The Jiu-Jitsu Skeptic

This morning, I sat down at my computer for my normal routine. I checked my email, checked my sites, finished up a few odds and ends from last night and dove into Jiu-Jitsu videos. I know, that last part doesn’t really fit with the others, but since I’m addicted to Jiu-Jitsu, it does. It really does. Ask around. You’ll find that others may be inflicted with the same disease.

One venue I often look toward for the latest goings-on is Facebook. I’ve “liked” so many websites over the past few months that I’m now pretty much inundated with news on Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, class schedules, photos and advertisements. It’s good I suppose, because that’s what I was looking for when I clicked their like buttons – I wanted to keep my “finger on the pulse” of the scene. This way, when I write posts myself, I’m able to stay current.

I’m not sure why today was the day, but something struck me. You see, I’m the kind of guy who always wants more. I try not to be that guy, but I guess I was born with the trait. I can tell you that it’s a frustrating one and one I sometimes wish I didn’t have, but the fact is, here I am and here’s how I act. Traits aren’t something someone can easily shed. We’re stuck with them.

As I was browsing Facebook this morning, I became aware of the overwhelming feeling that I had seen everything before. The tipping point may have been noticing that Stephan Kesting re-posted yesterday’s video promoted by Keenan Cornelius on the 50/50 armbar. The thing is, I was going to do that. Not because I wanted credit for finding something useful and having the chance to run my fingers through my hair, but because I wanted to make it available to those who may find it interesting or helpful – those who may not be subscribed to the same feeds as I am. I’ve done it before with good response.

I hold Stephen Kesting to a higher standard than I hold myself to though. He’s obviously devoted his life to Jiu-Jitsu and for him to offer up a re-post, I don’t know, I just felt a bit let down. And it’s not just from this one isolated occurrence. I’ve more and more been noticing people from many industries running out of things to say. They’re now engaging in, what seems like, plain and simple content generation for the sake of filling their websites and Facebook pages with “stuff.” They have subscribers and they need to keep those subscribers well fed. It’s all over the place. When it comes to genuine uniqueness on the internet, there isn’t much to find.

But here’s the question – are they feeding their subscribers well? Is a daily barrage of semi-useless, already been seen information worth reading and viewing? I began asking myself this and, unfortunately, I seem to have dug the hole I was teetering on the edge of, deeper.

Personally, I’d rather read or watch one well thought out and put together piece. I’d like to chew on that for a few days and perhaps even add it to my favorites. I’m not sure I need to stay on top of the latest Metamoris results or the technique of the week. Do I participate in Metamoris? No. Am I currently working on the technique that’s floating around, or that had gone viral, on the web? Probably not. Well then, what am I doing? I had to answer that question this morning and I decided that I really had no idea.

I should really follow the advice I give other people when it comes to my own life. When people ask me “what they should do,” I oftentimes ask them, “Well that depends. What’s your goal?” They stare through me with bewildered eyes and, typically, offer no response. It’s almost as if they had never given that any thought. “Hmmm, I wonder if I should identify an end point before I muddle around and make a mess of the middle.” I can see them thinking. I’ve been confronted with similar questions once in my life and I’ll never forget the situation. A friend sat me down after I had filled them in on a major, life changing decision. They said, “Jay, what are you after? What’s your goal? What do you want?” I remember sitting there (after making that life changing decision I just told you about) saying, I haven’t the foggiest idea. I knew what I didn’t want, but I had no idea what I wanted. Life changer. One that taught me how reactionary I actually was. How am I supposed to make my way through my days if I have no idea where I’m heading, or at the very least, where I would like to head?

After reflecting for a while, I began jotting down notes on thoughts I’ve had through the years. Things that have upset me and things that I’ve never gotten good answers to. Things about Jiu-Jitsu. And after a few minutes, I found myself tracing my fingers down the backside of a piece of paper I had resting on the corner of my desk – a piece of paper that was then scratched full of notes that made only marginal sense. And a piece of paper that now sits before me begging to be shared right here in this very blog. I wrote down what I think are fairly clever ideas this morning and I ask you, if you have time, to please humor me and read the rest of what I have to write. If you do, I can promise that, while you may not end up as thoroughly concerned as I am, you may find yourself questioning the trajectory of the sport we all love so much.