Visualization: Dreamed it and Did it

Trust the training. Trust the effort you’ve exerted. All the months and weeks leading to the competition, everything you’ve experienced, learned, and cried about, would all come into fruition. Once you believe in what you could do, after all the time and training you’ve endured, you’ll be unbeatable. That’s what my coaches and higher-ranks kept telling me.

I started my jiu jitsu journey last June 2018. Being the smallest in the team, I’m usually perceived to be the weakest and the easiest to spar with. However, thankful to my years of muay thai training, I have developed a rather stocky lower body structure and a pretty decent base. This has made me harder to topple than the usual person – more so the typical girl.

Last March, I competed and got Bronze. It was the scariest moment of my life. It was my first time to compete in such a big scene and I had so many demons inside me – fears that hindered me from sleeping soundly. I was scared of disappointing people. I was scared of losing. I lacked courage and, well, lacked the technique. But the bronze made me hungrier. It pushed me to improve and to compete again. When I competed last May, I got Silver. It broke my heart but it made me even more steadfast. It made me know what I wanted to have and wanted to experience – that gold.

I told myself, you got this – you have been preparing for this… this has been laid out for you since Day One. I really only had to believe in that. I’d train incessantly. It would have been a miracle for me to skip class. I’d brush up on my fundamentals and keep drilling techniques. I’d diet. I’d cut weight even if it would break me down. I’d cry in the sauna, hoping I’d make weight and not fail myself. I’d walk to the chapel to pray for strength, focus, and courage. I had to persevere for what I wanted.

It was only a matter of time. That moment I stepped on the 1 meter square mat, I knew it was mine. I submitted both my opponents via my favorite submission – the armbar. No points were scored against me. I played my game the way I envisioned it. At that instant, when the referee raised my hand, I just had to scream out loud. It felt amazing. If I could recount and replay that moment over and over again, I would. Better yet, I would keep doing it while I’m still rather able and athletic.

Be a hurricane. Be a legend. Assert dominance. Shine in your glory.