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Oct
27
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I was on the phone last night with a buddy of mine, Richard Cesena, and we were talking about the tournaments he was entering this year which include: the Worlds in California, a small tourney in Tokyo, Japan, a couple in Europe, Portugal specifically, and one in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Rich is living the dream.
Even though I could write about jealousy, I’ve decided to talk about styles—jiu-jitsu styles. Richard teaches a class at West Side on Wednesdays. The dude is phenomenal. His style of grappling is something I admire, and although I love his style, it is not my style. He’s on his back, then shoulders, then head with legs zipping through the air like the tentacles of an octopus, grabbing you only to release and attach themselves somewhere else on your body and then making you tap.
My style is big, heavy and slow like a rhinoceros, a giant sloth with a little hippopotamus thrown in. It’s methodical and lumbering; it’s nothing like Richard’s, but it’s mine. Long gone are the days when I tried to emulate other people’s styles in jiu-jitsu. Their style is their style and mine is mine. No matter how hard the sloth trains, he will never be a leopard.
When we learn jiu-jitsu we must remember that jiu-jitsu can be molded to fit us; we must modify it so we can use it effectively in our own skin. If you’re a sloth, be a sloth—jiu-jitsu will find a way.
Mark, I like what you say here. Jiu-Jitsu is the reflection that I see in the pool of life. I cannot be anyone else, no matter how much I like their style. I see your Rhinoceros putting out many fires. Especially when that fire gets out of control and needs to be extinguished.