After several months of drilling, you are finally ready to unleash the pain on your fellow rollers. You come to school smiling because you know you have a money sweep that is going to finally have everyone asking, "do you teach privates?" You're in the changing room tying your belt extra tight, making sure your gi is crisp. You can barely sit through class, biting your nails and picking at your toes...waiting for your professor to finally say its time for sparring.
Finally, class ends and you are paired with your nemesis, Charlie Chokem, the sick purple belt that kills you all the time. Game time. You slap hands, get to your move...then WHAM! Charlie down. This happens for a whole month and you are on cloud nine. You have managed to sweep everyone and their mama, and you even got a few submissions off of it to. Can't tell you nuttin.
Few months later...not only is Charlie countering your guard, but so is everyone within a 10 mile radius. Frustrated and heartbroken, you do what many of us do when the fish ain't biting, you pack up the rods and tackle...and leave.
This is a huge mistake that we all have made at least once in our jiu-jitsu lifetime. Rather than adapt and figure out new ways to counter the counters, we just up and give up; abandoning a possible money move, for something new. Back to the drawing board.
Let's take a deeper look into that by using one example from Lloyd Irvin.
In one of Lloyd's old email newsletters he stated that one day while hanging out at his instructors house he had the privilege to watch some old competition footage. In the videos he recognized some top level competitors at the time, not only by their faces but also their games. The only thing though, the tapes were old, so old that most of top level guys were blue belts still. After watching about 20 or so of these tapes Lloyd came to the conclusion that these guys had the same games as blue belts that they have at black belt.These were not just natural jiu-jitsu savants, magically coming up with moves on the spot; they had been developing their games ever since they were snot nosed rascals.
So what does this have to do with us?
A lot. Allowing yourself to abandon a technique that has been proven, and moving on to the next move is MURDER! You are literally killing your game and in 6 yrs, you will pay heavily for it when you realize that you are a jack of all trades, master of none.
Why is a blue belt who has only been training for two years telling you this?
Because for some of us, like me, there is still hope. That sweep you stopped using two weeks ago...the one you shelved in the back of your mind, get it back out and start experimenting and making it better. Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait. He that can have patience, can have what he will. Patience and fortitude can conquer all things. See where I am going?
There is a reason why you chose that sweep or position, because it works for you. Just because it does not work in school, does not mean it won't work in a tournament or on someone who doesn't know you from Adam. Take the time to develop your bread and butter, don't let ego get in the way of your growth! Lloyd said to let the move take you to black belt level, in that time period who knows how much you can do! Your dinky little de la riva hook, could blossom into the new Reverse Pterodactyl guard...
Bruce Lee once said "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man that has practiced one kick 10,000 times" Truer words have never been spoken. Jei, out.
