Think About It: Total body awareness

I have been meaning to write a blog post on this subject for awhile now, but every time I sat in front of my computer, nothing ever came about. Except for today. I guess just like all things in life, sometimes alls we need is a little inspiration. Now I am not a huge fan of football, in fact, I have not watched a single game all season and don't plan on it (watch my daily views plummet now). But today's highlight provided me with the example I needed to get my point across. As you can see in the video, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson displays some amazing athleticism and coordination by doing a somersault over his defender for the touchdown.

What does this have to do with jiu-jitsu Jei? A lot.

See the thing that allowed Mr. Jerome to do this somersault was not only his athleticism, but also his awareness of what his body is capable of. Trust me, if this cat didn't know he could do a somersault (at that height in full stride and with a 220lb man-beast coming at him) he would not have tried. He was confident in his abilities, and did not think he would fail. This can be easily paralleled to jiu-jitsu and how we move in our own games.

Usually at the blue belt level and higher, rolling can at times seem slowed down. When you are in the moment, you see multiple paths to get to a certain destination...maybe it is a pass, a submission, or to a more dominant position. In that moment, those precious seconds, you have to decide which path is the one you are most capable of traveling on. Jerome Simpson could have juked, spun, or dodged his way into the endzone, but he didn't. He chose to somersault, because that was in his arsenal...his endless bag of tricks. What if you had the body mechanics and maneauvers to choose and successfully complete any move you wanted? You would probably be unstoppable. Sadly, a lot of us are not equipped yet with these mechanics, and instead of having options we end up forcing something that is not necessarily the correct thing to do.

I have done research on a lot of black belts in jiu-jitsu (this means I just went to BJJ Heroes), and I found out that a lot of them have a background in capoeira. This particular martial art not only gives them this total body awareness, but it all allows them to come into BJJ with no inhibitions. Many of us here in America grew up playing basketball or baseball, and are not used to the mechanics of jiu-jitsu and have to learn them. I know guys that are purple belts and can't do a cart wheel or forward roll properly. In fact, these are the things that most of us forget about completely and never implement into our drilling, warmup, and training routine. For instance, a lot of passes involve switching your hips or doing what is called a baseball slide. If you did not become competent in these two particular movements...how many guard passes are you missing out on? How many times will you force yourself into "tunnel vision" in any given roll?

It is imperative that we have total body awareness in jiu-jitsu. Who knows what situation you will find yourself in one day. Knowing that you can successfully complete what your mind knows it needs to do to advance your position will help to open your game up; allowing you to find a whole new side to your jiu-jitsu filled with mind boggling discoveries. Happy training.