Comfort in Chaos

“Once you learn to remain calm under the stressful circumstances of a fight,
you will have no trouble remaining calm under the stressful circumstances of life.” - Ryron Gracie

I remember when I first started rolling in Master Cycle. I had new training partners to work with as time went on and more students came up from Combatives. Most of my training partners have always been bigger than me and stronger than me. It took me a long time to not panic during the roll. I logically knew that no one was going to hurt me, but my brain would not chill out. The thing that helped me the most during this time was to just embrace the suck. 

“Yep- I’m on the bottom of side mount and not going anywhere. Cool. I’ll just chill and slightly adjust my shoulders, my hips.”

“Can I breathe a little better? Can I wedge in a frame?

 Yes.”

“Can they submit me from here? Nope.” 

“Ok cool. Relax. Observe.”

After several months, I was able to finally relax while rolling. The ability to relax and let your mind work while under the pressure of staying safe is an amazing skill.

Now it rolls over into other parts of my life. Is waiting in a long grocery line or being stuck in traffic really that big of a deal? Not compared to a 250lb guy trying to break my arm. 

To me, this has been the best part of Jiu Jitsu; finding comfort in chaos in any situation. If you’re not quite there, just keep going. You’ll get there. I promise.