“The Old Gang” and What They Meant.
During my injury-plagued up and down period last month, an old friend from my first academy emailed me. He found me on the net and wondered what I was doing these days. We hadn’t talked in several years and he brought me up to date of some of the old guys.
Our brief email chats reminded me of all the faces, quirks, stories, and lessons learned from each member of our old school. Honestly, talking with him was like catching up with an old Marine Corps buddy. Days between our messages, I thought of where my Jiu-Jitsu journey began and the path that relationship had taken today.
Jiu-Jitsu had brought together an eclectic group of law enforcement, potheads, college kids, corporate types, and former military. I remember a couple of guys leaving school. I didn’t know the reason they left, but I offered to pay our professor their membership fees so they could remain as students. To say the least, it was good to hear from him.
When my first school closed, it was hard on many of us and left a huge void in our lives. This void was for more than just a pastime activity but for the friendships that felt almost like family. Like a family, many of us may never have associated with one another outside of the value we found in our sweat-soaked painful connection of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We all had a choice where to train as there were five other BJJ academies within jogging distance from our little school. Many of the school’s members traveled from great distances to train at our school.
I miss the comradery and the excitement when a member showed up late because you knew the night’s training would be more fun when more of us were in attendance. It is belonging and connection to a culture and community of those that understand and appreciate the sacrifices of our art.
Our experiences and environment shape us. Rolling was a “counseling” session of sorts.
Rolling is when you shared how the world had shaped you on the mat with your opponent, but we were not wrestling with one another. We were fighting side by side to defeat our egos, weakness, bad habits, and life’s frustrations all while gathering more pieces to the puzzle that makes up Jiu-Jitsu and a gentle manner to take on life’s bullying and aggression.
I love learning and practicing Jiu-Jitsu, can do hundreds of solo drills, and regularly take my grappling dummy to hell and back, but the face to face and soul-felt bound with those that harbor an affinity for Jiu-Jitsu is what puts the gentle in this art.
