On the Mat Day 295: Sacrifices

Coming home in the car I found my mind wandering, thinking about my 3 kids fast asleep at home. I've trained 3 evenings this week as well as doing Tapout XT which hasn't given me much time with them. I keep realizing the sacrifices that we have to make to improve at BJJ. Sacrifice time with family and friends. All the road time I've put in to get to class, gasoline, money for competitions, training and gear. Sacrificing sweat and blood to train in the freezing cold or sweating like I am working out in a sauna during summer. Getting injured, getting my ego crushed, having huge guys sit on top of me and bend my joints choke me out. It's all crazy when you think of it this way. You begin to ask yourself "why"? Which is not so easy to answer except that I think BJJ gives me a purpose in life, a means to release all the crap that happens throughout the day or week and just let go - it's a form of meditation I believe. It's a lifestyle.

On the way home after class I bumped into Ogiyama-san who I haven't seen for a while. He must live close to the dojo because he was still in his work overalls - he works for a company that builds Pachinko machines. He was telling me how bad he feels about not been able to train because of work. I just told him to take it easy and come when you can. It takes a hell of a long time to get good at BJJ (10 years or so to black belt), just enjoy the journey I said. If he can make it to training once a week, it's worth it in my opinion. I encouraged him to come when he can and said goodnight. I thought how great it is that our dojo is more like a boys club. A place where guys (or girls) can go to just hang out, train a bit, relieve stress, chill and talk about anything after training. There are no egos here, no strutting around big brass balls - just a bunch of tired guys who train hard and would back each other up in times of need. Reminds me of the Spartans.

Sparring time: 8 x 5 mins = 40 mins
Notable moments: Nothing much but the berimbolo practice was superbly fun.