BJJ has really increased my Social Circles.

I am not sure how the rest of you feel about this but I can tell you in the 2 1/2 years I have been doing BJJ my Social Circles have really increased.

It used to be I just new some people that I worked with or saw at Trade Shows or other work related functions,  People from Church and people from our swim team and parents of swimmers that my daughters have competed and continue to compete with but now that I am doing BJJ I have 100's of new friends that I did not even know existed and these guys really are true friends with what seems to be no hidden agendas.

The beauty of this is that we all need each other to improve.   You cannot be the guy that always wants to do the technique but never have the technique done on you.  We all benefit by the other guy being there.  I have trained on the East Coast, West Coast, Mid West, Rocky Mountains, and China and Hong Kong and it is the same at all places.  People welcoming me with open arms regardless of my age, experience, or other factors that may cause me to be stereotyped in other sports.  I find this as truly one of the best aspects of the BJJ Journey.  I have been around a while and played Golf and Tennis in the past when I traveled.  With Tennis you pretty much needed to show up to the Courts with a partner and if you got there without a partner it was only fun if you found someone who has a similar skill set to what you had.   If they are too good and you couldn't even return their serve then it is not fun for you or for them.  If you are a lot better then your opponent it is also boring for you and not fun for them.  Golf is a little different as long as you can keep the ball in play and not slow down your foursome you can show up as a Single and still be okay but there is still not the camaraderie that you see in BJJ and if you get someone you are playing with that is super intense then it can ruin the whole round for the whole group and we are talking ruining 4-5 hours not just a 5-8 minute roll if you get stuck with an idiot.

A good example is the other day I was working out at Brea Jujitsu

.  There was a new guy there.  He was from Sweden.  He had competed as an Adult Blue Belt at Worlds and was staying over to see Southern California.  Dan being the good guy he is offered to let him stay at his gym.  (He had several people stay at his gym leading up to Worlds and I was able to meet and roll with them and then he had a few stay afterwards and Simon was one of them.  He did not have a car and was living on the mats at the Gym.  After Saturday AM workout I was going to the Beach to drop off my daughter for a Swimming Birthday Party and asked him if he wanted a ride to the Beach.  He said sure I took him to the Beach.  I live very close to the gym so I asked him if he wanted to come over for Sunday Dinner if he was still around.  He said yes.  He came over and taught my wife some Swedish so she could talk to a Nephew she has in Stockholm and if was all good. He told us about his BJJ journey.  He had left Sweden a few months ago went to England to train at Roger Gracie's place in England and then wen to Brazil for 3 months to train.  He stopped by after worlds and that is where we met him.    Then he took off later that day either heading North to Santa Barbara or South to San Diego.  He knew Jujitsu and the people who practice it would take care of him while he was here.  I'm not sure I would ever just take off hoping BJJ would take care of me for 6-8 months but I do feel a certain camaraderie at BJJ that I don't feel at other places.

OSS!