we celebrated our one-year anniversary, we wanted to do somethings special, but we understand people are very distracted and concerned with COVID and other world affairs, so we stayed low. This leads us into our next thing.
Take care of your health, physically and mentally and help those around you. The pandemic has been crippling for many, lots of unknowns and concerns for spread of the virus. Take precautions as you feel fit and necessary.
So, what does that mean to us? Many people are using fear as a reason not to train, and many gyms are losing customers and or being closed because of that or because of restrictions. Train when and where you can, and support gyms in ways you are able. It is super important to keep training, it will keep you sane in an upside down world.
Many of us have a trusted friend or training partner, or persons in our household we could train with, if possible, keep that training up! And rather than cancel your gym membership, see what services can be provided—compromised over cancel.
There are many resources available now to continue at home training, companies like Dollamur (www.dollamur.com) make fantastic—lightweight—mats for home training, roll out and go, we sold some of our home gym equipment to fund the purchase of some home mats. Additionally, to assist the continuation of training, most top level Jiu Jitsu athletes now offer online content, and while it does not replace an in-person coach it works to keep you moving and progressing. Jiu Jitsu teaches us to keep pushing throw when we are in the worst positions.
We are happy to see many gyms start to reopen and training resume as best as able, it is important for all. And for a shameless plug, we depend on each of you battle ready people to keep training, for no training equals no need for gis, but we understand.
Last little thing, we know we have been extremely quiet this year. As many of our fans know, we are and AD family, and thrust into the middle of the year was an international PCS. We had a lot of things going on, and then with moving we were without all are gear, cameras, stock—everything, for a couple months. We are now settled in Texas and working towards setting up new things in 2021. What is important is we are still here, healthy, and training!
Thank you and Merry Christmas to everyone!
I have dabbled in language learning for many years, which is odd as I detested any language learning at school, but as I grew older and experience more culture, I became fascinated and frustrated equally, and this is where my interest was first sparked.
In jiu-jitsu as with languages, there are many approaches to learning. Many of us can think of a person who has trained at various gyms before settling on one because “they like it more” or “find it easier to learn here”, conversely, we have each met someone who came for a bit, quit, but still talks about how much they love jiu-jitsu.
Sometimes we quit because we like the idea, but not the work, many other times it is hard because the delivery is not right, and yes things take work, but there is often a smart way to learn. I believe delivery is why I, and many others, struggle or hate learning languages in school; as open-minded adults, we vastly grow when we can connect with others and fully take in their culture, but we often have the realization that, had we started many years earlier (in school), we would be so much further along.
So yeah, as a young adult I started dabbling, first with Japanese because of anime, then Arabic because I was in the middle-east and around people who only spoke Egyptian Arabic; then Russian, which many have said was difficult, but I found came surprisingly easy, think like a bond villain and it comes naturally. I attained a level of proficiency in each that would allow me to be a great tourist, but I never really stuck to learning—“because it is hard!”
Rolling into 2020, I had not given much thought to language learning—especially not Brazilian Portuguese, and then one day it hit me, “why not?” My journey with jiu-jitsu started in September 2010, I first started learning under a brown belt and within a few months we had a black belt professor join our gym, problem was he did not speak much English, so we relied on the brown belt to translate body movements into English (if that makes sense?). Over the years I have met a few others with a limited English vocabulary and I have watched seminars delivered in Portuguese; to this day the community still has a mass of native Portuguese speakers, who have learned English, so why have many of us made no attempts to learn Portuguese?
In February this year I set a goal to not just start learning Brazilian Portuguese, but actually attain an excellent level of proficiency, and not quit—like not at all. There are a few motives behind the choice which I will list: better ability to extract knowledge from some of the most experienced practitioners, build better bonds and networks, connect with another culture and open opportunities, to be able to understand what an opponents coach is shouting to them from the side of the mat and, most of all, fuel my passion for language learning and grow as a person.
How am I doing? Bem, não muito bem, mas bem. It is a process, but step by step I make progress and find what works for me. For now, I have been using Duolingo and Pimsleur, these are the two that work best for me. All jokes aside, Duolingo has made learning fun and easy, I definitely can understand the many criticisms around the app, but it does greatly help with reading fluency; Pimsleur is great for listening and speech. The two combined give me reading, speaking, and listening, and this approach seems best.
Not that it technically matters too much to learning/progress, but I try to keep up a streak on Duolingo, and then make a vlog video for YouTube every 50 days. I am now on day 90, with a video due soon. I think the vlogs are a great way to see how far we have progressed—grown, and this provides perspective on our journeys. Just as in language learning, I get frustrated with progress in jiu-jitsu, but when we have the ability to look back, we see how far we have travelled. There is no secret to progress, other than to just show up, have passion, and keep doing it hoje, amanhã e todos os dias!
]]>The big choice? I took out my final body piercing. Let me start by saying, in over 9 years I have never trained with piercings in, it is dangerous and stupid and do not condone it; however, I have tried to keep up on my piercings for most of the years. Slowly combat sports and work have erased these parts of my life/identity down to this final item.
Some of you without piercings may struggle to understand the attachment we have to them (not pun intended), but for the many who have lost or removed these pieces of ourselves to Jiu-Jitsu or life, can probably empathize, and feel some of the sting--physically and emotionally.
This choice was made not because my piercings hinder Jiu-Jitsu, more because Jiu-Jitsu hinders them. Training multiple times a week and or multiple times a day, the piercing holes get irritated and after training comes the dreaded moment of putting the piercing back in. You pray not to feel a small pop because if you do, you know that hole will be irritated for the next few days or longer. It is vicious cycle that come in ebbs and flows.
For me, It is now time to stop dreading, embrace that I am giving up a part of the old me, in exchange for a greater--less irritated piercing holes--me.
I did not choose it for Jiu-Jitsu; Jiu-Jitsu chose it for me, and I am happy with that!
]]>You may ask why anyone would repeatedly put themselves through this, not just in life, but multiple times in a day and then come back in a day or so for more. The answer is because it is beyond fun. Strange right? But those in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ or jiu-jitsu for short) community find what they are looking for in this martial art and sport, even if they are unaware of it.
I recently had a conversation with my wife that being an adult is lonely. As adults we have “friends”: childhood, neighbors, work, but if one is honest how much meaningful connection do they bring? Take childhood friends: we grow up and become these people with our lives and them with theirs, and when we meet-up we are more like siblings than friends, laughing about all our past shenanigans and debauchery; connected through a thread of history. We are different as adults, and this difference becomes more apparent when we are apart, you notice how flaky these people have become. Then there is work, perhaps you have made a friend or two, but do the connections and banter end a 5pm? Are they simply just a work thing?
Perhaps as adults we do not really need friends, but I do believe we need meaningful connections and an outlet to help us un-plug. Is that an oxymoron? And this is where jiu jitsu comes in. Jiu-jitsu is a sport that forces you into extremely close contact and positions with strangers, but these strangers become your meaningful—daily or weekly—connection in life, you build a great deal of trust with those in the community and whom you train with. Many of the other activities we—as adults—partake in are solitary, and as we become hyper-connected online, we become more disconnected in life. In jiu jitsu it is impossible to be solitary because you are always paired with someone, and in order to receive something out of the sport you have to give something, and not the obvious blood, sweat, and tears, but heart, honest self, and trust in others. There have been many times rolling with others where I ask them, or they me: “are you alright?” Each can sense the others’ energy and if that energy is dim—you know.
So where are the friends I have been getting towards? They are in the honest connection and exchanges we have, and quite often in the actual people we train with. Adults are scared, and this holds us back from meeting and talking to new people—making friends, but jiu jitsu forces connections and development of them upon you. As grown-up busy adults, we have lost our way to have simple honest fun with others, much like how kids in a playground run around and play games with other kids, no hesitation, just “Hey! Wanna play?”, “Sure!”, and away kids go.
Beyond the training and development of lethal skills that jiu jitsu provides, it is nourishment for the adult soul. We find an outlet where all of life's stressors are switched off (even if just for an hour or two): dynamic challenges and puzzles, fitness, and most importantly we find family and community, and this makes our lives a lot less lonely.
“Hey! Wanna roll?”
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