Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the art of gaining from disorder
Lately I’ve been gleaning some fascinating insights on the art of problem solving from an unlikely classroom — the BJJ mat.
Intro
We talk about failure being opportunity but seeing it manifest in a physical form that can prevent someone from choking you really brings it home.
First off today I turned up at 6am and was the only person there. Just me and a black belt instructor. I had to really convince myself that this was an opportunity and get stuck in and learn.
It’s remarkably humbling to roll with a BJJ black belt, how I imagine a little impala feels in a lions grip.
Learning on the move
Today we learned how to turn a half guard position into an attacking opportunity.
Half guard being when you have one leg between theirs to prevent full mount. Having a leg between you and your opponent is vital given the strength of the legs relative to any other body part. It gives you leverage to create space for your own attacking moves and strength in defensive postures to prevent them from having complete control of you.
Using some defensive techniques and the strength of your legs you can jostle to create space to rise from the ground and go for their back.
If they are slow in preventing you, from there you can mount their back and attempt a submission.
Problem solving in dynamic environments
Most people are not that slow however.
Generally this approach gets cut off by them raising their arm to block you off. See the image above. But what does this present to us? By them locking their arm under ours we can now see that one of their arms is tied up.
If you create momentum in that direction they have no arm to block it. So you turn what was an attempt for back mount into a roll in the direction of the locked up arm.
If executed well it’s then very easy to get to full mount which presents a great opportunity to win, inverting the position your opponent was attempting into the one you now possess.
However BJJ is not like going to a gym and doing a workout. Your opponent rarely complies with your plans. They can prevent this roll if they are quick enough to release their arm and put it out to prevent the roll.
Is that the end? This is where I really begin to find BJJ so complementary to the art of problem solving. Even though we’ve again been thwarted in our plans, if we remain composed and evaluate the landscape there is opportunity.
By preventing the roll they have heavily weighted their body towards that arm. In one direction. Which means that there is a window of opportunity where we can again go for their back on the other side opposite that arm. The move we originally went for at the start.
It takes time for them to shift weight back and you can make it harder through some pressure while going for the back this time.
If that succeeds you’ve achieved your original goal but not in the way you planned. Simply by never giving your opponent an opportunity to reset and never getting locked into a solution that didn’t work out.
Learnings
Really enjoyed todays learning and it gave me a real appreciation for how a practice like BJJ makes you more capable of handling life’s challenges than simply training by yourself.
As a practice it’s a constant game of misdirection and never getting too focused on one solution. If one fails what has it presented?
The mere attempt has changed the landscape and so long as you’re not focusing on the failure of it to execute you have ripe new opportunities.
Today I am looking at the problem I am working on and seeing roadblocks in a fresh light — as opportunity. I’m thinking back to where I was before I started and seeing what opportunities I am now presented rather than bludgeoning on down the same path.
