My Life as a White Belt

It is my intention that this journal will share my personal growth with friends, teammates, and any who might find it inspirational to their own jiu jitsu journey.  If some kernel is particularly relevant to you, please share that with me.  As I’ve come to discover, feedback is a dynamic tool for growth and learning. 

My Life as a White Belt

The First Step: 

The sign says ‘All are welcome!’  Does that mean me, too?  I’ve spent almost two years trying to recover enough of my emotional, mental, and physical selves to feel human again. The divorce took more out of me than I thought possible, but it’s definitely time to make some changes.    I thought I’d figured out how to find myself again.  Decent income, new relationship, stronger family ties; they all felt right for a while.  Then the lady found greener pastures, a DUI crash and arrest set me back on my heels financially, and the family had its own set of issues to deal with.  Almost back to square one, it seemed.  So now I’m adapting to a new lifestyle without a vehicle and a part time job.  I have few friends in the local area and am kind of clueless on how to find more.  This place is right up the road… super convenient!  I’ve got a background in wrestling, even if it was 20 years ago.  Maybe this is a place I can take a risk on. 

 How will I fit in at Five Rings Jiu Jitsu Academy?  Five Rings… is that related to the Olympics or something?!  I hope they aren’t super competitive.  I can’t handle that yet.  I just want a place to get in shape and maybe learn some cool moves.  All the jiu jitsu stuff I know is what I’ve seen on UFC fights.  It would be awesome to know how to do armbars and triangle chokes, even if I don’t ever use them in real life.  I started running back in August and I finally quit smoking again. I’ve even started biking all over the place.  I should be able to handle this, no worries.  Who knows… maybe I can show them a thing or two!  Haha!

Well, there’s nothing left to do but open that door.  I think the guy at the front desk might have noticed me pacing around out here.  Man, this is nuts.  What am I thinking?  These guys all know each other already.  They’ll all be stronger, faster, and younger than me.  I remember hearing that these jiu jitsu guys are kind of elitist.  I don’t need any condescension in my life right now.  I’m going to check this place out on the internet and see if there are any reviews or if they have a website or something. 

(…I walk down the hill to my apartment complex…)

Hmmm.  Nothing but good stuff online.  Website is informative and they’ve got this free trial deal.  Seems like there isn’t much to lose.  Signing up for an orientation tomorrow.  I’ll see where this goes, I guess.