Jiu-Jitsu is an incredible sport and form of physical combat. It requires strength, courage and, intelligence. You must be able to keep calm under pressure, consider your current and future actions while having the strength to put these plans into action and adapt quickly when things don’t go your way. Jiu-Jitsu is basically chess for the strong and brave. To perform Jit-Jitsu requires incredible stamina, endurance, and mental agility even to survive a few rounds. That is why when Damian Todd set the new record for the longest session of Jiu-Jitsu fights without stopping, he achieved something incredible.
Todd organized the event to raise money and awareness for the charity ‘R U OK?. A mental health charity. He started the event at 12.00 pm on a Friday and went on until 12.00 pm on Saturday. His mammoth task included 228 fights in succession against 192 fighters (some went more than once).
To make it even more difficult Todd cracked a sternum in the ninth hour of his record. This meant battling on for 15 more hours with an incredible level of pain. This is something that Todd highlighted when asked about the event. Not the injury but the mental strength that people require today and how we often need help.
From his time in the marines, Todd says he has witnessed many people who were physically incredibly strong but didn’t have the mental strength to go with it. This is a problem that he wanted to shine a light on. Today mental health problems continue to grow in society as we depend more and more on artificial relationships online and the ‘likes’ we crave. Taking up a sport or hobby allows you to escape this world and focus on yourself and increasing your mental strength.
If you or anyone you know suffers from mental health issues or just feels like the world is getting too hard at times, talk to someone. Sharing a problem makes it easier to solve.
