I’m currently injured so I’m out of regular training for a
while, apart from a few open mat sessions, where I’m essentially turning up to
do light rolling or drilling.
It’s not my first injury lay-off and it probably won’t be
my last, so I try to remain stoical and philosophical. But injuries remain
annoying, especially when it’s put the kibosh on all my competition plans for
this year.
I was reading an article online a few days ago, though, about
an American black belt called Chris Haueter. He’s one of the so-called ‘Dirty
Dozen’, which is a group of BJJ practitioners who were among the first 12
Americans to be awarded their black belts in the US. And he said the following
line:
‘It’s not about who’s good, it’s about who’s left.’
I loved that and it chimed with me a lot. In my other
martial art, Hapkido, I was a terrible white belt and not much better in my
other early belts for the first three or four years. I also saw younger, more
skilled and more graceful students join and leave me in their slipstream as
they progressed up the ranks.
I wasn’t good, but when they didn’t stick around I was
left. And because I’d not stopped, I did slowly get better. Even at the giddy
heights of black belt, I still wouldn’t claim to be a good black belt,
especially when I look around the do-jang and see other students who are
faster, more technically proficient, more graceful, more balanced, etc.
But I will be left and that means I will continue to improve. It’s a
good lesson and one thought that keeps me sane when injury prevents me from
training.
I can’t give any advice on BJJ because I’m still not a
very good white belt. But I can give advice on training and, like Chris Haueter,
that advice would be: ‘Don’t be good, be left…’
