You stink, and you don’t know you stink.

I first stepped on a bjj mat in 2010 as part of my requirement for my 5th degree black belt in the Korean martial art, Tang Soo Do (Moo Duk Kwan). It was recommended to me that I should train in Brazilian Jui Jitsu (Gracie Jui Jitsu) and if I didn’t, then my “martial art would not be truly complete and effective.” Plus, one of my mentors said that it was extremely important that I experience what it was like to be a white belt again.

I remember feeling a bit annoyed by this, after all I’ve been training and teaching martial arts for a very long time and in my mind my “martial art” was “complete” and “effective.” Plus, I was almost certain that I really did not want to start as a white belt again? However, the person that said this to me was a high-ranked martial artist in TaeKwondo that I highly respected who also had a purple belt in Jui Jitsu.

So I decided to take up the challenge.

I found a local BJJ school and took my first class. The class had a new and fun warm up that I got through very easily (being a black belt and all that…), BUT the moment I was partnered up with another student (a white belt with 2 stripes), it wasn’t long before I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. I mean, after 40 plus years in this martial arts world, I was pretty much at a loss as to what to do to keep from getting smashed by this “white belt!” This was one of the greatest “aha” moments in my martial arts life. It was then that I realized I was living out the truth of “I don’t know what I don’t know”; or, as Chris Matakas says in his book, My Mastery, “You stink, and you don’t know you stink.”

I am currently a blue belt in Brazilian Jui Jitsu under Professor Pete McHugh (Team Ricardo Almeida). Through my training in bjj I am learning to be honest about who I am and my abilities on and off the mat.

My goal is to become a better human being for me, my family, my students and my community.

Brazilian Jui Jitsu, in my humble opinion, is perfect for accessing where you stand in martial arts AND in life. And…

“Accessing where you stand IS the only way to stand somewhere else.”

Thank you Professor Chris Matakas for reminding me of that.

Oss.