I watched "Jiu-jitsu vs The World" another time and by
chance watched this video. The guy must be in his 50s
or 60s and here's part of what he said:
What do I mean by "A lot of Jiu-jitsu will change your
life"? When I was younger, I didn't know how to fight.
And you know boys being boys. You know. And in
high-school, even a little bit afterwards, people tend
to assert themselves like, bullies tend to kind of assert
themselves. They would assert themselves on me in a
physical manner, not always beating me up but they would
push me, you know, like teasing here and there, always
with the threat of beating me up.
I was very very good in using my words to kind of get
myself out of the fight. I could use self-deprecating
humor and laugh it off. I was very good at staying out
of the fight.
But I hated the way they made me feel. When I walked
away, I wished I had that power to fight them. I hated
what they took from me. I hated the feeling of
helplessness I had inside.
And when I started to learn the stuff (Jiu-Jitsu), it
started to change. It changed how I walk, how I dealt
with people on a daily basis. It was powerful, to the
point where today, if somebody tries to assert
themselves on me in that way, trying to dominate me, not
necessarily physically but verbally with the threat of
violence I could use the same tactics but I could walk
away feeling fantastic.
There is a certain kind of tranquility that comes with
that ability to defend yourself. Truly know how to
defend yourself. That's powerful. That's just one
example. There are many many things that Jiu-jitsu can
give you to help change your life.
Bullies show up not just on the streets. J. Peterson was
right when he said that real conversations between men
contained an underlying threat of physicality. At the
workplace, it is rare that conversations are simply about
exchanging views and seeking truth, even in computer
programming. When talking with a manager or even the
engineers who try to dominate (Such people are not rare), it
is the underlying threat of your livelihood. Anyone born
with an iota of survival instinct can feel it and I know it
all too well.
I was not innocent. A few times, I tried to be a bully but
it never felt good even when I won. Overall, however, I felt
sure I sinned much less than was sinned against.
It got me misty-eyed watching this old guy talking about
exactly the same experiences and feelings I had. And I could
testify that strength and BJJ training did change the way I
looked, walked, and handled people at work or home.
