This past Saturday, Josh competed for the first time. While I’m sure Josh would have liked better results, every member of the ECU family who watched Josh’s matches saw how hard he fought and how far he’s come on his BJJ Journey.
I had mentioned to Josh that I’d like to use his thoughts on his first competition for a blog edition. Not only did Josh write down his thoughts, he turned them into a POEM!
So here it is, Josh’s thoughts on his first competition - in poetry form:
Thoughts from a White Belt
Itch.
It seems as if it’s the time of year.
Workouts intensify, attendance is up, shirts are printed, cameras, chatter, and then you get . . . the itch.
Never,... I couldn’t. What’s the point? I’m past prime, I have no knowledge base, I’ll be embarrassed, the fear of defeat; worse injury.
But there’s a magnetic draw, it’s almost planetary.
The week of nerves, the fear, the anticipation, hot sweats, cold hands.
The pre-planning, imagery, mental scripting, hope, nerves.
Relaxed conversations, predictions, key phrases.
What if I do it all wrong, what if I panic, what if I let a school of hard workers down.
I did panic, I did it all wrong, I lost, twice.
But not nearly as discouraged as I thought, in fact I immediately wanted to repeat each match again. But that, ... is competition; it, and you will never be the same.
BJJ is an art, it’s a tool, it’s a test, it’s about the mind, it’s a feeling.
Itch,... Scratched.
Josh Kaplan
Nice work Josh!
I also know that while you think you’ve scratched the itch, you’ll want to scratch it again at some point. Good Luck!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed Josh’s poem as much as I did.
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