Cogito, ergo sum

The Benefits of Martial Arts Training

I Got Third Place The BJJ grading is just around the corner and that’s the reason why there’s always more people on the mats. I had one of the members saying they’re all worried about going for their illustrious blue belt and don’t think they deserve. I can totally relate, I was always getting beaten by training partners and every time I levelled up my belt I never felt like I deserved it. Even I refused to go for my brown belt one time, because I rolling like shit and didn’t think I was ready, my coach understood and respected my decision. It’s funny how this all shit works, every time I levelled up I had a bigger target on my back, I became a blue belt and all these hungry lower belts wanted to beat me up. The exact same thing happened at purple, brown and black belts, oddly enough when the target was bigger it actually forced me to improve. Yes, I still think I didn’t deserve any of my belts, I still consider myself a white belt, I love learning and every day is different on the mats. Having a bigger target on your back is good and bad at the same time. It’s bad because if you lose to a lower belt it hurts the ego. There’s a saying that some Jiu-Jitsu gyms quote it says to “leave your ego at the door”. How is that possible? We all have an ego? Does your ego liked getting smashed all the time? I bet you it doesn’t, you humanoid’s have been programed to win, it doesn’t matter if it’s at school, at sport or at work, you must excel at everything that you do. We get rewarded for doing well, and by getting rewarded it triggers a chemical in your brain called dopamine. It’s the chemical responsible your mood, it’s conditioned to like rewards, it makes you feel good, it triggered by drugs and alcohol and is one of the main reason people develop addictions. Now onto the good things about having a new belt, firstly you deserve it you’ve been training hard. I see all the stuff you do on and off the mats. Yes, the target is bigger on your back but when the newbies come in and want to rip your head off. Unfortunately some will beat you, some of them won’t. The end result is you’ll get better because you’ve been rewarded with a new belt and you’re going to defend it, because dopamine makes you feel fuckin great and you love rewards. I remember my high school swimming carnival, I did my bronze medallion at school and knew I could swim 50 metres. The brackets went in age, height and weight, I was a large awkward kid, and I still am to this day. I couldn’t swim very well but a few of my mates were egging me to enter the 100m freestyle as they needed three people in that division or the race was off. The old dopamine kicked in, first and second qualified for the state finals and third place was a reserve just in case someone couldn’t swim. Oh shit, it didn’t take me long to realize I get a day off school even if I came third, to me that was my reward. Fuck yeah let’s do this, there’s only three in the race. The starting gun goes off, I belly flopped into the pool I could hear everyone laughing at me, now swimming 100 metres I thought would be easy, but being a rebellious teenager, I had recently started smoking. Swimming the first 50 metres was hell, but all I could hear was the people laughing at me, by the time I finished the first 50, I was getting lapped, and I could hear some of that laughter turning into cheers, at one stage one of the teachers asked me if I needed help, I said no. I kept going, being stubborn has it benefits and I just kept going. I was hearing a few more cheers, some people actually wanted me to finish the race. I dog paddled the last 20 metres, I did it, I finished the race I was a reserve for the state finals. I quickly ran over the people that section that was laughing at me, I gave them the double bird and yelled out “fuck you, I’ve got a day off school”. Yours always Darko Bloggins