Congratulations to CTA Madison athletes Karen Vieth and Masha Bubela for competing in the IBJJF Chicago Open this last month. I’m incredibly proud of both of them for going out there and putting it all on the line, showcasing and sharpening their Jiu-Jitsu, and representing CTA Madison, Caio Terra Association, and Brasa CTA.

Results …

Karen had a great match, and showed the strength of her guard and also her gameness and fighting spirit. Unfortunately she came up short by a judges decision in a fight that could have gone either way. Karen immediately recognized her missed opportunities and is already implementing the changes necessary to improve her game and we’re certain she’ll be on the podium at the next IBJJF event.

Masha was able to secure first place in her division after imposing her game upon her opponent. She showed off her back-taking skills as well as her ability to retain back control in a dominant performance. Masha has been training incredibly hard, and has overcome a lot of challenges, frustrations, and obstacles on the mats. I’m so happy to see all of her hard work pay off in competition. She competes every chance she gets, and has never let losses discourage her. This is the first among many gold medals that will be placed around her neck.

Don’t prove: improve!

Thank you so much for representing our academy and CTA! Not for winning or losing, but for exposing your Jiu-Jitsu and testing yourself on such a large stage. It takes a lot of courage to to do that. Those of you who compete regularly know that very few students of Jiu-Jitsu actually compete. At every local tournament you’ll usually see the same people competing again and again. It is probably less than 10% of all Jiu-Jitsu students who actually get out there and lay it on the line. That you are among them is cause for congratulations and commendation.

Everybody wants to win – and nobody likes losing. However, losing is a part of the process. While its clichéd to say that you learn more from losing than you do from winning: it’s often – although not always – true. Losing provides you with a very immediate and visceral incentive to improve, it drives you to excel.

To compete in Jiu-Jitsu is to expose the weaknesses in your game in order for you to improve them. Competition isn’t a test to prove some sort of static inherent worth or ability, it is a mirror that allows you to see precisely what you can improve upon. It is a mere snapshot of your continually changing abilities in Jiu-Jitsu.

Your opponents are not your enemy, there to defeat. They are there to benefit you, to give you feedback that will allow you not to become better than them, but to allow you to become better than who you are today (or were, yesterday).

Attitude is Everything

Don’t allow your losses to demoralize you. Allow them to motivate you. Don’t allow your victories to make you complacent or to aggrandize your ego. Allow them to show you the potential for victory in all matches. Often, the critical moments that decide victory or defeat are present in every single match. You either chose to capitalize on them at the right moment, thereby grabbing victory. Or your opponent beats you to the punch, and you end up with a loss.

Most of all, reflect on your attitude in winning or losing. It is your attitude – how you think about yourself and how you think about others – not the medal around neck, that matters the most. The more you improve your attitude and your orientation towards competing (and often, this just comes with experience), the more it will be reflected in the medal around your neck.

Legacy  & Character > Medals

I’m incredibly proud of you all for putting it all on the line and representing Sanctuary Jiu-Jitsu on the competition mats. I always want you to win. I share your anxiety when you compete, and I hate to see you lose. However, ultimately, I will never judge or castigate you for your losses, as long as you’re learning and improving every step of the way. Who you are as people is so much more important than the W’s and L’s in your competition record.

I hope you all had fun, learned something, and are ready to – to use another cliché – “go back to the drawing boards” to improve your Jiu-Jitsu.

See you on the mats!