The Power of Jiu Jitsu (a bit of a long read)
Okay, Toad here. Your lovable village idiot from 10th Planet Bethlehem. I'm going to tell a little story about how integral Jiu Jitsu is becoming in my day to day and send a couple thank-you's while I'm at it.
I'm 26, and have recently started my own photography business which has come under some heat from a prior company I worked for (AKA major battle in court). All of this was dropped on me over the weekend, which, if you have been following the happenings here on the east coast, made me miss the Ryan Fortin seminar on Sunday at 10PB.
Needless to say, I was worn from all of this. Being this young and having to be faced with a major passion in my life possibly being crushed is enough to take the wind out of my sails.
Last night I walked into class and saw my 10th planet family, all smiles, and I started to feel calm and collected. I'm being faced with much greater challenges in jiu jistu on all levels, which makes other troubles float out of my mind as I'm training.
The release is so incredibly positive I can't help but walk out of class feeling like these seemingly "major problems" are trivial. My thinking is much more clear in every stressful situation, and instead of losing my cool, I think of the problem and how to escape it, much like you would do in a situation while rolling.
Ryan Fortin said something that made a huge impact on me during class after I described being in a "bad situation" (i.e being locked in a triangle etc) ...
"You have to let the negative energy go, there is no 'bad situation', it's just something you need to escape."
GOD DAMN.
I can't help but to thank my instructors John Michael Holland, Zack Maslany, and now Ryan Fortin for making such an incredible impact on me and helping me turn into a more positive person in, and outside the gym. Thank-you guys.
