How A Jiu-Jitsu tournament impacted this child’s life…..and how it can impact yours.
They say, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
I’ll do my best to keep it under that. 😂
This young man Weston stepped up for his first Jiu-Jitsu tournament yesterday.
Simply put he was terrified. 😱
He’d been training and practicing at the gym for months preparing for this day.
Every day at class Weston has dozens of coaches and teammates on the mat with him.
We play upbeat empowering music at our gym to make the matches enjoyable and the energy electric. ⚡️ 🎶
But at tournament time, you step on the mat alone.
Just you facing your opponent equipped with whatever preparation you put in. 😳
Now, Weston isn’t my son. But I was as proud of him yesterday as any father could be. (Like I am with all of the kids in our Jiu-Jitsu program). 😊
You can see the fear in his eyes here. 😧
That moment of realizing this opponent is actively attacking him.
Weston didn’t give up. At one point he even began crying during his match. 😢
But he DID…NOT….QUIT. 👏
Furthermore he went on to do 4 more matches that day! 👏 👏 👏
Sometimes THAT is the victory of the day. Simply staying in the fight.
How many times has life kicked you in the teeth so hard that you simply don’t even want to get out of bed? 🛏️
How many times have you put months or years of energy into something only for it to fail, or be undone by circumstances out of your control? 😞
How many times have you felt UNDER attack. Whether by your work, neighbor, spouse, family or even government? 🤯
Life if hard. Period. Full stop. ✋
You will never have enough money to avoid hardships. 💰
You will never have enough resources to avoid hardships. 🤯
But you can develop tools to NAVIGATE hardships. 🧭
Mental strength is by and large the single most valuable skill one can obtain through training Jiu-Jitsu.
Because the mental resilience that is built from Jiu-Jitsu is applicable to anyway, of any age, in any walk of life!
“Fox you’re being exaggerative”
🦊: “Am I?”
Let’s role play some scenarios where a person may need mental resilience 🤔 :
1️⃣ 5th grade boy facing social anxiety transferring to a new school 🏫 ? ✅
2️⃣ College applicant denied by 17 universities of choice 😞 ? ✅
3️⃣ Young couple trying desperately to start a family after encountering 6 miscarriages 🏥 ? ✅
4️⃣ Single mother mourning the loss or vacancy of her children’s father 😢 ? ✅
5️⃣ C-suite executive managing an organization of 250+ people 👨💼 ? ✅
6️⃣ Empty nester facing the feeling of being “Put out to pasture” when his kids are gone 👻? ✅
I was immensely proud of Weston yesterday. 🥹
But I was also immensely proud of the entire team. I know first hand what it takes to put it on the line at tournaments.
It’s a feeling the far majority of people will never get to experience…..because they let their excuses or fears trump their personal growth.
See you on the mat,
Written by Coach David Fox
