Weaving jiu jitsu into life brings life to your jiu jitsu: A theme I try hard to instill in my students is to take the lessons of jiu jitsu and apply them to other aspects of their lives. So much of our lives, in business, commerce, relationships, politics etc take the form of competitive and cooperative games – just like jiu jitsu. It is surprising how often insight drawn from jiu jitsu can illuminate other aspects of our lives (and vice versa). When this happens, jiu jitsu takes a much richer and deeper meaning for us. We see it no longer as a game or recreation, but as a way of thinking. I had the chance to express this theme in the popular TV show Billions, where one of the main protagonists uses themes learned in jiu jitsu to gain advantage in his battles against a foe. Most competition and cooperation follow the same basic structure, so we should not be surprised at overlap between jiu jitsu and other aspects of life. Often however, the themes are clearer in jiu jitsu and learned there first and applied to life later. Here, Paul Giamatti takes a Kimura from a position that people naive in ground grappling might consider inferior, but takes a win through tactics and technique – and sees a deeper lesson that will inspire and energize his character in more important ways…
