I can still remember the moment vividly to this day, sitting on the porch with my friends, outside of our jiu-jitsu gym on a warm spring day. We had just finished class and were all in a good mood, just hanging out in the rare sunshine. We started the usual conversation about how much we loved jiu-jitsu, but then started talking about where we were going with it and what we hoped to achieve. I think we were blue belts at the time. We all said we were in it for the long haul, that we couldn’t imagine NOT training jiu-jitsu, and that we all wanted to someday hopefully get our black belts.

Jiu-jitsu being a pretty competitive obsession, my buddy stated the obvious, alright, it’s a race then, to see who would be the first one of us to get our black belts. Who could commit the most time to training, sacrifice the most, stay healthy the longest, to earn the coveted prize of a black belt. That was ten years ago. Today looking back, I just wish somebody had told me then, that I was in the middle of the “”good old days”. I guess the answer is simple, you are always in the middle of the good old days, one way or another, so always work to be present and enjoy the moment.

Looking back, now I don’t care about getting a black belt, nearly as much as I did then. I don’t see either of my friends that I sat on the porch with over a decade ago, they both stopped training jiu-jitsu, life got in the way. The gym we all trained at, was torn down and now new condos sit where it used to be. And as much as I miss them, miss training with them, and the comradery that we all had back then, I try to stay present and enjoy the moment training jiu-jitsu where I am now, with new people. You never know when the new person you meet on the mats will become a life long friend, and you never know when the last time you will ever train with someone will be. Damn this post ended up way sadder than I intended.

My point being, is that the black belt is nice, and sure we all want it, but that’s not what jiu-jitsu is about. Jiu-jitsu is about experiencing life with friends, plain and simple. See you on the mats. Oss.