I’m always grateful to participate and help our brothers and sisters who serve. Whether it’s supporting a veterans organization, or working with disabled veterans on their BJJ, or helping active duty tactical teams refine their hand to hand combat techniques, there’s an overwhelming gratitude I feel to be involved.
As you navigate through life, you’ll find that certain things become more than interests. They become part of who you are.
For me, although not placed in any particular order, it seems seven of those things have stood out to be enormously important throughout my life:
Family.
Military service.
Community.
Jiu-Jitsu.
Mental health.
Physical fitness.
Spiritual well-being.
For years, these existed as different chapters of my story… to be cultivated and nourished on separate levels. Today, I see how naturally they belong together.
My military service taught me about responsibility, discipline, preparedness, teamwork, and what it means to be responsible for the person standing beside you. Jiu-Jitsu would later reinforce many of those same lessons in a completely different environment.
Stay calm when things become uncomfortable. Control what you can control. Don’t panic when you’re under pressure. Solve the problem in front of you. Trust your training. Protect the people around you.
Those aren’t just lessons for the mat.
That’s one reason I’ve become so passionate about helping veterans find Jiu-Jitsu, while also helping current military members, law enforcement officers, and others in security-related professions understand how Jiu-Jitsu can enhance the training they already receive.
For veterans, the value can extend far beyond physical fitness.
There is something familiar about walking into a room where people train hard together. There is structure. Accountability. Shared struggle. A little trash talking. A lot of laughter. You learn to trust people again. You become part of a team again.
And sometimes, without anyone ever announcing that they’re working on their mental health, people begin doing exactly that.
You show up.
You move.
You struggle.
You breathe.
You get better.
And perhaps most importantly, you belong somewhere.
For those currently serving, Jiu-Jitsu offers something equally valuable. It provides an environment where control, composure, physical problem-solving, and decision-making under pressure can be practiced against another human being who is actively resisting.
That matters.
Whether someone is serving in military security, law enforcement, or another profession where physical confrontation is possible, strength alone isn’t enough. The goal should not simply be learning how to fight. The goal should be developing the ability to remain composed, maintain control, and use only the level of force the situation actually requires.
Jiu-Jitsu gives us a laboratory for that.
You learn very quickly that panic wastes energy. Ego creates mistakes. Position matters. Control creates options.
Those lessons can make someone more capable physically, but they can also make them more measured. The person who masters violence knows best the importance of maintaining peace.
And maybe that’s where all seven pieces finally come together for me.
Military service taught me the importance of situational awareness and being prepared.
Jiu-Jitsu taught me another language of command and control.
Physical fitness gave me a way to keep showing up.
Community reminded me that we are stronger when we don’t have to carry everything alone.
Family reminded me that family is not defined only by blood. There is the family we’re born into, and there is also the family we choose… the people who show up, stand beside us, challenge us, support us, and become part of our lives through shared experience.
Spiritual well-being gave me another kind of grounding… a healthy sense of connection to something greater than myself. A reminder that life is bigger than my own worries, struggles, victories, or plans.
And mental health taught me that strength isn’t simply about how much pressure you can endure. Sometimes it’s about finding healthy places to put that pressure down.
I don’t see these as separate missions anymore.
Helping a veteran walk through the doors of a Jiu-Jitsu academy and discover a new community…
Helping a police officer become more confident in controlling a situation without unnecessarily escalating it…
Helping a service member become more capable, composed, and prepared…
Helping someone find a place where their body gets stronger while their mind becomes quieter…
It’s all connected.
Different uniforms. Different chapters. Different reasons for walking through the door.
But underneath all of it is something I’ve believed for most of my life:
We train so we can become more capable.
We build communities so we don’t have to do it alone.
And when we have something that has made us stronger, we find a way to use it to help someone else become stronger too.
I’m grateful.
Steve Maraboli
