How Jiu-Jitsu taught me to stay calm in the chaos of life.
Before I started Jiu-Jitsu, I had no idea what it was like to really be under pressure. I thought I could handle anything life threw at me and deal with stress.
Soon, though, each time I stepped on the mats, I saw how wrong I was. John Danaher’s words hit me hard:
“For an individual, the greatest gift that I think they get from Jiu-Jitsu is the idea of solving problems under stress. You have to try to solve the problem that your opponent is giving you during every second of every Jiu-Jitsu match.“
I thought that learning techniques like submissions, escapes, and sweeps was all there was to Jiu-Jitsu when I first started training.
I quickly found out it was a lot more than that, though. Each roll was a new puzzle, different and hard to guess. My opponent gave me problems all the time, and it was my job to guess how to solve them.
I did not know what to do at first. It was hard to handle the stress of being pinned down, the fight to stay in charge, and the constant need to stay one step ahead.
The first thing I did when I got caught in a submission was to freak out and panic. Panic never got rid of problems, though.
I began to notice a change as I continued to train. I was not just trying to get out of holds or get stronger than my opponent anymore. I was considering, analyzing, and judging what was going on.
I started to slow down, take a deep breath, and look for a way out every time I was in a tough spot. It felt like my mind was building a machine to solve problems.
Jiu-Jitsu teaches you to welcome the stress and use it as fuel to stay focused and sharp. I learned not to rush or freak out when my opponent attacked.
Instead, I took a step back and thought about what was going on. What options do I have? What’s my opponent’s next move? How can I turn this around? Finding the answer quickly and without getting hurt was not about strength or speed.
This way of thinking was not just about Jiu-Jitsu. It started to affect the things I did every day. When I was stressed out at work because of upcoming deadlines, I thought of the ways I had learned to stay calm on the mats. I learned not to freak out when things got too hard.
Instead, I learned to break things down, find the best way to handle them, and then do it without stress. When I faced personal problems, I dealt with them like I would during a submission attempt: slowly, carefully, and methodically.
Jiu-Jitsu taught me that stress is a part of life, but you can choose how to deal with it. There is always a problem in a match, but there is also a way to fix it. I learned that being able to solve problems quickly is not just a skill, but also a way of thinking.
John Danaher’s words became my mantra. I reminded myself every time I rolled that it was not just about staying alive; it was about finding a way to solve the problem. I found a new, calm, focused me through that process. I am always ready for the next challenge.
Thanks for reading!
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