#358: From White to Purple: Martial Artist's Milestone

The journey to a purple belt in jiu-jitsu represents far more than just time on the mats—it's about dedication, passion, and finding your path across different training environments. After starting at Travis's in Fort Worth, then training at Marcelo Garcia's, and finally finding my home at Team Silverback, I've reached this significant milestone that sits at the halfway point between white belt beginnings and black belt mastery.

My martial arts journey has become deeply intertwined with my identity as both a comedian and a veteran. The warrior spirit that drives me to master jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and judo techniques complements rather than competes with my comedy career. When you're trying to prevent someone from choking you or throwing you to the ground, your mind can't wander to joke structures or punchlines—you're fully present in the moment. This mental break actually strengthens my comedy by allowing my subconscious to work while my conscious mind focuses elsewhere.

There's profound wisdom in balancing passionate pursuits. Moving between creative endeavors and physical challenges creates a therapeutic rhythm that enhances mental health. Just as weightlifting forces you to focus on not dropping a heavy barbell, martial arts demands complete awareness—except the "weight" is actively trying to submit you! This requirement for total presence functions as a form of moving meditation, temporarily freeing you from the thought patterns that might otherwise dominate your mind. Whether you're a comedian, veteran, or someone seeking balance, finding complementary passions might be the key to thriving in both. Want to discover what martial arts or finding your own balanced passions could do for you? Follow along as I continue sharing insights from both the comedy stage and the training mats.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, I've been trying to think about how to say
this like the last two weeksand there's a lot of
complications to it, especiallyto you, the viewer, the audience
that might not know whatjiu-jitsu is.
But basically a couple weeksago I was honored by getting my
purple belt in jiu-jitsu andit's a big milestone for me

(00:21):
because I started out trainingone place, then I went to
another place called MarceloGarcia's world-class people.
They're amazing, sweet people,um, but they're.
The only problem was thedistance.
So then I went somewhere elseand then I absolutely fell in
love with it and they are suchsweet, amazing, great people and

(00:42):
, um, the skills that I learnedfrom everywhere, from the first
place that I went to the secondplace, that I went to the third
place that I went.
It's all parts of the journeythat helped me to get to where I
am today.
So, silverback and Travis andMarcelo's this bro.

(01:11):
Now, as far as what's next goes,people don't understand.
As far as jiu-jitsu goes,there's five different belts.
There's white, blue, purple,brown and black.
White belt means you're arookie, you're just starting out
, you don't really know leftfrom right, you don't really
know anything.
Okay and um, traditionally youcan train in the gi, that like

(01:32):
karate looking thing you knowthat looks like pajamas, or you
can do it no gi, which justmeans without for whatever
reason.
It's just easier to say no githan without gi.
Blue belt means you're anexperienced white belt, you know
what you're doing, you're nolonger a rookie and I'm
paraphrasing it's a little moretechnical than that.

(01:53):
Oh, and also, as you're goingdown the line and the way to
getting your next belt, you getperiodic.
They have ranking days, likeonce every six months, and you
can get a stripe and fourstripes.
By the time you get that, whatwould be a fifth stripe?

(02:15):
That fifth stripe is actuallyit's a belt.
So yeah, but a white belt islike your brand new.
Blue belt is you're anexperienced white belt, and I'm
paraphrasing.
Purple belt means you're inbetween two places just starting
out and getting your black belt, because after that there's

(02:36):
only brown and black.
Now I can be a lot moretechnical and speak a lot more
on it.
After that, again you havebrown, which is like one step
behind black, and then blackright, which means that you're
supposed to be good.
The thing about belts that Idon't like is that you could be
a black belt and basically trulybe awful.

(02:58):
You could just commit yourselfto going.
Let's just say you were trainedsomewhere hypothetically once a
week for 20 years, but there'sanother guy that goes five days
a week for one year.
There's a very high possibilitythat one year guy might be

(03:19):
better than that 20 year guy ofexperience, because it's kind of
like a lot of other things inlife how much you commit
yourself is going to show howit's going to reflect in your
skill set.
Right, and me, I have a veryaddictive personality, meaning
that is, it doesn't meannecessarily something bad, but

(03:42):
that means that when I dosomething I'm all in, okay, and
for comedy I am all in all inall my chips across the board
and that poker table right, uh,jujitsu, slash.
And I say slash cause there's alot going on there Wrestling
and judo I'm all in as well.
Um, because it really truly isa part of my uh and I I don't

(04:07):
like the way this sounds causeit makes me sound kind of
strange, but too late it's apart of my warrior spirit.
You know I'm an army veteranand it's a part of me, plain and
simple.
So to be able to continue amartial art between judo and
wrestling and jujitsu.
It helps amplify that warriorinside me.

(04:28):
Just by training right, and notjust that, you're also training
how to annihilate somebody, howto throw them on the ground,
choke them out, have your waywith them, and, uh, I mean, it's
very brutal but it can also bevery graceful, right Um?
Now for the listener that maynot be technically aware for

(04:50):
anything.
That's why I'm trying to avoidcertain terms, but yeah, so
that's what that means.
That's why it's important thatI continue to train this stuff,
because it's part of who I am.
But it also helps balance me.
I was telling somebody the otherday If you just find something

(05:12):
it could be the gym or it couldbe something else, hopefully
you're passionate about it, okay.
And if not find something, butif you have something that
you're passionate about, okay,and you're always thinking about
it and then you do somethingthat you're also passionate

(05:32):
about, to stop thinking about it, you can really jump between
passions.
You can go from you know onerailroad track to the other
railroad track and still go downthat parallel line.
You can get better at both.
The equivalent of what I'mtrying to say is that if you
have something you care aboutand you love it, you're doing it
.
Okay.
If you do something else maybeyou don't care about it, but

(05:54):
it's just something that you dolike.
Go to the gym when you canremove your conscious mind from
your thoughts, you make yoursubconscious stronger.
So basically I give a mentalbreak to my comedy when I'm
doing jujitsu because basicallyPeople are trying to throw me on
the ground and choke me and doall sorts of stuff Seriously
right, and I got to be likefully, well, is close to fully

(06:23):
aware of what's going on withoutthinking about something in the
background.
That's why, therapeutically,people say gym is, you know,
great for your mental health,because it kind of puts you
outside of your thoughts.
You have a weight above yourhead.
You don't know what to drop.
You're focusing on that rightNow.
Imagine if that weight wastrying to attack you.
That's why I love martial arts,because to me it is an exercise

(06:47):
and I still lift weights okay.
But that concept of being ableto balance out your thoughts
from one thing going on in yourlife to something else, it's
tremendous for your mentalhealth.
So yeah, technically I do bothof those right Weightlift and

(07:08):
train martial arts and just saythank you again to the people
that helped make it possible,from the first place that I
started, which is this placecalled Travis's in Fort Worth,
texas.
The second place, sweet, amazingpeople Marcelo Garcia's,
specifically Rob Ables, and tocurrent day, silverback Team

(07:33):
Silverback, with Hugo and Vicand Eddie and all my teammates.
You guys are so amazing and I'mlearning judo and wrestling and
if I'm lucky enough to getsomebody on the ground, I get to
do some jujitsu and, uh,everybody helped compile
together what I am today.
And for all of you, andespecially my new team now,
thank you so much.

(07:54):
I appreciate you.
You guys are the best, andeverybody that I still connect
with at Marcello's and even atTravis's.
I still talk to people there.
You're part of what makes mewhat I am today.
So, thank you.
Y'all.
Have a beautiful day.
Thank you again for your time.
I'm Benja Waldron.
Check me out.
Peace.