Saturday found me in Ontario for a grappling/submission tournament that my friend Ben was competing in. I haven’t had a chance to process a whole lot of the photos yet (I had two other shoots as well!), but below are 4 that I think really capture the energy of the tournament. Two of the shots are of Ben, and the other two are other guys from his gym, the Body Shop in Lakewood.
Click the samples below for larger versions from the gallery. Over the next few days I’ll add more to said gallery, so check back.
Edit: not that this is a very good photo, but I thought I’d get this one up also. There was a huge kids’ tournament going on as well, which was super rad. Here, two li’l subfighters mix it up.
Dang!!! Ben is a BAMF!!!
I have been reading some of your thoughts and what caught my eye, here and there is your ideas of life and death and whether or not to have kids one day. I think back, about 40+ years. I had dreams. Joining the Peace Corp. Saving the world, being one brick in a bridge to world peace. Sometimes I think that died. Then I read your words, different person, different time, same ideas. Then, I see these photos. Not just these. These, photos of Gavin, of a crab on a rock. What is life? It is struggle. It is spinning your way into a cocoon, sleeping and growing then fighting your way out. And life goes on. Ben’s whole life has been struggle and being misunderstood. Gavin is a miracle on so many levels. And like the little crab, some do not even know they exist, but it does not negate that they do. Life will unfold for you, too, Jake. One day, as the last strands of your cocoon open, you may see a child waiting for you to emerge, to be Dad…a woman waiting for a husband. It does not disconnect us from those we have lost it only bridges the struggle toward those we will love. We have no right to offer a perfect world to our children. We only have the responsibility to help them grow strong enough for the struggle. I have faith. You are up to the struggle. Embrace it.