Final edition

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  For my cultural immersion experience I took up the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I have done a fair amount of boxing since I was a teenager but only competed at a very low level. Boxing is very informal compared to the structured martial arts originating in Asia with their belt grading system, class format and physical signs of respect for opponents and coaches. I had only dipped my toe in the water with them prior to the end of lock down in June this year.

 

I remember my parents starting me in swim lessons at a very young age. Being a taller thinner human I had a little success in high school, making the swim team but athleticism does not come naturally to me and I never really excelled. At 13 years old I was a gangly 6’2” and 140.lbs. I am yet to be described as shy and was sure to tell everyone what I thought of them as a young man, after this not turning out well for my immediate health on a few occasions I took up boxing at 15 years old. 

 

  I was lucky to find a good coach, a bald, barrel chested tattooed man that had a face that showed his experience. Not being athletically inclined and not being as tough as some of the other kids that my coach saw more potential in I did not receive much coaching and I moved gyms with a basic understanding and skill level in Queensberry rules pugilism. The next old dinge, smelly gym I found myself in had a lot of ex convicts, amateur title holders and some professionals that would visit. It was a rough, tattooed, blue collar crowd with missing teeth and no shortage of scars. The plump and jolly coach although a nice guy was not the caliber of my first and I soon found myself well out of my depth in some heavy sparring sessions with adult men, professionals and amateur title holders much better than myself. Some kind to my skill level and others not. After reaching a ceiling in my abilities and not getting the coaching I needed I left and took up weight lifting. I tried Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Thai boxing briefly before joining the Army and was lucky enough to do a combatives course, I tried Judo for a short stint outside of work but did not pursue martial arts for any extended period.

 

  Years go by and again I only had reasonable success but could hold my own. I tried triathlon, rowing and CrossFit. I work as a firefighter and have a lot of friends in law enforcement who all do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). On occasion I would watch a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)  fight and understood the capability of BJJ. How it enables a smaller person to not just have a chance to win a fight but own another human. I was growing tired of the trendy Cross Fit crowd and found the work outs not at all mentally stimulating.

 

  During lock down we all had time to reflect. I listened to a lot of podcasters that have black belts in BJJ. Joe Rogan a UFC commentator, Joko Wilinik a former Navy SEAL and owner of a clothing manufacturing brand and Andy Stumf also a former SEAL who is a blue belt. Men much older than me that I look up to. Much tougher men who have experienced some of the worst things the Middle East has to offer, have had a lot of success in business and have a great attitude and outlook on life. They explained that it is a full contact sport that does not have the brain injuries associated with boxing (the speed and agility required for boxing also makes it a young man’s sport). The podcasters went on to explain how deep BJJ is and that it is much more than a sport but has lessons that carry over to their day to day life. 

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  How success in life is earned and not given which is seen with the coloured belt ranking system in jiu jitsu. Respect for people more experienced than yourself is formally demonstrated in BJJ, one instance is the coach only being referred to by “coach” or “professor”. A hand slap and fist bump before and after rolling with someone. Lining up at the start and end of class in belt grade order. BJJ requires humbleness to learn, you have to be willing to be taught the techniques by those ahead of you. It also has a lot of “suck” it is painful being squished and bent the wrong way, as life can be, especially if you want to be successful at it. 

 

  During lockdown, with a lot of time away from the gym to contemplate, I was eager to adjust my exercise hobby yet again. I bought a gi, a rash guard and a cup. As soon as the gym reopened after in early June I went to class. The gym is small maybe 700' sq. attached to a weight lifting/ CrossFit gym in the basement of an office building downtown. The gym was well lit,  clean and new with charcoal grey mats. It did not have the stale must of sweat, Vaseline and Tiger balm that I remembered from the dim, dirty and old boxing gyms. The coach has his hair cut high and tight, very developed shoulders and arms from years of gripping opponent’s his and a face like Popeye that shows the gravel in his gut and spit in his eye. The other practitioners are generally smiley and welcoming. In various shapes and sizes with an eclectic array of professional and cultural backgrounds. Also something I was not expecting. The presence of the pandemic was still very real and the risk of contracting the invisible virus while being extremely close to someone was not lost on anyone. 

 

  I did not know how to tie my very white belt, I looked as awkward as a newborn deer trying to do the warm up drills and had no idea what the technique was that was taught during the lesson. During the open mat sparring session after class where someone more level headed would have just watched I rolled with people far more skilled than myself. I quickly learned new ways my body could be contorted in against my will and hurt in all new places. When leaving the gym I felt fine though, like I had done a CrossFit work out. Unlike boxing where you would leave with a headache and maybe a black eye or bloody nose. I had started the first page in my next chapter of training. 

 

  Although lacking in sporting prowess I have always been consistent and as a few months have ticked over I have been able to go to three to five classes a week depending on my rotating work schedule, as well as taking up weight lifting with the club attached. Some days are harder than others, when you are tight from weight lifting, have a niggling ache from rolling the week before and you look around the mat and start to know the different personalities. The different skill levels and efforts of aggression, those who just "flow" and those that are over zealous. This is one of the lessons that carry over from the gym to everyday life. 

 

  I felt like I have been immersed in a sub culture where technique is currency and eagerness to “embrace the suck” is a requirement. It is too easy in the Western world’s middle class to be complacent in our comfortable life, not doing anything too strenuous or unpleasant and losing some old fashioned grit. Sometimes you just have to do something shitty. Being choked, smothered, compressed, grinded on, your joints bent the wrong way and being helpless in a situation makes some of those first world problems much more insignificant. If you can persevere through a 5 minute round on the sweaty mats with someone manhandling you, the irritating person at your job or work assignment others fall apart from feels much more manageable. 

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