7 Lessons On Confidence From a Decade of Martial Arts
“Punches and kicks are tools to kill the ego.” — Bruce Lee
In the photo above, I look like a character from a horror movie.
People usually see this picture and tell me I look “tough”.
It’s funny to me because, in this picture, I didn’t feel tough at all. I felt anxious, nauseous from my weight cut, and as you might guess from my headwrap, my eye hurt like hell. A few hours after this match, I had to go to a random Urgent Care in Dallas and get stitches to close my eye up. I still have the scar.
But none of that matters to anyone else, because in the picture, I appear focused, determined, and confident. A picture is worth a thousand words, but the picture only tells a small part of this story.
This picture encompasses the 7 most important lessons on confidence and mental toughness that I’ve learned in more than a decade of martial arts training.
Everyone else is just as anxious as you are.
At Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, a lot of people complain about their nerves. Some people even use nerves as their excuse to not perform up to their abilities. They think nerves are a valid excuse for failing to be their best.
