No matter what you accomplish (or not) on your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey, you’ll still leave an impact on the people you’ve trained with and competed against. One way or another, you’ll have left an imprint – and it’s going to be important that this imprint is paved with being a good person.
Being a good person will leave a lasting legacy on everyone around you. The legendary competitor, coach, and founder of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu, Fabio Gurgel explained why this is so in an interview for IBJJF:
Everything that you do and say and how you behave is going to count. What counts is the legacy. It’s what you did and how you did it. And how you behaved when you did it.
When you lose, what do you do? And when you win, how was your behavior? So those things are going to build your image for the Jiu-Jitsu community.
You need to show respect to others, but also be a person of integrity yourself:
People are going to look at you as a good athlete or as a high integrity person. You choose the path you want to take.
Every single action that you take matters. In Jiu-Jitsu, you are pushed to the limit. Jiu-Jitsu pushes you to the limit many, many times. How you behave shows who you really are.
Ultimately, Gurgel emphasizes that it’s much more important to become a good person than to become a great champion:
All the people that I admire, I admire them because they are good people. And good people become great champions.
Being a good person is more important than being a great champion. And great champions are first good people.
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