The initial six months of training the Martial Art of Jiu-Jitsu for a beginner has always been a mark for success or failure for students. It is during this time frame that a pupil will begin a new practice and experience the basic techniques of the system he or she undertakes. When I look back to the first 90 days of training in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, these three months started at the end of the Spring where everyone wore the Judo Gi; however, it was during the Summer months into September of 1995 that we were training no-gi. This practice was focused on Self-Defense and Vale Tudo (Anything Goes Fighting) training. It was not until I was in my 10th month of training that I learned about the sportive rules of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition. The concern was on Self-Defense and earning the Blue Belt skill level. This period always had the context of using Jiu-Jitsu against other Martial Arts or against a layperson that had no Martial Arts experience. Our instructors mentioned that it was after the blue belt is achieved or after the six months that you begin training to beat other Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the academy or the sports competition. This time spent on the mats ultimately was about learning the skill of techniques (Jitsu or Jutsu).
Often I am asked the question of how I have been able to continue my passion for Martial Arts over a 25-year period. The short answer is, “I am a lifelong learner.” The real answer is I am able to make the critical transition from technique to cultivating a way of realization. In other words, I moved from practicing Jiu-Jitsu as a means of self-preservation to practicing Judo as a way of self-realization. I am sure that most Jiu-Jitsu instructors or students of this art might be shocked to read how this moment in training is defined in this writing; however, the founder of Judo, Dr. Jigoro Kano believed this to be true long before Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and other grappling based or striking based Martial Arts that originated from the Martial Art known as the Gentle Way (Judo).
Kano expressed levels of Judo in 3 areas as a Martial Art of physical and moral education. The first level (the lowest) is one of learning and practicing techniques (Jitsu or Jutsu). A person can spend his or her entire life at this level of understanding. The second level (the middle) is of cultivating techniques and counters as a byproduct. Here the person is developing a mindset of thinking like a Martial Artist on the tatami and off the tatami. She is taking this cultivation into the workplace or in the household to use two major principles of Judo that hold all techniques and relationships as much more than at the lower level of Jitsu. This is something much bigger than the idea of Jiu-Jitsu (Ju) as softness overcoming hardness that can be practiced and learned in the first six months of study when Dr. Kano fostered as a reformer the key principles of Maximum Efficiency (Seiryoku Zenyo) and Mutual Benefit (Jita Kyoei).
Finally, the third level of Judo (The Highest), is to use one’s Judo to help society and make a bigger impact on the world. Naoki Murata writes, “We have now established Judo’s three aspects — training for defense against attacks, cultivation of the mind and body, and putting one’s energy to use. We have also affirmed Judo’s highest goal as self-perfection for the betterment of society. For the sake of convenience…we can see that it must not be limited to training for fighting in the dojo, and even if you training your body and cultivate your mind, if you do not go a level higher, you cannot truly benefit society” (Murata, 2013, p. 94 -95).
I have given this critical transition from technique to cultivating a way of realization much thought. I have looked at this in many ways from the aspects of practicing for self-preservation versus self-realization. My thoughts about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a lifestyle have been explored in my mind’s lens. The question is what really is the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle? Can Jiu-Jitsu practitioners live the BJJ lifestyle in the middle of America? Or do they have to live close to the beach environment and experience this type of culture?
For the BJJ Lifestyle – Can this be defined as one that trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, acts in ways that improve and result in better performance inside and outside of the academy, and finally brings value to the world by using the experiences and knowledge from the tatami? If so, see Dr. Kano’s levels of Judo. Or in yet another view, is the BJJ Lifestyle really the Arte Suave, beach culture, and aspects of Brazilian culture infused into the Japanese martial art? Again, if you are living the BJJ lifestyle in Southern California, is this the same as living the BJJ lifestyle in the middle of America?
Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and BJJ all have the aspect of setting short-term goals such as the blue belt. If you can make it into a rhythm and learn really how to create momentum, this is something of a life skill. It can be cultivated on the mats and later taken into the workplace or in your everyday life. As the momentum continues with the application(s) of the right timing, there can be changes to society that came as a consequence of studying the arts. Just be aware of the critical moments in your Martial Arts journey where you are taking on the mindset of seeing this practice as a way of life. In Eastern thought for the person that uses the way as his or her path, the measure of success is within; it is really the development of self-realization, yet for the beginning months it is important to practice for self-preservation. You must from the start have technique and Jiu-Jitsu. This is the foundation to build from and a skill you can have for the rest of your life. Dr. Kano was first a student of Jiu-Jitsu. He was passionate about this art; however, as an educator and Jiu-jitsu reformer/developer, we today own much to him for providing the means, classification systems, and a path toward Judo which is today practiced around the world and the father art of many Martial Arts & Combatives systems.
References
Murata, N. (2013). Mind Over Muscle. New York, NY: Kodansha USA.