I think that learning how to fight and knowing how to fight gives you real confidence and security. Because when you know how to fight, all of a sudden you don’t have anything to prove anymore. If we actually knew how to fight, we wouldn’t how to prove that all the time. And that’s why I’m constantly trying to get people to get into jiu-jitsu. Get your kids and get your 13 year old boy, your 10 year old boy, get him into jiu-jitsu. Your girl, too. I mean, your girl, too, because your girl is going to use it for defense.
Girls don’t have the constant tension of fighting that guys have. It is part of who we are. When I shake someone’s hand, I don’t care what kind of mood I’m in. I am thinking about taking them down. I am thinking about what I’m going to do to win a fight. It doesn’t matter if I’m meeting Santa Claus. I’m thinking about doing a double leg. I’m thinking about what his weight is. Does he have cauliflower ear? That’s what I’m doing. And guys do that. And it’s real. And I mean, especially in an environment I grew up in, in the SEAL teams. I mean, everybody’s got that constant, like tests. So if you don’t know how to fight, there’s only one way to figure out where you are, and that is to fight you. And so you end up doing stupid things, stupid things to prove your your manhood.
I think it is a huge stabilizer of of your personality and your psyche as a man. So get those kids to learn jiuj-itsu, they’re going to understand the things you understand, violence.
You respect it because you’ve got choked out. You know that it is a horrible feeling. It’s a horrible feeling when another human being can control you a hundred percent.
– Jocko Willink
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.