Brazil, it was an amazing experience to visit home after being here in the land down under for so long. It was great to see my old teammates and train with some new faces. Jiu Jitsu brings people together in a way that’s hard to explain. If you train and live it, you will understand the power it has to bring people together. It’s like having an extended family that will always be there for you and with social media, it doesn’t matte where you go, there will always be a way token in touch.
Training and travelling allows you to make friends around the globe. You get to learn new moves from old buddies and share your knowledge with new ones. It’s a constant cycle of learning and teaching each other that builds this great community. You hear it all the time, enjoy the journey and like everything else in life, you will face set backs and have to overcome many obstacles during martial arts experience.
Life is up and down. However, your training mates will always have your back and be there to fight for you, even when you feel like you cannot help yourself. The best part about this is that they’re not only in your corner at the ring or academy. Later, you will be able to count on them to be there for you even during life’s toughest moments. Apart from being there for you at your lowest points, your training buddies will also celebrate your victories with you – be it making it through the class or earning your next Jiu Jitsu stripe.
After all, you will find yourself supporting your teammates and sharing happiness in their achievements. In the right BJJ environment there is no jealousy, your teammates can relate to your struggle and share pride in your achievements. From my personal experience,my best friends have come from Jiu Jitsu.
It’s hard to move from home, but with Jiu Jitsu and the common bond shared among practitioners you know you will find new friends who act as an extended family. When I moved here from Brazil, I knew a few guys from Gracie Humaita in Rio that helped make my transition to life here easier. It’s funny but BJJ players can recognise other players (maybe the shirts or finding a way to talk about bjj at any chance they get).
When I moved to another neighbourhood out here,I felt lost and bored on my days alone.This ended quickly when I took my dog down to the park and met my buddy Kenny with his dog. We were all standing in a group and he just looked at me and said “you must roll”. He turned out to be a blue belt and we just clicked straight away with common interests and an understanding of the mental state of a person who trains and enjoys the lifestyle that BJJ can bring. It was easy to talk and hang out with someone who enjoys the same things and now we meet up and roll in his garage as the dogs hang out.
What I’m trying to say here is Jiu Jitsu can open doors for you in life with making friends and growing a strong network. It takes mutual respect and trust to be able to roll with someone and learn together in a way not many other activities can offer. This is also true for kids. I watched two of my young students become best friends despite their three year age gap,purely by training with each other every week. The older one loves to help out Gustavo in class. It’s a magical feeling to see and be apart of.