The budokan
The podium
regain my energy, I did small exercises in my bed, being careful not to remove the IV from my arm. I’d hoped that if I kept my mind in competition mode, my body would be able to catch up easily and I’d still have a chance of winning. But when I attended my first practice just five days after I’d been released from the hospital, I knew from my body’s sluggish response and slow recovery that it would be impossible to get to competition readiness by the following week. And so when I stepped onto the competition mat that day in Nagoya, a mere two weeks after my hospitalization, I already knew that I was going to lose. So why then, when I tapped and signaled my loss a mere three minutes into the match, did I have such a huge grin on my face? Four days before the competition, James, my instructor, Eric, my teammate, and I landed in Nagoya to train with our sister gym in Chiryu before competing in the Copa Dumau. But what I’d expected to be a competition training camp ended up being more of a BJJ vacation. We trained, of course, but sessions were confined to the early morning and late evening, which left the majority of our time free for things unrelated to competition and BJJ. For one, since none of us had to worry about our weight, we ate all of the Brazilian food we could get our hands on. Our gracious hosts, Arley (see ‘Just Roll With It’ in the Fall 2013 issue of the OkiJET ‘Ryukyu Star’ magazine) and Thais, made us a home cooked meal our first evening, then proceeded to introduce us to things like Brazilian pizza, fried pastries and even their country’s version of fruitcake. And, of course, there were plenty of acai drinks and treats to go around, which gave us plenty of energy, so we could eat, talk and laugh even more. Want to know what we did the day before the competition? We spent the entire day at Nagashima Resort, going on every ride that we came across, enjoying the sun, short lines and each other’s company. During the trip, I learned more about James and Eric, who became my Vikings brothers as we worked our way through the History Channel series, and I gladly added the always chilled pair of Arley and Thais to my growing BJJ family. To call them ‘family’ is the only way I can describe them, especially the Nagoya branch of MY Team BJJ. How else could I
CONNECT April Issue 2014
explain the warmth of the members’ welcome at the Chiryu gym, making it so much easier to withstand the cold mats that froze our feet every practice? How else could I explain how, after only just meeting us, nearly a dozen of the team came to the Aichi Budokan to support us as we competed in the Copa Dumau? I lost my competition match long before I’d stepped onto the mats not because of sickness, but because I’d chosen to think of BJJ in terms of winning and losing. Subscribing to that aggressively narrow point of view only impeded my learning and recovery, and also threatened to restrict my experience of BJJ. Thankfully, my teammates, my family, reminded me that Brazilian jiu-jitsu has never been about winning or losing. That mindset focuses on when, but, in reality, BJJ focuses on who. The wonder of BJJ can be found in its practitioners, the great myriad of people we are able to meet while learning BJJ. Since returning to Okinawa, I’ve been doing my best not to focus on winning or losing, but on staying relaxed during training. After all, sparring in BJJ is called ‘rolling’ for exactly that reason: to roll with whatever happens, to flow and not be stuck like a robot on one thing, even if that thing is the will to win. I’ve found that I’ve been able to apply many more techniques than before and have had much more fun training BJJ when I’ve been focused on simply enjoying the moment. Yes, every competitor steps onto the mat with the intention of winning, but winning is not measured in points or medals. It’s measured in those long hours leading up to the competition, in the connections made with people along the way, and the joy of the entire experience. And every competitor knows that those kinds of hours are well worth the loss. Jess Bertubin is a first-year ALT from Hawaii, who was placed at Nishihara Senior High School in Okinawa apparently as reward for saving the world in a past life. She lives on the east side of mainland Okinawa, minutes away from the beach and south of the military base where she was born. Jess can be found busing around the island, wandering into restaurants to eat things she’s never seen before. She trains Brazilian jiu-jitsu with MY Team Okinawa BJJ, located near Ryukyu University. Read more about her experiences and reflections on her website (RollingWithTheBigBoys.com) and Tumblr (rollingwiththebigboys.tumblr.com).
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