Fighting, to Rickson Gracie, is also the art of controlling emotions. To reinforce this point of view, he has the habit, acquired from his family, of comparing the martial arts to the gestures of the most beautiful beings in the animal kingdom. It's the case of the lion, for example.
"The person who fights has to learn how to be calm, strategic, fearless, confident, with an elevated spirit. And patient," Rickson taught in a conversation on Joe Rogan's podcast. "The patience we learn in jiujitsu is a great quality, and must not be mistaken for passiveness. The lion or lioness behind the bush remains still, waiting for the approach of the dazzle of zebras. It's not passiveness; it's patience, to await the right moment to eat."
Rickson has always trained that way: "I could win in ten seconds, ten minutes or after an hour, but my mind never showed any affliction if the submission took a while."
Keep practicing jiujitsu and controlling your emotions to understand the right time to act. And it doesn't matter if today you don't see yourself as a predator. After all, as Rickson, remembers, he's seen many fighters bearing lion hearts inside gazelle-like physical structures. Stay the course!
Comments
I may have told the story earlier about my neighbor picking a fight with me. I had to explain the old Irish saying that I made up recently (I’m an old Irishman), “Never invite a man to a game of lions, when you’ve got no cubs to protect!”
On the other hand, could you tell us where Master Rickson’s interview with Mr. Rogan would be? A link, perhaps? Speaking of lions, I’d like to introduce him to one or two lions of philosophy. It will help Mr. Rogan out. Our great grandmaster would probably enjoy reading them too!
I forgot to ask the writer when he wrote it several months ago. Now that episode's been lost in the sands of time, I'm afraid.
Alas! Oh, well.
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