Painted landscape by Bob Ross
When you practice Jiu-Jitsu, a slew of questions enter your mind. What’s this pleasant feeling? Why am I feeling so good? Why can’t I stop thinking about Jiu-Jitsu? Where’d those 20 kilos go?
Another recurring question, almost always coming from someone who doesn’t practice Jiu-Jitsu is: How can you talk about peace if you practice a martial art?
The most beautiful answer to this sort of “universal question” about the martial arts slapped me in the face earlier today, in a copy of “Trip” magazine lying on the counter at Bibi Sucos juice bar in a rain-drenched Leblon neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The issue is from March, and the article by journalist from Minas Gerais State Lauro Henriques Jr.
starts out like this:
“One day, a wise emperor called on the world’s most talented painters and issued them a challenge: He would award a fabulous prize to the one to produce the finest portrait of peace. They set to work, and the result was a series of the most incredible paintings ever seen. From those, the monarch selected two finalists.
“The first of them was of a crystalline lake reflecting the verdant mountains that circled it and the birds soaring in the blue sky above. Now in the second, a cliff pierces a black sky, crisscrossed by lightning, while a waterfall cascades down the hillside along with the storm. Everyone was taken with awe when they caught sight of the first piece of art, already predicting it would be the winner; after all, the other was the opposite of peace.
“However, to everyone’s dismay, it was precisely the second one that was picked by the emperor, who explained his decision like so: ‘You didn’t notice the most important detail in the painting. Look for it.’ And at last, they all found it: behind the waterfall, peeking out from the grooves in the boulder, there is a tiny bush and, in it, a bird’s nest—in this nest, foreign to the reigning chaos, the mother bird sits atop her eggs in peace. ‘To be in peace doesn’t mean to be exempt from confusion or hardship,’ said the emperor. ‘True peace happens when, amid it all, you remain calm in your heart.’
Would you agree with the emperor? Isn’t Jiu-Jitsu the ideal tool to, in a bustling and chaotic world, maintain your serenity and always be confident? Comment below and go in peace, gentle GRACIEMAG.com reader.
