John Danaher recently reflected on how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fosters deep and lasting connections between people from all backgrounds.
According to Danaher, Jiu-Jitsu has a unique way of breaking down social barriers and allowing meaningful relationships to develop between individuals who might never interact otherwise:
The guy who is the $700 an hour lawyer can call the guy who cleans – outside one of his best friends and interact with them in that environment because they have this shared interest in this art.
He emphasized that the physically demanding nature of grappling creates a powerful sense of camaraderie:
There’s also another idea of shared suffering.
You know, shared suffering brings people together.
It’s hard to suffer things alone, but it’s a lot easier to suffer in it as a team.
Danaher pointed out that all grappling disciplines are physically intense and require practitioners to push through discomfort:
And, you know, there’s a lot of physical discomfort that comes with it.
And when you get that sense of shared suffering towards a cherished goal, it builds very strong camaraderie.
Perhaps most importantly, Danaher noted that these bonds extend beyond typical social divisions:
You’ll see people that would normally never even talk to each other become very good lifelong friends.
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