Black Belt Year One
It’s been a year and it still hasn’t sunk in.
When I was promoted to black belt last year it was unexpected. Not because my instructor has an odd masochistic enjoyment in his method of promoting his students, where he makes sure you think it will never happen when you get it, but because I had been through some rough times professionally and personally before it came. After going through a year as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-JItsu I cannot help but reflect on how this martial art has helped me get through life and continues to teach me to persevere no matter what happens.
Before I got promoted, I was still guilty of allowing complacency to affect my mood and put me in a negative space. The promotion was the ultimate lesson on how important it is to keep grinding at whatever it is you are pursuing in life regardless of when you reach whatever it is you are trying to achieve. I was at the point that all I did was enjoyed training with all of my training partners and showed up because I love doing it and I love being there.
In May, one of my training partners asked to interview me because of my promotion and my experience covering MMA. His Youtube channel, “Rolling with Simon” is about how martial arts can empower people to follow their dreams and get through the toughest moments of their lives. I have to say Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu absolutely has done that for me and continues to do it. Not only in my personal life but in my professional life as well.
Then, not a day later I see a post from a white-belt you may have heard of that seems to have been humbled and blessed by his experience in training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. You may have heard of the guy, his name is Russell Brand. He talked about how jiu-jitsu helped him and how it can apply to everyday life. For someone new to the art, he seems to have already gotten the best there is to get out of it and how it makes you want to do more.
He talks about how it puts you in a higher energy state and how the focus and controlled aggression helps train the mind to use that type of thinking when life presents you with a struggle. Even though a black belt in any martial art is considered a certain level of mastery, for me it made me thirsty for more knowledge and oddly enough, I feel as excited about training when I was a white belt.
Edward Carbajal freelance MMA writer and holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu Karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow Edward on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.
