Skip to content

In The Arena Blog

David Da Silva Surfing at Sunset Cliffs

Get 30 Days Free At The Arena Gym in San Diego

How you do anything is how you do everything. The study of martial arts will permeate into all sections of your life. Here’s Arena front desk worker and Jiu Jitsu practitioner @David DaSilva discussing the parallels between a life of surfing and training the art of jiu jitsu. Keep riding the wave, even if it tries to smash you.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

David Da Silva:
I started surfing when I was probably around 13 or 14 years of age. I guess it just stemmed from skateboarding, I grew up skateboarding here in San Diego, and it always felt like a natural progression for me. So once I got into surfing, I’ve just been doing it ever since.

I guess it’s just the feeling of being out in the ocean and being surrounded by nature in the water, riding the waves, the whole lifestyle in general just keeps me coming back from more.

Sunset Cliffs is nice because, if you’ve ever been there, you can just see how beautiful and gorgeous it is, especially during the sunset hours. It’s just one of those few areas where you can go surf and it’s still not very crowded as opposed to other spots around San Diego. Sunset Cliffs is just kind of unique to me too because I grew up surfing there. It’s always just been a part of me since I’ve been pretty young.

When I started surfing, I was just consumed by it pretty much all throughout my teenage years. And then when I was around 20, I started training Jiu Jitsu. The reason being was because I heard and saw that a lot of professional or high-level surfers were into Jiu Jitsu. And I also wanted to supplement my surfing with something else and I’ve always been into martial arts. So surfing and Jiu Jitsu always kind of made a connection for me, not only with the progression but the challenges that come with surfing and Jiu Jitsu. They’re all pretty similar.

With surfing it can be very frustrating, especially when you’re beginning, you’re constantly being bombarded by waves. It’s kind of a similar feeling when you’re rolling with someone much more advanced than you. So being mentally prepared for both of them is something that goes hand in hand with each other, and they both provide such a challenge physically and mentally that if you were to pursue it, it’s only going to help you improve as a person and help you reach your goals further down the line.

By providing your phone number, you agree to receive text messages from The Arena Gym. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. You can opt-out at any time by texting STOP, or HELP for any help. View our Privacy Policy.