JIU-JITSU & CANNABIS CULTIVATION
THE PARALLELS BETWEEN BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU & CANNABIS CULTIVATION
There is significant overlap between Jiu-Jitsu and cannabis cultivation. Both require a dedication to self-improvement, the ability to get back up after taking a beatdown, and a hunger that never allows you to accept where you are as the final destination.
Here For The Hurt - It’s A Mind Frame
As a student of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), I trained under David Ruiz, a purple belt at the time, and a 4th degree black belt now. While training, well-known fighters such as Bas Rutten would come into the studio as well, and I would pick up on a shared mind frame among these more advanced fighters: they were here for the hurt.
It’s that mind frame that I connect with more than anything else. I connected with those people because they understood what it took to continue to improve.
Because, honestly, the first fucking year of BJJ is awful.
It’s so fucked. No one is good right away. You might be talented, you might even know a thing or two about fighting, but every purple belt is choking you out.
The first year growing cannabis is similar. There is a steep learning curve. And you will get beaten down by issues.
It’s a mental game; you have to want to be humbled.
You have to know that those people in there at one point were you. Those purple belts choking you out were once getting choked out.
I thought that I could fight before I tried BJJ and quickly realized how inept I was. But these guys were awful at BJJ at one time also. They pushed through.
The mindset you need to have is about constant self-improvement and enduring through what you know will be painful for no reason other than to simply get better.
No One Cares How Good You Get
No one cares how good you get at BJJ or growing, or whatever you’re passionate about. You have to want the thing and you have to not want to suck.
Goals are often an inhibitor.
There is no goal post. There aren’t enough wins. It’s perpetual.
I like to set markers.
Goals are fine within a construct, but I know a lot of people who achieve their goals and don’t know what to do. They might be champion of the world in boxing but they have never been more lost than when they get what they always wanted.
As a blue belt, now you know you can fuck up all your friends. You can beat up someone who hasn’t trained. But there are still plenty of people that can fuck you up.
Goals Are For Kids
Goals put a governor pin on your creative thought.
You become myopic because of a goal. This lack of precision in language, goal, could be more accurately referred to as a checkpoint. We need better terminology so that we can tell the difference between perpetual gains, and plateauing and feeling satisfied.
The people I know who are most successful have a constant, quiet sense of urgency and desperation. They’re just not satisfied.
There’s a sense of urgency to get better for no other purpose than to get better.
Remotivate Yourself
You have to remotivate yourself at that blue belt level.
It’s like getting 1.5 pounds per light. Yeah, you did it. And you can keep doing it and do ok, but your incremental growth slows down at that point.
As you progress past each checkpoint, growth becomes more nuanced, and you aren’t noticing massive improvements each week, and many will either quit because it becomes too difficult or they lose interest because they aren’t great at it.
Most people plateau or quit after they get their blue belt. They hit their goal, they perceive themselves to have improved from where they started, and they quit. Or they continue, but don’t improve much.
I’ve never looked back on a crop and been 100% satisfied.
It’s impossible. If you do, you don’t understand. My best crops ever, I could easily go back and critique many days or sections of the garden that could have been better, or find something that needs improvement.
It’s not a piano recital where you hit every note and move on to the next piece.
Never accept where you are.
You have to be accountable for all of the flaws you have if you want to constantly be getting better at your craft.
There will always be a certain percentage of failure. You can’t disappoint people if you are constantly doing your best and you’re accountable for what you do.
It’s none of your business what people think of you; it’s your job to be the best at what you do and achieve the best experience that your customer can have.
You have to have empathy for your entire base, and constantly be raising your level of expectations. That’s where goals get in the way.
I know that my duty is to keep my expectations higher than anyone else’s and be accountable for the mistakes.
That’s what is best for my process. That’s how I get better.
To be concerned about an individual’s potential experience in a hypothetical scenario is a bogey; it’s counterproductive. It weighs you down and is an unnecessary ego projection.
Be Efficient With Thought
Controlling your mind is vital to improving in BJJ, cannabis, and life.
Thoughts are thoughts; you can’t give into them. You can’t dwell on hypotheticals. We are biologically programmed to avoid death, and identifying risk is a major component in avoiding death.
But, if you don’t look down, the risk isn’t as great.
That’s what I am doing: I know I walk a tight rope, but I am doing what’s best for me to get from one side to the other.
Focusing on “what happens if I fail” only distracts me from the task.
Don’t think “don’t trip” because you’ll trip. If you aren’t controlling your thoughts, someone will take advantage of that.
You will have a tell. They will use that tell. It’s an energy game, and controlling your energy and thought is the key.
If you’re obviously going to do something because of a thought, your opponent can predict that, take advantage of it, and you’re done.
You’re constantly fighting your own nature to continue.
You have to train yourself to enjoy discomfort if you want to perpetually improve.
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This article is featured in Vol. 2 of The ETHOS Magazine.
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