Dont’ Drown the Person Who Teaches You to Swim

Posted on by Brooklyn Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu

As I near the 20th anniversary of when I started training Jiu-Jitsu, I am compelled to say thank you to my instructor, my master, who has made this incredible journey possible.

Thank you for sharing your art, your creation, your craft. Thank you for sharing your passion, your commitment, your resolve. Thank you for sharing Jiu-jitsu with us: your students. And when I say “your students” I mean each and every one of us. I mean those of us who are wearing black belts and those of us who are wearing white belts. I mean from people who have spent twenty years on the mats with Master Renzo to everyone training around the world today. As students of Jiu-Jitsu we owe a debt of gratitude to your family. Because while changes occur and new creations are made you have always been here for us. For that I am very grateful.

I could write stories about driving to New Jersey two hours in each direction to train with Master Renzo. And I could talk your ear off about all of the times when I felt defeated by the complexity of jiu-jitsu and by my own limitations as a student, but I came back anyway. And, of course, each of these stories would end with how it was all worth it. It’s commitment that keeps us coming back to training.

But what keeps someone coming back to the same instructor day after day, year after year? Loyalty. I truly believe that love is important to build a strong relationship, but it’s loyalty that creates a family. Sure there are temptations in the world that challenge our loyalties and there are always going to be people that attempt to lure us towards those temptations. But I chose my instructor the day I met Master Renzo. And opportunism won’t change that. There is a Japanese proverb that reads: “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.”

We can embrace new trends without abandoning fundamentals. Just because we spend time learning and mastering the tornado guard doesn’t mean we forget the guard that Master Carlos and Master Helio taught to their children, and their children’s children. The berimbolo won’t soon make us forget the scissor sweep. And there is no trend or fad or fashionable instructor that will ever lead me to lose sight of the people who believed in me so long ago – and have stayed with me ever since.

I have never sought another teacher, just as I’ve never sought another family. To me, there is far more to our training than finding the coach that will accept the credit for the next tournament win. The stakes are much higher than that: our integrity, our history, is on the line. And without loyalty or integrity, there’s little else.

I am a Renzo Gracie Black Belt. And I have every intention of fulfilling your family vision – our family vision – of training to 9th degree.

Your student,
Gene Dunn

April Event Recap

Posted on by Brooklyn Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu

Each month we enjoy seeing students progress in their BJJ practice and watching each school grow as new students join our community. We work hard to make sure classes stay engaging for current students and provide special seminars each month that focus on specific life skills for both our students and the Brooklyn community.

In April not only did we welcome new faces through orientations and leadership training, but we grew our community in Bully Buster  and Women’s Safety seminars. Stay tuned for special seminars coming up in May!

Women's Safety Class - learning how to stay safe with basic training specifically for women.
BBJJ welcomed women from the community to learn about the basics of self-defense.

 

Our Bully Buster class is designed to prepare kids for how to safely and effectively stand up to bullies, and to avoid confrontation

How I Stopped Making Fear-Based Decisions

Posted on by Brooklyn Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu

I’ve always found it incredibly admirable when people are able to turn their biggest challenges into their greatest victories. Many of us have been inspired by stories of Beethoven and his ability to overcome deafness to write some of the world’s most beautiful symphonies.

And from an instructor’s point of view, it’s no less powerful to watch a student turn low self-esteem into an ever-growing, positive self-image.

One of the troubles I struggled with as a younger person was my own fear of rejection. In it’s mildest form, it was a worry that I wouldn’t be accepted. It seemed to show up everywhere I looked:

I thought I wouldn’t be able to make friends.
I thought I wouldn’t ever have a girlfriend.
I thought people would laugh at me if I tried out for the team and looked foolish or didn’t make it.  

I took everything so personally.  If I called someone and they didn’t call me back, it was wasn’t because they were busy or just missed my call – it was because there was something wrong with me.

When I look back, I was allowing my fears to dictate my decisions. As a result, I never felt like I was making mental or emotional progress. I wasn’t taking any meaningful steps to a better life, no matter what activities or sports or hobbies I was involved with.

It’s my belief that as adults, we often stay in negative, unfulfilling relationships because we’re afraid to risk the vulnerability it takes to enter new, good relationships.

For me, it reached a point where if someone was willing to influence me I would let them. It didn’t matter if they were influencing me positively or negatively; I just went along.

My fear of rejection drove me to do “whatever it took” to feel included. I lied, cheated, and stole in order to avoid being rejected.  And in the end, I was barely holding on to my integrity by a thread.

What happened?

Well, it started by reading a few books and honestly looking at where I was in my life. What came next was Martial Arts training.

I began at BBJJ partly because it stripped away my trouble spots – there wasn’t any “team” I had to make it onto, and there weren’t any “in-crowds” for me to try to fit in with. I could focus on my own personal goals without that fear of not being accepted.

Most people think martial arts practice – especially Jiu-Jitsu – is about getting “up close and personal” with a sparring partner or a classmate doing the techniques. But when I started practicing regularly, I got “up close and personal” with myself and my fears. 

With guidance from my instructors, I started to see myself acting out of fear…and once I started to see it, I couldn’t NOT see it.

That gave me the impetus to go to work.

Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gave me the confidence that I didn’t have to do the work alone. I understood that my teachers had my back – it was like knowing I had a net while walking on a high wire.

So I did what they told me to do – I read more, and I listened more.  I learned to discern who might help me…and who might not.

Ultimately, I’ve been able to swing the pendulum so far in the other direction that I am now actually able to BE a positive influence on so many people.

Now, I can’t say that I never make decisions out of fear anymore…but I can say that it’s rare. And I can look myself in the mirror and know: I turned one of my greatest challenges into one of my greatest victories.

Challenges have the potential for greatness – not just despair.  I recently dealt with an injury and I immediately looked at how it will eventually add to my Jiu-Jitsu practice and my life rather than detract from it. My teacher has always told me that tough times don’t last…tough people do. 

And through this personal experience of turning challenges to victories through this BBJJ training, I now know that it’s true.