An observation: When I go to write my daily Instagram/Facebook posts, I make use of the photographs that my students and friends send me. Usually I like to post a visually arresting image of a competition victory or dramatic training footage or some image that captures an important principle or theme. Today when I went through my cache of photos I made the observation that for every dramatic or eye catching photo Stored in my phone, I have fifty mundane photos of daily training that suggest fatigue, frustration, repetition and pain. A moments reflection reveals that this is how we experience jiu jitsu on a daily basis. We carry in our mind an image of the sport that is like a highlight reel – we remember the big victories and defeats, the big breakthroughs and challenges, the revelations, the drama etc. Yet on a day to day basis it is a repetitious slog towards distant goals. It is critical that you find ways to make that daily grind fun and rewarding or you will not last. Everyone has their own way of doing it, but humor, camaraderie and goal setting are probably the most effective. This is another way that jiu jitsu mirrors life. Just as life is a daily grind interspersed with occasional peaks of joy and sadness, so to in jiu jitsu, where daily training usually is characterized by long periods of discomfort and frustration, but which is the engine that propels us towards our memorable moments and justify the hardships we went through. Here, the strain of high level contest (shiai) preparation shows on the face of Eddie Cummings as he takes a breather after a tough morning class and now must focus of weight loss and then on to an afternoon class as EBI 10 in Mexico City approaches. Whilst our memory will usually focus on the peaks and valleys of our lives, we must remember that it is only the multitude of forgotten days of grinding and struggling towards our goals that make those wonderful peaks possible.
