WE ARE SILLY PUTTY

WEEK OF 6/15/26

 

Short one for you this week.

I truly believe that people (myself included, of course) are way more flexible and plastic than we believe we are.  We tend to adopt the norms of whatever culture/community we spend time in, and the people around us have an incredible influence on what we value and how we behave.

On the heels of an incredibly tragic and senseless act last week involving one of our former students, I am feeling a bit of dissonance.  On one hand, this student was a cheerful, happy-go-lucky, and promising young man.  On the other, he made a serious mistake that has ruined many, many lives, including his own.

I don’t mean to necessarily write myself, or the gym, into this story.  It is not my place to do that.

But I do truly believe that if he had continued to spend time at the gym, to come in and hang out with everyone, to channel his frustrations and energy into something positive, that he would likely have made a better decision in the heat of the moment.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to surround yourself with people who value positive things: personal growth, health, fitness, kindness, community, charity, and so on.  As people our desire to fit in and be accepted leads us to want to adopt the same values as those around us, and simply placing ourselves in a positive environment can have incredibly positive outcomes (having nothing to do with fitness, health, self defense, or anything that a martial arts gym traditionally provides).

I am absolutely speaking outside the area of my expertise or authority here, but I write and share this because I believe it so strongly.  Never underestimate the power that the people around you have over you — for better or for worse.

Just simply showing up can be so powerful.  Even if we are in a training slump, even if things aren’t working on the mats the way we’d like them to.  Being around a group of people who are committed to both themselves and the people around them is a big win in and of itself.

This influence can feel invisible, and it often is.  We tend to believe we are 100% in charge of who we are and the decisions we make.  While that is a question for the ages, my personal believe is that we have much less influence over ourselves than we’d like to believe.

So simply positioning ourselves optimally is one of the best things we can do for ourselves.  There’s a reason I spend 6-7 days in the gym and largely it has nothing to do with “my job.”

See you on the mats!

–J