Talk Blogging

The other day, I was thinking back to when I was in college. Like most people, I have good and bad memories from those days. But the one thing that always sticks out in my mind after all these years
was a statement that was made during freshman orientation:
‘Look to right and to the left of you. In four years, one of you won’t be here.’
I didn’t realize it at the time, but those were some very powerful words that were spoken to me during that orientation (I may have heard the same thing when I was in Marine Corps Boot Camp back in 1982). I wondered how in both situations, they could stand in front of a group of newbies and make such a blanket statement so confidently.
The reason they could make that statement so confidently was based on one thing…history! In college and at Parris Island, they had a history of new people coming into the system, not being able to handle the stress of the environment, and being delayed or completely removed from the environment because they couldn’t cut it.
As I reflect back on my own grappling journey, my instructor (Lloyd Irvin) could’ve said the same thing to us because it was true, whether we realize it or not. And now I’m going to say it to you:
‘The next time you’re in class, look to right and to the left of you. In four years, one of you won’t be there.’
And what do I have to support my statement…history! For 10 years, I have watched literally HUNDREDS of guys join the team; appeared to be hardcore ‘BJJ 4 LIFE’ type of grapplers, training 6 days a week (sometimes twice a day), at the school on X-mas Day and Thanksgiving to train, would drive 10+ hours in a car to compete, got tattoos to show their loyalty for the art…disappear from training completely! Why? I don’t know, I guess life just got in the way.
The question you need to ask yourself is what will keep you from repeating history? You say you’re committed, but will working late kill your desire to train? Will the temptation of going home to watch ‘Heroes’ or ‘24′ win over a grinding training session? Will the ‘bombardment’ of emails from me turn you off completely from grappling, like some guy wrote my emails almost did to him a few weeks ago? I don’t know, but you do and, if you’re serious about becoming a BJJ Black Belt, you need to make that commitment today! And NEVER deviate from the goal, no matter how many years or setbacks (injuries, money, master instruction, etc.) it takes to achieve it!
So, in 4 years (or 6, 8 or even 10 years) from now, where are you going to be?
Paul M. Greenhill, ‘The Wise Grappler’, is the creator of The Wise Grappler System and author of The Wise Grappler Ezine, a weekly ezine that provides martial arts training and personal development tips for the older (over 35) and non-traditional martial artists. To learn more about ‘The Wise Grappler’ and to sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit his site at http://www.ihateyoungpunks.com or contact him at paul@thewisegrappler.com.
(c) 2007 Paul M. Greenhill
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