In life, the things that we avoid learning/doing are usually the things that will change our lives for the better. As a fresh blue belt on the competition scene, I used my athleticism and power to win matches. It took a bad accident for me to realize that the route I need to take is different than just submitting people in the gym and in the blue belt tournaments.
When I started BJJ, all I wanted to do was submit people without worrying about positional advantages. Quick submission were my way to go. With those quick submissions, I picked up some bad habits. My passing was non existent; I would rely on my athleticism to pass and that would work on guys that were only a little bit more experienced than me. One day during some sort of king of the hill scenario, I had an accident and tore two ligaments in my ankle…
I already had my blue belt for about three months and about 3-4 gold medals from competitions. I figured my quick submission got me this far why change it now. Well this injury kept me from training 100% for about 4 months. In those four months I watched tons of BJJ videos, drilled as much as possible and worked on my passing. Along with realizing I needed to pass the guard, I realized submission come secondary to positions. They also come fairly easy once you learn how to positionally dominate your opponent. There is a certain moment in a match where I feel my opponent’s moral dies and that is when he gives me the submission.
So for those who are just starting out in BJJ, work on your fundamentals. Learn how to defend submissions and recompose your guard from bad positions. Learn how to defend yourself in every position where you are being dominated. Once you get the hang of those two things, then start focusing on how to pass the guard. Learning to pass the guard is not even close to the most fun thing to do in the gym. But it is the most useful thing you can add to your arsenal at any stage of the game.
Every aspect of my life in which I feel I have achieved a great deal, I got there by doing something I avoided earlier because it was too hard, boring, and/or time consuming. The things that we avoid are for the most part things that we NEED to do… So sit down and think about all the things you avoid doing and see just how in the way they are of your greatness and fulfillment.
What are you avoiding? What do you need to get done but you really don’t want to? Those are the two questions you need to answer before you get to the next level in any aspect of your life. For me at that time it was my jiu jitsu. Nowadays, I wake up every morning and I answer those two questions.
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