Childhood’s End

When the Machado Brothers gave me my Black Belt back in ’97 – they also gave me some solid advice. “You are pretty much the same person tomorrow, that you were yesterday’ Said Rigan ‘ you will win some and you will lose some; don’t worry about it; don’t let the new belt weigh you down’. ‘And remember’ said Jean Jacques, ‘we are not supermen; we can and will make mistakes.’ True words – and good advice.

Our childhood on the mat comes to and end, not when we get a blue belt, a purple belt, a brown belt or even a black belt. Our childhood comes to an end when we are tapped out by someone with a lower rank than ourselves; when we realize that we are only human and can, (and in fact, need to) make mistakes.

A lot of people worry excessively about losing on the mat; but consider, everyone needs to lose. In chess, there are winners and losers, in pretty much every game; it’s the fun of playing that ultimately counts.

JBW