moment of epiphany on the mat

I had a brief epiphany on the mats last night.

I was mid-roll (and actually doing quite well), and a thought blazed through my mind that struck a deep chord:

In order to be BETTER than I am now, I will need to play differently than I do now.

Now, I realize that this is obvious in many ways. But I had a moment in which I saw and appreciated it. I think on some level, I assume in a sort of abstract way that "my game will improve, and I will be really good at a lot of things that I am less good at right now".

And in my moment of clarity, I saw that better performance will come through change. My game will NOT be "exactly what I do now, but better". It will be DIFFERENT. I will make different decisions. I will handle resistance differently. My timing will depend on other factors. My awareness will be of other things.

To phrase the thought a different way, imagine if I were a black belt RIGHT NOW. With the exact same attributes that I have now, what would be the difference between my current game and my imagined black belt game? I would play differently than I do now.

That was my moment of zen for the evening. It has struck a deep chord with me. I will be spending a lot of time meditating on this idea in the coming months.

~Chris

Interesting

differently yes in terms of timing, reaction and so on..

but I assume you do not mean differently in terms of different techniques or different moves that you actually use?

Indrek,

Only the future can answer that one.

~Chris

Interesting.

It is very true.

What seperates people who are very good is because they are doing things in a different way. That's why the ability to percieve and execute the details is so crucial for progress.

Think about it, the theorheticaly ultimate BJJ guy would be just be able to roll and make it look like he was demonstrating a technique. Just instantly getting the job done. Obviously that is a lofty goal. But you can always ask yourself, what am I doing wrong that separates me from that ideal?

Through the course of figuring out all the things you are doing wrong, you learn and improve.

Often the biggest breakthroughs come when you realize you have been wrong about something, and you now see it the right way.