An American trucker turned self-proclaimed “ninja” reached out to LiveTrucking earlier this week to explain how trucking and Mixed Martial Arts drastically changed his life for the better.
Jordan “Blake” Harness grew up in Huntsville, Tennessee, where his childhood of abuse and poverty led him to criminal activity. By the time he was 21-years-old, he was homeless and ready to leave his life of crime, and that’s when an elderly married couple took him in and changed the direction of his life.
“I found my way into trucking by chance actually,” Harness told LiveTrucking in an interview.
“My dad had never really been around and my mother had lost her house when I was twenty-one. We were homeless at the time. Mom was sleeping in her car and I was sleeping in the woods in December. An older married couple saw me out one day and was intrigued by my story. They offered me a bed on their couch and they eventually gave me money to go to trucking school.”
Soon, Harness enrolled in and graduated from trucking school and landed a job as a truck driver, spending long hours on the road and using the time alone to meditate on his past life and what his future could hold.
“Truck drivers are thinkers,” Harness explained.
“Thinking deeply is a part of meditation. What I visualized being able to do in MMA while I was looking out my windshield every day became a reality before I even realized it.”
Harness says that he drove as a trucker for years before finally getting into MMA, a sport that helps him feel confident in his safety over-the-road and at home.
“I never dedicated myself hard to MMA until after years of being a truck driver,” Harness says, pointing out that participating in MMA and working at his trucking job helps him find balance in his life and peace within himself.
“Trucking and MMA relate in the aspect of work ethic. There ain’t many people that work as hard as truck drivers. It actually helps [to be in both] … MMA levels my head after a stressful time on the road.”
Now, Harness lives in Cebu City, Philippines, a place he says helps him in finding that “peace within,” with his wife and two daughters. He and his family live on almost three and a half acres where Harness has an in-house MMA gym and was able to land a trucking job that keeps him close to home for most of the year.
When asked if he had any advice for truckers looking to find “balance” in their own life, Harness offered this bit of wisdom: “No matter what you want to do, no matter how impossible it seems, just do the best you can. And the best you can do today will be even better tomorrow.”
“Baby steps achieve more goals than going at something full force,” he continued.
“Working out, martial arts or even just having a hobby you love, is the best medicine a trucker can have to level his/her head and balance their inner ‘Chi.'”
Anyone interested can check out Jordan “Blake” Harness’ Facebook page here.
