I remember when I went skydiving, at the Parachute Center, for the first time in Lodi, California. I was tasked with going through a series of jumps at various altitudes until I had earned my graduation jump. My final jump was supposed to be out of a Cessna at 10,000 feet, but I was told we were “in for a treat”. We were getting to jump with the national sky diving team out of a DC3, a much bigger plane, at 12,500 feet. We were to be evaluated by a master jumper to see if we could do minor relative work in free fall. Relative work is basically controlling your movement while falling. Well, I drew the lucky card. I got the owner himself, Bill Dause, to be my evaluator. At the time, he was a world-renowned skydiver with hundreds of hours of free fall time under his belt. He was a short man, and he just walked around grumpy, never said more than two words to me or my friend while attending a three day course. When I was told I got Mr. Dause, I was a little concerned. One of the other master jumpers said, “Don’t worry about Bill, it will be fine. The only time he smiles is when he’s free falling. He’d rather be up there than walking around down here.” That didn’t really make me feel any better.
The time came to load up into the plane. Mr. Dause and I were all the way in the back, closest to the door, where we would eventually jump out. As the plane took off, everyone got situated and comfortable. I looked over at my friend and his evaluator. They were talking about the expectations during free fall. The evaluator was even giving him pointers. I looked over at Mr. Dause and he put his head back and closed his eyes. I began to feel anxious. I politely asked him what he wanted me to do since I had only jumped out of Cessnas before this. For comparison, when jumping out of the Cessna, they had us step out onto the wheel and then grab hold of the strut of the wing. You had to shimmy out to the middle of the strut and wait for the signal from the pilot to let go. The door on the DC3 was in the rear and nowhere near the wing, nor did the DC3 have a strut. Mr. Dause slowly opened his eyes, he didn’t even look at me and said, “Jump out like superman.” Ok, so I should feel good about myself because he said more than two words to me, but I didn’t. He started to close his eyes again. I repeated his answer in question form, “Jump out like superman?” He didn’t even bother to open his eyes this time, he just said, “Yup.” I looked back over at my friend and his evaluator, and they were still talking strategies and options. The national skydiving team were all nestled into each other and were taking naps. My friend and his evaluator even put their heads back and began to relax. As we got closer to 12,500 feet, it got noticeably colder. The next thing I knew, the signal to prepare to jump was given. Mr. Dause was quick to wake from his slumber and quite motivated too. Since we were at the back of the plane, we were the first jumpers. There wasn’t a lot of room, so it wasn’t like I could just change my mind and step aside while the others jumped. I duck walked to the door, it’s not very big and I was in a squatted position waiting for Mr. Dause to tell me to go. He tapped me on my shoulder and gave me a thumbs up. I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I just jumped out like superman. I was now free falling. I remember it clearly, I was super tense because I didn’t know what I was expected to do, and I didn’t want to fail this jump. I felt something grab a hold of both of my feet firmly and then my legs and body started to do the wave 12,000 feet in the air. I put my head down, looked towards my feet and didn’t see anyone or anything. I heard and felt, “Knock, knock, knock” on my helmet. I looked up and it was Mr. Dause. He had the biggest, brightest, and happiest smile on his face. He brought his hands up to his mouth and gestured towards his smile as if to tell me that I needed to smile. I hesitantly smiled and his smile got even bigger. He then flew off somewhere in the sky and let me enjoy the rest of my free fall. That was his happy place and it showed how much he enjoyed it. There was no denying him that enjoyment.
When I walk into the gym to roll, I get excited and can’t wait to see what the rolls are going to flesh out. I like to get there early when the mat is clear and just look at the empty space envisioning all the innovation that is going to take place. As I put my gi on, the anticipation builds up. When I step my bare feet onto the mat, my body gets rejuvenated, and I can’t help but smile inside and out because I know what I get to do. I warm up with various movements, feeling the connectivity to the mat. Eventually, another person comes into the gym and makes their way to the mat. The inevitable words uttered, “You want to warm up” or “You want to roll?” followed by the symbolic touching of hands and the bumping of fists to signify the start of the physical conversation.
Once that roll starts, or any other one after that, the way I feel is the same way Mr. Dause must have felt in the sky when he was free falling. There is one difference though. The joy I get is only magnified when the person I am rolling with is equally inspired by the same goal, which is to learn. Currently when someone asks me to roll, I now ask, “Mundials roll or roll to learn?” Other times I’ll ask, “Roll to win or roll for fun?” They look at me funny, as if they don’t understand. Mundials rolls or rolling to win gives me zero joy and there is nothing in it for me except loathing. I gain nothing and can’t wait for the roll to end. I must do gnarly things that I don’t like to do just to end the roll fast so I can move on. I want to be challenged, but in a learning-based atmosphere. The speed and intensity of the Mundials roll is the equivalent of a Crossfit workout, which is 100% effort until complete exhaustion. This is the exact opposite of Jiu Jitsu, which has been translated to be “the gentle art” or “the efficient art.” When going that hard, all the time, injuries are the overwhelming result. I know this to be true based on the injured people that roll with this type of mindset. Injuries do happen in Jiu Jitsu, but this mindset type are always injured or the ones that roll with them consistently get injured.
My coach Matt Thornton describes the roll I prefer perfectly as a conversation. A Mundials roll is like a violent argument with yelling and screaming. You don’t really hear the other person, and you try to yell louder than the person yelling at you. Nothing is gained from an argument of that level except frustration. I prefer an intellectual conversation. A conversation which provokes thought and inspires or changes viewpoints, which is the equivalent of rolling to learn. To this day, every time I slap hands with my coach, I never go into it thinking how I plan to submit him. I truly look forward to the back-and-forth volley of techniques and thrive on the competition of it. When I say competition, I don’t mean the typical definition that most default to which is usually to defeat or win. I prefer Matt Thornton’s breakdown of the word; com-, meaning two, and petition, which is to request or solicit. The roll should be two people applying the precise timing, energy, and motion in a physical conversation against each other which solicits or requests the knowledge of the sweet science of Jiu Jitsu.
Then there are submissions. Submissions are a beautiful product of Jiu Jitsu and if you see them as SBG does, like leaves on a tree, you understand those leaves need to be sustained by the roots, trunk, branches, and twigs of the tree. Submissions end the physical conversation that I enjoy so much, but when it is done with a smooth set up, precise timing, and efficient movement, I welcome it repeatedly. You can’t help but smile when a submission is put on that gracefully. There is a scene in the movie 300 when an Arcadian named Daxos and a Spartan named Stelios are doing reconnaissance to gather intelligence on the invading army of the Persians. They are on a high cliff looking down on the Persians and see their vast numbers. The Spartan warrior Stelios smiles as he looks upon the Persians. The following conversation transpires,
Daxos: There can be no victory here… why do you smile?
Stelios: Arcadian, I’ve fought countless times, yet I’ve never met an adversary who could offer me what we Spartans call a beautiful death. I can only hope, with all the world’s warriors gathered against us, there might be one down there who’s up to the task.
Submissions are “A Beautiful Death” to me. When applied as previously stated, and when I get out on the mat, especially at a SBG camp, I see the fellow SBG family as the invading Persians and I look forward to one of them being up to the task. I roll to learn because it is fun, and it makes me smile when this amazing art called Jiu Jitsu exposes itself to me.
In years past, I now know why the upper belts subtlety avoided me. In the movie Forrest Gump he quoted his mother as saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” You never know if you are going to get what I like to call a “Switch”. Like a regular household light switch, which can only turn on and off. Unlike a dimmer which can give any percentage of energy in between on and off. When you slap hands with a Switch, and their mindset is only to win, it is ugly Jiu Jitsu in my eyes. Usually, but not always, the upper belts like brown and black are going to be the dimmer switches with the mindset to learn, because at that level is when the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Jiu Jitsu is truly opened to you.
Getting to this mindset didn’t happen immediately. I started as a “Switch” and was there for a while. I remember when I used strength in techniques. I recall Matt Thornton telling me it would take me twice as long, if not longer, if I didn’t learn to give up using strength. Once you feel the ease of a well-timed sweep or an effortless submission there is no way to explain it, but I can tell you that it is addicting. You seek it out again and again settling for nothing less. I have been there and many others before me by Honoring the Process. I encourage you to take the time to read Matt Thornton’s thoughts on this as a coach and practitioner here, http://aliveness101.blogspot.com/2006/01/honoring-process.html.
I thank and attribute my mindset by learning from and sharing the mat with fellow SBG BJJ black belts and the entire global SBG community. If you want to experience a community like this come to SBG Sparks and train with us.
See you on the mats!!!
