The Astronaut’s Journey
Here at Airlock Jiu Jitsu, we recently released our new line of ranked rash guards, as well as some new fight shorts and women’s leggings! Yes, they’re available right now, right HERE using code: airlockbjj. The creative effort in releasing the new line was all about telling a story, bringing a new format for inspiration to our members and to people who practice jiu jitsu everywhere. We wanted to tell a story of how your belt color or ‘rank’ in jiu jitsu feels in the context of our space-y brand, and to perhaps give our members an artistic glimpse into how we see the journey through this amazing sport as a wild journey through outer space.
If you stop by the gym, you’ll see our new big ol’ poster that shows and tells the story of our Airlock Astronaut. Well, we figured we should post the story on the website too so that others could check it out and enjoy (and so that you don’t have to stand there reading it in person). We hope this story speaks to you as you continue your journey through the wonderful sport of jiu jitsu. So here it is, The Astronaut’s Journey:
This is a journey through the stars, through space and time, to new dimensions of great heights and sweeping valleys. Our astronaut enters the Airlock and accepts the transformation that the journey will bring, holding closely to the virtues that brought them here, not yet fully aware of the struggle ahead that will leave them hurtling through the heavens. No space explorer makes it to the end of the journey, but the greatest know that the trip will never truly end, no matter where in the universe they land. All Systems Go: Get Spaced.
Our astronaut first lands on Luna, our moon, full and white and bright. Many gaze at her in the sky, but only a few will ever traverse her craters and seas. Suited up and stepping through the Airlock, our astronaut has made the hardest step of the journey, treading on the soft, sandy soil. Our astronaut finds it hard to walk at first, stumbling through the dust, tripping and tumbling on the rocks, through the shine and shadows, up the harsh, blinding white mountainsides. A firm grasp of maneuvering is never possible on Luna, only a slow process bounding through the landscape realizing that they are alone while the rest of the world is left behind them on Terra. Many will end their journey right here, returning back to Terra and spending their days pretending not to have known the glory of space. But not our astronaut. They seek to learn, to grow, to walk on firmer ground, to find the next, farther landmark in their adventure. And one day, they climb back through the Airlock and launch farther out into the solar system.
On the blue ice giant on the far reaches of our solar system, our astronaut finds that gravity has returned in a firmer pull. They feel heavier and grounded, connected to the planet. Here among the frozen ice waves, our astronaut must wait, must settle, must decide whether to go on. Our astronaut is perched on the absolute edge of the solar system, each day gaining a stronger base, walking on two legs firmly, but the gravity is strong and it makes them wonder if they will ever push beyond. Icy peaks surround our astronaut, and here on the ice giant, the only virtue is patience. Our astronaut feels frozen in time and space. They have no idea how many miles they walk each day across the blue ice giant to the next launchpad. They only know they must continue walking. And walking. Until one day, when our astronaut sees something on the horizon, past the blue mountains, and they step once more through the Airlock and blast again into the far reaches of space.
Out beyond the solar system, the forces of matter confound all reason. Whole galaxies spin without direction or purpose, and our astronaut knows that there will be no more gravity, they must learn to fly through the dark matter and the space dust. Surrounded in a purple haze of weightlessness and timelessness, our astronaut is surprised. For here in the mist beyond the solar system, purged in purple petals of shining matter, our astronaut feels that they have learned to fly for the first time. And it’s fun. The twists and turns, banking on instinct, and finding from one day to the next that they were born for this, the rest of the journey seems easy. The way seems sure ahead, and our astronaut was made to spin and soar. Until one fateful day when the purple mists have cleared and our astronaut steps through the Airlock, traveling farther into the depths of space.
Far past the reaches of our galaxy, there is a hidden place that few will find. It’s the source of all that is, the creation itself, held aloft by dark pillars, billowing and brown. While our astronaut has gained confidence flying through the stars, this is a place that will shake anyone who finds it down to their core, shedding their notions and challenging those who dare to enter. The pillars stand lofty, shaping the world as we know it, and our astronaut begins to see that while they may know how to fly, they do not know their own self. The troubling brown pillars of creation hold up one simple thing: a mirror. A mirror that could stop the heartbeat of the world and force an introspection unknown to those who fail to reach it. But our astronaut is brave and true and strong and good, and day after day they break down the mirror and discover their true identity. Until one day the mirror shatters and displays the absolute limit of the universe beyond.
Our astronaut passes through the Airlock once more and gazes on a landmark magnificent to behold. A place beyond comprehension, a black realm that transcends time and space, that confounds reason and matter alike. Our astronaut beholds the black hole, held aloft in the heavens as it simultaneously creates and destroys all light and time and bends the forces of nature. This is the gate, the true beginning of the journey, not the end, and our astronaut knows what is on the other side of this one, final, true Airlock. So they step through and become space itself.
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