Jiu-jitsu is a game full of sore losers. Unlike many other games, it actually allows it. This to me is a major flaw in BJJ, and one reason I try to stifle those sort of behaviors in my school from the jump. Because quite frankly, it creates bad players.
I know you may be wondering, what I mean by that. Well I will be glad to tell you.
Jiu-jitsu, in the short-term, rewards attributes. When someone does not know how to get out of a particular problem with technique, they can revert to what they know they do have; which usually is strength, speed, power, youth, or flexibility. In other games, if someone makes a series of good moves, you can't "gnar" your way out of it. You have to accept it, and how you respond later down the road will be the difference between success and failure.
I believe this is why games are easier to play and master in a very short amount of time, you get instant feedback. You know that you suck, until you don't.
What is interesting about BJJ is that you can go years playing an attribute heavy game, without knowing that in reality you aren't very good. You can go years collecting moves, creating a tit for tat Youtube based game, until one day those things just stop working. This is probably because neither of those are rooted in the fundamentals.
Imagine playing a board game, without reading the rules........
This is why I like to focus on the rules of the game. The things that make BJJ work. Overall, I feel like this not only makes you a better player faster, it also preserves your interest and well-being. Allowing you to roll with little energy, minimizing wear and tear on your body, and making it so you want to get up the next day and train.
Sure you can skate by training 2-3x a day and rolling hard most of it, but how long will that last?
So how do we get better, you might ask? I have a few things in mind.
1) Focus on good posture. Posture is just the way your body is oriented compared to your opponents. This means that there is good and bad posture. Every position has a good place to be, and figuring that out is the equivalent to knowing basic strategies in games such as chess, Monopoly, Scrabble, etc.
2) Think about maintaining your body and your training partners. Sometimes we get so caught up in winning that we don't think about the wear and tear we are putting on our bodies and our team mates. We elevate the intensity and flail about when caught in something leading to accidents, and my next point, a missed opportunity to learn.
3) Allow yourself to lose. The gym is just a classroom. The only thing you are there to do is learn. You are not training to be a Spartan soldier or a gladiator. Nothing is on the line, except maybe your pride if you think about it that way. Allowing yourself to lose only makes it easier for you to see where you are weak.
4) Stay consistent. Rolling consistently with the aforementioned tips and mindset, will mean you will get it faster than everyone else who is training the wrong way or less consistently. This gives you more opportunities to fail, which means you are able to make better adjustments. Note: failing just to fail is never optimal, always improve after every failure.
5) Ask questions. I remember playing a game called Pandemic at this nerdy game place. There was a guy there whose sole job was to sit next to you and tell you exactly how to play. That was so ridiculously helpful...I wish there was someone like that at the gym. Oh wait, there is. They are called a coach. Asking questions enables you to fix your mistakes faster than you would have on your own. It is the difference between two months of figuring out a problem or two minutes.
Why am I bringing this up? I was having a conversation with myself earlier today about what allows people to get better than others. My response was they do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing...consciously or unconsciously, it doesn't really matter. Ever watched a smaller person that was technically better, get whooped up on by a larger person? Happens all the time, and you can almost always assume (in the right school) that smaller person will advance quicker. Reasoning: they are doing the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing...because they don't have a choice.
When this kind of thinking becomes the norm in a BJJ school, it lifts the skill level of everyone, and the environment becomes positive and ego-free. However, all it takes is a few knuckleheads to mess it up.
My dad used to tell me, "a hard head, makes a soft behind." The same goes for learning BJJ. If you train the wrong way, it could lead to a much longer and harder journey. Jiu-jitsu is not about fighting, it is about fun, longevity, and simplicity. Just like a classic board game.
