My BJJ is important to me. And not just for keeping me active. It's amazing for my mental health. I go to classes, I forget whatever is happening at work, and I simply try to get better at what's in front of me. I can solely focus on that. And just that.
Everyone else is focusing on the same goal, too. It's a beautiful environment, and all the martial arts schools I've trained at remain amazingly supportive and safe spaces. Which is odd if you consider the fact you're basically training to punch, kick, throw, choke or joint lock people.
Having now trained in martial arts for more than a couple of decades, I know I'll never be really good at them. And I'm not fishing for praise. I've trained with enough good people to know what their general standard is and what mine is. Even on my best day.
But I'll be OK at them and I'll slowly continue to improve. And I can live with that. Connecting the mental to the physical is not a skill set I have. My brain doesn't work like that. I genuinely admire athletes in any discipline that can see a move or a technique and immediately translate it and absorb it into their own physical vocabulary. In another life, I saw stage performers and dancers who could do that. It was as impressive in that environment as it is in this one.
One path to a better understanding for me at my first martial art was teaching and running classes. Because I knew I had to understand it in a different way. My knowledge had to be vertical and have depth rather than just be horizontal and cover lots of ground with no real foundations. And I had to explain it and translate it.
So getting the chance to teach a beginners' class at No Gi BJJ is a real win. It means I have to drill down into whatever I am teaching and re-familiarise myself with things I know and do, then have to explain them.
I call the classes my 'Learning to teach' classes and, five in, I'm thoroughly enjoying them. I'm sticking to things I know reasonably well and learning loads more about them as I prepare my lessons. It's a genuine privilege.
My first martial arts teacher's teacher was a hapkido grandmaster who'd trained since childhood in a monastery with other martial arts masters in Korea. This may sound a bit Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. But when Japan invaded Korea, indigenous martial arts were banned. This saw lots of Korean masters seek sanctuary as monks in monasteries where they continued to practise their skills in secret until they could do so again in public.
He always said, "Through teaching, we educate others. We also teach ourselves."
It's so true. It's also a new route on my continuing journey. I'm a competitive fighter at 54 and I'm now teaching BJJ. Who'd have thought that would be a thing for a speccy Yorkshireman with a love for cue sports, comics and the Sisters of Mercy?
Not me. But it is. And it's really cool. Even if I am not.
