The San Francisco Forty Niners selected Quarterback Brock Purdy as the number 262nd pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Brock was the last player selected; thus, garnering the nickname Mr. Irrelevant. Since then, Brock has been nothing, but relevant. In 2022 as starting Quarterback, replacing injured Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock won 10 straight regular season games that spanned the 2022 and 2023 NFL seasons. In January 2023, he was sidelined with an elbow injury in the NFC Championship loss against the Philadelphia Eagles.
This NFL season, Brock led his Niners in the 42-10 rout of the Dallas Cowboys. He passed for 252 yards, completing 17/24 of his passes, and scored 4 touchdowns. So much for being Mr. Irrelevant. Brock is the Man. He’s the legit NFL MVP contender.
In the post game interview with NBC’s Peter King, Brock said, “Every level that I’ve played at growing up it’s like you get to that level and at first you may think it’s a big deal, but then once I start playing it’s like, ‘Man this is just football’… Youth to high school, high school to college, and college to NFL. Just football. Yes, everyone’s better at every level, but at the end of the day, man, you’re throwing a football to some guys trying to get open and catch it. And that’s really how I look at it. Try to keep it simple. This is a simple game.”
Mastery is in simplicity. 23-year-old Brock Purdy is a Student of Mastery. You take your baby steps to become the greatest that you can be, because each elevated level by definition is more difficult. Still, the journey remains the same: Become the greatest that you can be. Keep it simple.
In 35 years of Aikido, I’m Godan (5th degree black belt). I started as white belt. I gradually worked my way through the ranks, from Shodan (1st degree black belt), to Nidan (2nd degree black belt), to now. In Aikido, someone attacks and you throw them to the mat. Simple. Although, not easy.
The late Mizukami Sensei taught me Aikido for 25 years until he passed away. Sensei was the Master of Simplicity. He said, “Make it work.” Regardless of how big, strong, and fast the attacker was I had to make the Aikido technique work for me. Sensei said, “Just train. It’s not like you have to get somewhere.” I work on myself in the moment, in the present. The ranks would come eventually. I put in the work. I practiced technique over, and over, and over, and over again. Practice make the unnatural natural.
Mizukami Sensei said, “Wait it out. Enter the attack. Take a glancing blow if you have to. You’re not always going to get away scot-free. It’s one time.” Keep it simple. The 250-pound man punches to my face. I wait it out. I enter the attack and die with honor. I bring the attacker to my center. In the center of the attack, in the danger, I apply nikkyo (wristlock) to myself and match the attack with yoko-iriminage (strike to the side of the head) to the attacker. I let the attacker pass or end the attack. The attacker chooses to take the fall or stand down from his attack. We both choose.
In Aikido, there are many moving parts: timing, distance, the strength and speed of the attacker, among other attributes. Still, it’s one time. Mizukami Sensei said, “Breath in. Breathe out when you throw.” He said, “Move your feet. Keep your shoulder down.” That meant move my one point ki and keep the attacker in my center. Keep it simple.
The paradox of simplicity: Simple ain’t easy. In whatever discipline, making anything simple takes a lot of work. Just train. Making it simple isn’t simple. That was also Sensei’s invaluable life lesson.
I work with my therapist Lance Miller to heal my childhood trauma and depression. When I was a little boy, Dad scared me to my very soul. Whatever I did or didn’t do only made him so angry at me. I lived in my no-win scenario. I was not the son Dad wanted. I was his greatest disappointment. I was not good enough for Dad and I never would be. Consequently, I wasn’t good for anyone else, especially me.
Facing my fear of not being good enough, my fear of Dad as a little boy, was truly frightening. I entered what I feared. The late Mizukami Sensei said, “Keep it simple. Make it work.” I forgave Dad for not knowing how to be a father, for being afraid, and for being imperfectly human. I forgive myself for being imperfectly human, too. I let go my fear inside that I’m not good enough. Although my fear inside never completely disappears, every time I enter what I fear, I let go more of my fear inside. Simple. Not easy.
I love myself for who I am and forgive myself for who I’m not. Keep it simple. Mizukami Sensei’s life lesson. It’s not that complicated. I work on myself, not on others. That’s all I can do. Simple. Again, not easy. Just train.
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