Jiu Jitsu prepares many flavors of pain for us.
One of the most bitter flavors of pain comes from a revelation. Jiu Jitsu reveals our physical limitations.
I became acutely aware of these limitations when I turned 32. Double or triple training sessions left me, best case, feeling half-assed and, worst case, sick or injured. I had to back off. I had to slow down. Granted, this is not the case for everyone, but I was running up against the limitations of my genetics and ability to recover.
Of course, I ignored the warning signs and continued to redline the engine until COVID-19 forced a rest. Then fatherhood forced a hard reset. I couldn’t simultaneously be healthy and be the father that I wanted to be if I continued to be the grappler that I wanted to be. Fortunately, I found a way to make it all work.
What I did not account for is the continued decline. I did not account for the fact that on a long enough timeline, individual human life trends from one to zero.
At 36, recovery is a little bit tougher. It takes more time, effort, and money to undo mat damage. These small simulations of death inch us closer and closer to death. This is not a video game. We do not respawn with 100 percent health.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I see some who refuse to do it and their bodies are held together mostly with tape and neoprene braces.
This is not a future I aspire to. Nor do I aspire to a Jiu Jitsu-less future. How do we stay in the game?
Category: Inner Work
Tag: Embodied Wisdom
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