I Suffer Nightmares From This, But Jiu-Jitsu Helps Keep Me Up ~ Jebidiah Osborn's BJJ Story
Submission Shark Community | Instagram: @semprecrescendo_bjj
Maybe with a little more love, a little less hate, a little more jiu-jitsu, a little less ego we can leave this world a little better place than we found it. Gratitude.
Full Name: Jebidiah Osborn
Age: 41 years old
Belt Colour: White Belt
Professor: Benjamin Henning
Short Term Goals: Short term goals are hard for me because I’m a long game kind of person. Everything I do I want to have lasting effects. With that in mind I suppose I would say general fitness, mastery of my diet, creating a positive sphere of influence around me, and of course Jiu-Jitsu today, tomorrow, next week, etc.
Submission Shark:
Being a savage does not mean you can't be kind-hearted and charitable as well. Jebidiah Osborn is a great example of this as he is very disciplined and crushes his workouts yet still has the will to create a charity drive that'll benefit the youth. Through his own personal experiences and trauma, he's now using those lessons to try and aid others in need, proving that no matter how terrible of a place you came from, you can always make a difference. Get to know the man that's on a mission to supply underprivileged children with the educational supplies that they needed to create a stable foundation for their future.
Submission Shark will be donating all proceeds from our backpack collection towards Jebidiah's initiative. Check out our full collection and learn more about how you can help.
How long have you been doing jiu-jitsu for?
I have been training Jiu-Jitsu for just over 2 years now. I actually began the martial arts journey a little over 5 years ago, but once I stepped on the Jiu-Jitsu mats and got completely and utterly destroyed, I knew that’s where my journey was.
Where do you train out of?
I train out of Impact Jiu Jitsu in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Do you prefer gi or no-gi?
I’m a gi guy. Not that I dislike no-gi I have no doubt if I trained in no-gi my gi jits would improve but there are 2 reasons I don’t. 1 is work schedule and family life only allows for me to train in the mornings and at Impact morning classes are in the gi. Secondly, the gi is my armour, when I put my gi on I can tune out the world. I can be me in every sense of what that means.
Have your instructors helped you in other aspects of life other than jiu-jitsu?
My instructors have absolutely helped me in areas outside of Jiu-Jitsu. Specifically in my physical fitness. We have a strength and conditioning coach in Fred Williams that is a wonderful human being who has a bachelors in exercise science, a masters in physiology, currently seeking a Ph.D. in physical education with a concentration on sports administration. He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the national strength and conditioning association. What’s really awesome about this from my perspective is he’s completely changed how I work out on my non-jiu-jitsu days including having helped me rehab from a really nasty sciatica issue. Our head coach, Benjamin Henning, has really taught me how to be in the moment when rolling which has, of course, bled over into my personal life. And patience, I’ve learned so much about patience through my entire coaching staff.
How often do you train?
I train Jiu-Jitsu 3 days a week and general fitness or as we call it Fight Fit 3 days a week. In between there, I fit in laps in the pool, yoga, or some other group fitness class at another gym I’m a member of.
What made you want to start training?
What made me start training BJJ was the need for a life change. I was way overweight on blood pressure medicine and doing my best to make sure I became a diabetic with heart problems. After watching my dad die from the very same lifestyle I decided everybody in my life deserved better, including myself.
Do you plan on training your whole life?
I am madly in love with the Jiu-Jitsu and fitness lifestyle. You will find me on the mats, in the squat rack, or swimming laps as long as I am able to function. So yes I will absolutely be training for as long as I walk on this earth!
What’s it about jiu-jitsu that makes it so addicting?
What makes Jiu-Jitsu so addicting to me is that it is hard. For me, accomplishing something difficult is spiritually fulfilling. Malcolm Gladwell said that it takes 10,000 hours to reach perfection. I actually broke that down into the hours I’m able to put in on the mat and it comes out to a little over 64 years before I can reach perfection in Jiu-Jitsu, but the contradiction here is that perfection is unattainable. So here is where we see that Jiu-Jitsu is infinite, it’s always hard.
To get up every morning at 4:45 am and step on those mats in the knowledge that I will never reach perfection forces me to live at my highest version, because I don’t think that a person can dwell in the lower frequencies and have success in Jiu-Jitsu and conversely I don’t think that Jiu-Jitsu allows a person to dwell in the lower frequencies. So to me, the very nature of Jiu-Jitsu brings out the best in us and for me the proof of that is some of the very best people I’ve ever met, I met on the mats.
What has jiu-jitsu done for your physical health?
For my physical health, Jiu-Jitsu has helped in weight loss but most importantly it changed the way I eat. While burgers, pizza, tacos, cake are all tasty they aren’t fuel. The body needs fuel in order to train. That’s not to say I don’t eat those things on occasion. I mean I am 41 years old and it just so happens that New Mexico has some bomb ass tacos. I’m going to eat them, but those are just cheat meals now rather than part of my regular diet. Through the weight loss I’ve had I am no longer on blood pressure medicine and at 1 point I was wearing a size 50 waist in my pants. I now wear 36-38 depending on the brand.
Has jiu-jitsu benefited your mental health?
There’s so much I can say about what Jiu-Jitsu has done for my mental health. I could probably write a whole doctoral dissertation on it, but to keep it simple Jiu-Jitsu has taught me how to love myself, how to be kind to myself, how to accept myself. Those things are KEY to a healthy mind and without a healthy mind, you simply cannot succeed in life. Because of those things I’ve learned how to accept meaningful relationships and how to walk away from empty relationships. This has been HUGE for me due to the way I grew up I didn’t learn how to have relationships.
That being said in the midst of all of my mental chaos at a very young age I met a woman, who this year, has chosen to be my wife for 19 years. She obviously was sent to me to show me what it means to be loved.
Jiu-jitsu has taught me how to give that love back to people outside of my wife and children. For years, I would say lifetimes, I lived in hate and anger. Jiu-Jitsu has taught me that my real self, my true potential, lies in living the rest of my years in love, gratitude, giving, and of course Jiu-Jitsu.
If you could restart your jiu-jitsu journey, would you do anything differently?
If I could restart my journey I think the only thing I’d do differently is finding it at a younger age, but I do believe that things come to you when the time is right so perhaps had I started younger I would have missed the person I am today.
What’s your advice for someone that’s never tried jiu-jitsu before but is interested in trying it?
My advice for anybody that’s interested in trying Jiu-Jitsu is to stop thinking and just do. In my journey, I’ve only met 1 person that decided Jiu-jitsu wasn’t for them. Just go in with an open heart and an open mind. Yes, you may be a big, strapping young lad that thinks they’re going to own the place. Yes, you’re going to get destroyed by a 130-pound female. You’re going to have to move past that if you’re going to have any success in Jiu-Jitsu. For the women who are scared of being smashed by the big 230 lb comp guy, just realize that your team cares for you and wants you to be able to defend yourself when a dude tries the same thing while you’re jogging at the park. Be open to various experiences. Jiu-Jitsu will make your life better in every way.
Do you have any aspirations in jiu-jitsu?
My aspirations in Jiu-Jitsu are comprised of just becoming better at being a human being, a few competitions, and just being as good at the art as I can be.
What’s your favourite move?
My favourite move at this White Belt’s particular junction is simply all things choke. Joint manipulations are super cool and I can’t wait to get better at them, but I just enjoy the choking game.
If you didn’t discover jiu-jitsu, where do you think you’d be now?
If I hadn’t discovered Jiu-Jitsu I’d probably be doing powerlifting comps. I really enjoy lifting heavy. In fact, some of my social media posts will say things like lifting makes me a happy human being, Jiu-jitsu makes me a better human being. Early on in my lifestyle change, I had some bad experiences in the martial arts that really kind of just put a bad taste in my mouth, but luckily Ben opened Impact here and renewed my faith in the martial arts.
Would you like to see the sport become more mainstream?
Seeing the sport become mainstream I’m really indifferent, honestly. People should just do whatever the hell makes them happy and if that means becoming an Olympic Jiujitero, then do it. For me as long as Jiu-Jitsu stays violent and practical then I’ll be happy.
Have any of your training partners pushed you to reach your full potential?
My teammates push to me to my full potential in a passive way I guess. I don’t have any sliding into my DMs going “ Bro, you gotta be savage!” or anything like that. They push me in their own endeavours, being an example for me to look up to.
When you were first starting, what was the most difficult concept of jiu-jitsu that you had trouble getting?
The biggest concept I had trouble with and still do, and maybe will as long as I’m doing Jiu-Jitsu is using my strength. It’s something that comes naturally to me. But as mentioned earlier with my coaches and their extreme patience I’m very slowly, whatever is slower than a snail, getting away from the strength aspect.
You seem to be very disciplined in your routines, from meal preps to workouts, to consistently working on becoming a better role model. Were you always consistent with your improvements or did something inspire you to develop this discipline?
As far as my discipline goes, I was developing this part of myself in the early stages of my lifestyle change. Then I heard this dude with a weird name, Jocko Willink, say Discipline Equals Freedom. I soaked that up like a sponge. I started listening to the Jocko Podcast and reading his books. It all just made sense to me and I apply the principles in my life. I get up on the 1st alarm. I make the bed. Meal prep. What this does for me is it gives me complete control over the things in my life that are controllable and the result is a happier, motivated human being. It also makes the things I have no control over way easier to deal with.
If you could roll with any practitioner, dead or alive, who would it be?
Oh man, there’s a good list of folks I’d like to roll with for sure! Jocko, Tim Kennedy, Rickson, Royce, Renzo, Tome DeBlass, all those guys. I don’t think it would go very well because I’d probably be too awestruck.
What makes you want to inspire and motivate others?
What drives me to inspire and motivate others is this realization that we are the masters of our lives. The frequency at which we live our lives is totally up to us! I see a lot of folks in the stage I used to be in, lots of hate and anger, laziness, lethargy, and there’s always an excuse because they are comfortable there. I can assure you that once a person leaves that behind they will never want to go back there. Each one of us has so much unrealized potential and it really just takes a small amount of effort to get started toward the highest version of ourselves and then there’s a snowball effect to it as well.
I certainly don’t expect anybody to be like me by any means, I’m about as fuckin far away from perfect as anybody can get. I’m a huge fan of sentence enhancers like the word fuck. If somebody didn’t give up or maybe decided to get up early or get their diet in order then man what a thing! I know they’ll realize unknown happiness!
You seem to really want to lead by example for your children. Has having kids changed your outlook on life?
Having kids absolutely changed my outlook, not early on. In my early stages of fatherhood, when my oldest was still real young, I thought the measure of a man was how many hours he put in at work in order to give his children better things, but that was a materialistic point of view. What I’ve come to understand is that a man is measured on how many times he gets back up, who he helps, how he loves, if he is able to break toxic cycles, his character. For me, it became a matter of when I’m gone how do I want my kids and grandkids to remember me? The answer to that was when my kids showed pictures of me to their kids and they ask was that your dad, their answer is Fuck yeah that was my daddy.
If they read this one day, what would you like to say to them?
I would like to tell my kids that I love them and I am proud of them. No matter what happens in this life as long their mom and I walk this earth they will always have a hand to pat them on the back, shoulder to cry on, and food to eat. Find a way to be of service to other people and never let anybody dull your shine. I’d like them to also live in the understanding that if they ever have to choose between being kind and being right, they should choose being kind because they’ll always be right.
"You were a better boy than I was. I had no concept of being the fine young man that you are now. Stay this course and you will become a far better man than I will ever be capable of. Happy 18th Birthday, son! I love you! I am grateful I was chosen to be your dad."
Was there a difficult moment in your life where jiu-jitsu helped you get through it? If so, please explain.
So my day job is a locomotive engineer. Over the course of my career, I’ve been exposed to the very ugly side of this in the form of fatalities. Suicides, folks being impatient at crossings and trying to beat the train and not making it, folks just not paying attention and getting ran over. My last 2 fatalities were suicides one on Mother’s Day where the young man was about the same age as my oldest at the time and another suicide just under a year later. These are very difficult things to experience because, with suicides the person manages to look you right in the eye before they commit to the act, this is burned into the brain.
I suffer nightmares quite often from this, but Jiu-Jitsu helps keep me up. It helps keep me moving forward. While it isn’t my fault these folks made the choices they did, it takes a very heavy toll on my soul and my mental health. Jiu-Jitsu gave me an outlet to stay sane. Plus the folks at my gym, whether knowingly or not, helped tremendously by just being there to train.
How did it feel being on a podium at NAGA and do you plan on competing again?
Anytime I make it on a podium at a comp is a great day for me. NAGA is a great tournament and so for me, it’s pretty special because I mean I’m an old man in this sport, sure there are folks way older than me training all over the world, but here locally I never get to compete against people my age. My last podium appearance in June I had to compete against a young man 20 years my junior who had been playing Division 1 football at University of Texas El Paso. He won on points but it was a good match so it definitely makes this old-timer feel good when I can go against young men in their prime physical condition and give them hell. Lol. I certainly plan on competing more. I figure I’ve got a good 5-10 years of competition in me. I don’t get to compete as much as I’d like due to life and family obligations but 2-3 times a year is what I’m shooting for.
What makes you want to become a better version of yourself every day?
The drive to become a better version of myself daily comes from having been a very bad version of myself. I was never as bad of a person as I could have been, but I was very low. Overweight, depressed, suicidal thoughts, anger, hate. Nasty stuff. I never want to be that guy again. I’m so afraid of falling back down that path that it drives me like rocket fuel to the highest version daily. My family has a history of abuse. Mental, physical, and substance abuse and I just decided after watching my dad die that I wanted out. This is not the fucking life I am going to lead or leave for my kids.
What is your charity drive about and how can people help?
So this charity drive is about getting school supplies to kids in need. Anybody that wants to pitch in can contact me through my social media FB: Sempre Crescendo IG: semprecrescendo_bjj. Which some may ask so in Portuguese it means Always Growing because what the fuck are we doing if we aren’t on a constant journey of growth.
What inspired your idea to help the youth in your community?
The way I grew up and more recently the suicides I was a part of inspired me to go on this particular journey. I realize most cities and towns have charities for school supplies, but I just see that the BJJ community has so much to give besides just Jiu-Jitsu. It is my belief that if we can somehow have a positive influence on these younger children that maybe we can course-correct them. Maybe they won’t have to be bullied or belittled won’t learn how to be bitter or depressed at a young age which maybe could lead to suicide prevention when they get older. Every child deserves to have the supplies they need to get an education and no child deserves to be left behind because maybe their family didn’t have the means to provide. What the fuck are we doing if we aren’t helping these kids. They are our future. We owe them the opportunity to succeed. It’s just that fuckin simple man.
You mentioned on your Instagram that through experience, one simple act of kindness can completely change someone's life. Have you ever experienced something in your youth that has helped you become a better person?
So when I was in 8th grade I was on the verge of becoming a ward of the state because my mother was an abusive junkie. I mean at 1 point she actually tried to kill me with an extension cord wrapped around my neck. She was in a very bad way. This meant I was headed to a place called Boy’s Ranch. It was a working ranch where young boys who were on the verge or already were headed down the wrong path would go to finish out their education and transition into adulthood. It was not an easy or friendly place.
In my case, I was already on the path. I had an aunt and uncle that found it in their hearts to see that didn’t happen. They went to court and became my legal guardians and took me in. Now they already had kids of their own and were poor farmers in the panhandle of Texas. This decision was no easy thing for them. I, being the asshole I was, didn’t make things easy on them by any means, but for some damn reason, they saw their commitment through.
They saved my life. I didn’t appreciate this until much later in life and honestly, I don’t know that I had the capacity to appreciate it until much later in life. All I can say to them is thank you a thousand times over. I don’t know why they didn’t give up on me, I certainly deserved it, but I am so grateful they didn’t.
What would you like to say to Impact Jiu-Jitsu Academy for supporting you on this endeavour?
To Impact, I would like to say thank you for welcoming me in and giving all of us students the space to grow. Thank you for supporting this school supply drive, while these children won’t know who the stuff came from it will still have a positive impact on them for years to come. I thank every member of the school for contributing and I hope that I can live up to the standards of being a human being that they have set. All of the coaching staff are just simply some of the best people I’ve ever met which naturally attracts some of the best people I’ve ever met on the mats.
What would you like to say to everyone that has supported you on both your personal development and BJJ journey?
To everybody that has supported me in all these endeavours, I would just say thank you. The support is my accountability, it’s one of the big factors that drives me daily. My wife, who is, quite frankly an angel and deserves to be canonized after passing showed me what it means to be loved and I don’t think that I can ever do for her what she has done for me, but you fuckin better believe I’ll spend all of my years trying. She is the best of all of us on this planet. I hope and strive to live a life worthy of their support.
I also need to thank Professor Chris Matakas. I began reading his books very quickly into my BJJ journey and he was able to articulate my exact thoughts on how I wanted to live my life through BJJ. He also advised me on how to start this school supply drive. So thank you so much, Professor!
When the journey is over, how would you like to be remembered?
How would I like to be remembered? Dang, that’s heavy lol. I suppose I would like to be remembered as a man that did right by his family, that lived in love, compassion, gratitude, and was a motherfuckin savage on the mats and in the weight room.
It is my belief that those of us that have chosen the warrior’s lifestyle has a responsibility to be wards of our communities. Not only in the physical abilities to protect those we love or those that need it but to also be of service to them. In several of the ancient warrior cultures, the warriors were community servants looking after the weak and old.
Those that came before us deserve that respect and those that will come after we learn by our example so why wouldn’t we be a positive example? We can’t leave our children behind and it doesn’t matter where they come from or what their experiences have been. We have an obligation to see these kids become productive members of society.
In the 2016-2017 school year, there were an estimated 10,071 students in our state experiencing homelessness! What?!?!? How can we let that be ok? If I could save all of these kids I would, but I can at least start with getting them school supplies and who knows where this leads.
1 thing I know for certain is that I can no longer passively sit back and shrug my shoulders saying things like oh that sucks or poor kids or man somebody should do something. We fuckin are somebody so let’s make a difference!
Leave a comment