One White Belt’s Perspective, Revisited

Reflections on another year of training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

As I drafted this post on Friday, I was up at 5AM with a smile on my face — less for the fact that it was 5 in the morning and more for the fact that no matter what the day would bring, it was a happy anniversary worth celebrating. Friday marked two years since I attended the first class of the sport that changed my life. I attribute pretty much everything good that’s happened in my life in the last two years to the practice of BJJ and the people I’ve met while doing it.

In reviewing everything I’ve written about jiu-jitsu since I started doing it, I noticed that there’s no post I’ve written about BJJ that directly addresses a key reason I started. So before I go any further into what’s changed for me in the last year, I’ll offer up a new, significant piece missing from the narrative I’ve already shared of my BJJ experience.

“Something wonderful is going to happen”

Whenever people ask me, “Why did you get into jiu-jitsu?” there are a number of reasons. Sure, I was overworked and needed a hobby, and sure, I was looking for a lifetime sport and gym community that beat out the snobbish, impersonal yoga studio of which I was a member at the time. But the essential truth is simpler: it all started with a really bad breakup. It’s the truth, and anyone who was in my life between November 2016 and March 2017 knows how ugly it was. It’s old news…