Understanding the Relationship between Skill Building, Injury, and Regret

Two things that injury and regret both have in common:

1) a sense of should have - either done or not done a thing, with more or less force, tact, etc.

2) a sense of loss

With regards to the Jiu Jitsu Academy I am not as concerned about injuries as much as most people think. I do care about whether you get better or not. Getting better tends to coincide with not getting injured. Since our arrangement is that I am trying to help you get better at Jiu Jitsu..... It stands to reason that I would want you to move more in that direction and less in the getting injured direction. 

You don't win Worlds by surviving injuries better than everyone. You win by being better at Jiu Jitsu than everyone else. Whether you are trying to win Worlds or not, the path to successful skill acquisition is one and the same. There may be a different training schedule and intensity to being the best in the world vs being a successful part time practitioner, but the fundamental methodology is the same. We practiced it yesterday.

Yesterday's morning class focused on two or three basic movements and structures we make in Jiu Jitsu; The hip up, the hip out, and protecting our shell. We spent a fair amount of time focusing on good mechanics with the core movements. At first this was Hidden Practice, meaning, as you were working to maintain your open guard so your partner could practice passing, you were engaged in all of those tasks; hipping up, out, and protecting your shell. 

Then we worked on how to have both stability and suppleness as you transitioned between the positions - solo, on the ground. Much of our warming up is simply a form of shadow grappling, however in the warm up you are trying to use perfect mechanics and transfer of force. Yesterday we focused on two key movements; the ability to "squid" or hip out, and the ability to switch your base, which is seen when you stand up in base. 

Those are the attributes you need to be training, whether you are trying to win Worlds or just gain a little skill. The ability to move, stop moving, and one other ability. What else are we trying to train?

Sometimes there is safety in structure. Sometimes there is safety in mobility. 

The ability to correctly combine the two is what will allow you to win. 

Doing it incorrectly or at the wrong time will cause you to lose, and potentially get injured.

The difference often lies in anticipation.

You can practice this at home just like we do with the warm ups. When you hold a static position; plank, hollow body, or any other position, you are learning how to anticipate stability. You are training the stasis of motion. Think of traveling down a steep hill and not being able to stop. Now think of that same scenario but either being attached to a heavy load, or being in front of a heavy load. What would you need to do?

You would need to be able to either stop motion, or get out of the way. So in your solo warm ups practice finding stability as you stop all motion or move deliberately. One good way to train anticipation is to use isometric holds with the core positions. As you move through the warm up positions, periodically stop all motion and do an isometric hold - the longer the better. Then when you regain motion do so slowly and deliberately. When you can slowly and deliberately stop and resume motion you gain increadible control over your ability to do so when training.

Contrast that with trying to recall which move to do faster than your partner when you both are tired and battling - who wins? Either the bigger strong person, or the one who controls the movement and movement options better. The former is trying to be more powerful. The latter is trying to use martial arts. The better you understand the difference determines how good of a martial artist you can become.

Moving it from the warm ups to the sparring - hold the regret

If you can reframe your training to focus on the relationship of stability and mobility as it relates to anticipation you will be rewarded with less regret. If you are focused on seeing if your moves work or not….. You are probably going to be looking at a lot of regret.

 It is part of the learning process we all go through. We train to understand and adapt to change, not to memorize the winning moves, but to understand that the playing board is always changing. The player that can out transition the other typically wins. 

If I can understand that when I am training, that I am not necessarily trying to recall the correct move better than my partner, I am trying to out anticipate them - then you can focus on reading their pressure instead of trying to read their mind.

When you approach your partner in training, don't try to avoid the force or pressure, engage it and attempt to direct it. Look for your partner to over commit to a transition. Give them pressure and give them a slightly elusive target. Not all of your force or mobility. If you start with 100% you have nowhere to go but down. Start slow and build, then redirect and re-approach the position from a different angle, and then another angle. Build your attack by engaging the position. 

When you put all of this together you are learning to probe for and exploit structural weaknesses. When you don't put this together well, but hammer down on the pressure, you tend to probe for and find injuries. If you cannot see it, I generally can. Hence, if I point it out the aim isn't "don't get injured", the aim is for you to stay on the path to success. Success is usually found at the end of effective hard work. In Jiu Jitsu we call it a good use of leverage, strategy, and tactics. 

Not getting injured all the time is table stakes. So is being able to work through and around injuries. If you stop every time you stub your toe you're never going to get very far. The same can be said for training intensity, and recovery. 

If you are sore and tired after a class - good! You will be less sore if you train again the next day. If you train, get sore, then conflate that with an "Injury", and put off training for two weeks - guess what? You are going to be just as sore the next time you train. If you repeat that cycle long enough you risk talking yourself into thinking there is something wrong with you. There is - you aren't training! 

Don’t talk your self out of training and don’t talk yourself out of success. Building skill is verb. Higher level skill is much more available than you think. Give me three months of consistent practice and you will see for yourself. You won’t regret it.