I came down to Jeju Island and opened a new Jiu-Jitsu gym. The name of the gym is ‘Jiujitsurf Academy’. Jiu-Jitsu Surf is a combination of Jiu-Jitsu and surfing. Anyone who comes to the gym can tell that he is a surfing jiu-jitsu instructor. This is because the surfboards I used to ride are displayed in the interior. Nevertheless, people who come to the gym often ask this question.
“Did you name it Jiu-Jitsu Surf Academy because the director likes surfing??” Every time that happens, I answer yes out of fear of being serious. But the name Jiu-Jitsu Surf has a deeper meaning. There doesn’t seem to be anything in common between jiu-jitsu, where you roll on a mat wearing a gi, and surfing, where you wear a suit and ride a board on the waves. However, there is a special similarity between these two that I found. Both jiu-jitsu and surfing have found ‘a way to enjoy uncertainty rather than resist it.’ In jiu-jitsu, you always have to deal with an opponent full of uncertainty, not knowing what kind of attack he or she will attack you with. No one who practices Jiu-Jitsu uses exactly the same techniques as each other. So, there is a saying in Jiu-Jitsu: ‘If there are 100 people, there are 100 Jiu-Jitsu.’ Jiu-jitsu people enjoy exploring this uncertainty by attending ‘open mats’ (gatherings where people who like jiu-jitsu come together and freely participate in exercise) run by other teams. Test your skills by sparring with new people and grow by experiencing new techniques.
Surfers jump into the uncertainty of the ocean. No two waves are the same even once. The sea tests surfers every time. It’s as if they’re saying, ‘Let me see how much you enjoy being in this uncertainty.’ Surfers follow the path created by the waves on different waves each time. No matter how good a surfer you are, if you cannot read the language of the waves well, you will not be able to continue surfing and will fail.
In this way, jiu-jitsu and surfing have found ways to enjoy uncertainty without resisting it. Many jiu-jitsu people enjoy surfing and surfers enjoy jiu-jitsu. Jiu-Jitsu World Champion Marcus ‘Bushesha’ Almeida is so serious about surfing that he spends more time surfing than practicing Jiu-Jitsu. I believe that many people are drawn to jiu-jitsu and surfing without realizing it because of the similarities mentioned above.
Even when I had been practicing Jiu-Jitsu for a few years, I could not relate at all when famous Jiu-Jitsu instructors from overseas said, “Jiu-Jitsu is life.” People who surf also say, “Surfing is similar to life,” but it doesn’t resonate with me at all.
After realizing that both were in the uncertainty of the other and the waves, it was only then that I began to empathize with the saying that jiu-jitsu is life and that surfing is life. Life throws us on a disco of uncertainty and shakes us wild. At this time, if we try to maintain our balance and resist, life will shake us harder to throw us off. Even if we lose our grip and fall and hold on to the bar again, it doesn’t wait and shakes harder to make us drop it again. Unlike us who resist like this, experienced employees walk with stability on the violently shaking disco pangpang and even do back tumbling. This is because I learned and practiced how to have fun at the disco.
We can choose. Will you live resisting the uncertainty that life throws until you die, or will you learn how to enjoy it and live with enjoyment? I named it Jiujitsurf Academy in the hope that people who come to me will learn how to enjoy life rather than resist it through Jiu-Jitsu and surfing.
