I was pondering what makes Jiu Jitsu so difficult and something came to me in a flash: Jiu Jitsu isn’t hard, I’m making it hard. I’m sure I’ve read that statement before but for once it actually made perfect sense. Kind of like the day I realized how easy Yoga could be once I let go of excess tension within each pose and kept a watch on my breathing. I then noticed this tension in other areas of my life such as: when I played guitar onstage all the way down to when I was doing dishes. It was hard to notice though sort of like how you don’t notice the sound of the refrigerator until it stops and suddenly there’s silence in the house. You don’t always notice there’s tension in your body until you learn to let it go. For example, try lifting your arm without thinking about it. Pretty easy right? Now flex your whole arm while you lift it. This is what my Jiu jitsu is like.
I don’t know about everyone else but I really dread the idea of being tested. I know personally i’d rather just roll for fun and learn in the process; but at my school you must do what are called review matches in order to confirm or advance your rank. These are killers. Twenty minute matches, like in Metamoris, and upwards of four of them practically back-to-back. Speaking of back, last review class I hurt my back during the very first match (was caught in a bow and arrow choke for an extended time) but kept on through the rest resulting in about two weeks of hellacious pain. Anyhow you get the picture.
I realize now that because I put so much importance on these matches my body turns up the underlying static of tension and I tend to perform far below my ability. Add to that the fact that I waste enormous amounts of energy fighting my way out of submissions and you’ve got one ragged kid at the end of the day.
My plan is to consciously let go of all fear of loss and to just see it as a personal summation of my current skills. If I tap I tap. I’m even going to tap more and fight out of tight subs less. I mean I shouldn’t be flailing about after my opponent has already sunk in a choke. I should tap, learn from it, and move on. I should also let my technique do most of the work and if I fail it means my technique needs work, not added exertion.
It occurred to me that if I can’t defeat my opponent without remaining calm, then I’m simply doing it wrong and I’m libel to gas out in a real situation when it matters the most. Here’s to a new mind set when training. Hopefully a more “zen” mind set.
Do The Jiu 