I took the afternoon class at 1:00 today at Renzo’s in New York. We had an amazing class, taught by Renzo himself, and some great training, with some of the best in the world. After the training I always stay for about 30 mins to review techniques, or watch others do the same. A young boy named AJ approximately 10 years old approached me introduced himself and asked me to train. He told me he had been training for 2 months, and for that time period he had some impressive Jiu Jitsu. After we rolled he asked me “What do I need to work on?” For someone so young and new to Jiu Jitsu it is remarkable that he had such great understanding of self improvement and humility. He clearly has great mentors. However, I feel these qualities are missing in many people’s lives on and off the mats. Finding out how to get better is a huge part of training, goal setting, and personal improvement. If you find your improvement in Jiu Jitsu or life at a standstill, perhaps you need to start asking “What do I need to Work on?”, “How can I get better”, or “How did you catch me in that?”. Training or living without purpose is likely to lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of progress. Also as adults we tend to be less open to learning new things from different people. It will greatly benefit us to keep an open mind and be humble enough to ask and accept some outside criticism. Don’t let a big ego get in the way of big improvements. To continue to get better we must at times be like AJ, and keep a blank page for each positive influence we meet to contribute to our life story.
See you on the mats,
Garry Tonon
