I have so many things to work on in jiu jitsu. I keep a running list. Of course, it gets longer and longer and I don’t
seem to make any progress.
The other night I rolled with a lovely young man who had
lots of advice to give me. I have rolled with this type before, but the advice
was always, “You should move like this,” or “When this happens, put your hand
here to stop it,” or, “Here is how you escape this.” At all that great and
valuable information I would nod and say, “Okay, gotcha. I understand what you
mean. I just hope I can remember that when I’m in this situation again.” (It usually goes in one ear and out the other!)
But this young man didn’t say any of that. He said I had a
great game, that I was doing everything right. But that I was also doing
everything wrong. And he talked, not about my moves, but about intangible
things, things I could understand and remember, but that will be much harder
for me to implement than simply executing an escape. The advice he gave me was about
instinct and reaction and reflection. I will have to break down my whole game
and rebuild it. I will have to undo muscle memory and start from scratch.
I feel like this right now:
| This is how I roll?? |
I think that most people through their formative years of BJJ tear down and rebuild their game multiple times. The point isn't really to discard everything you know, I think-- it's to discard everything you know FOR NOW and build something new. Eventually your new game and old game will integrate with each other naturally, but until you abandon what you're currently doing, it's too easy to stay stagnant and unchanging.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to that merger, then. Right now, I feel like a brand newbie.
DeleteIsn't the rebuilding great! I love meeting people who can communicate like that.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to meet someone who can see the important parts of another's game. I have trouble with that. However, right now the rebuilding is frustrating, but exciting and the same time. It will be a long road, I think.
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