Today I want to talk about a critical component of mastering BJJ, but first let me ask you a question. If you were being driven around town, who would you want as your driver:
A) someone who's been driving every day for 15 years but also drives while talking on a cell phone?
or
B) someone who got their license YESTERDAY and is 100% focussing on driving?
I'm guessing that the vast majority of you would feel far safer with the veteran driver. There is no substitute for experience behind the wheel. Even though a veteran driver might be a little distracted sometimes, the judgement and reflexes created by years of driving will probably get you to the destination safe and sound.
When you're driving you have to consider the speed and direction of every car on the road (including your own). In addition you have to remember the rules of the road, watch out for potholes and pedestrians, react to emergencies, etc. After a few years you do most of this on instinct. If you're making a left hand turn you don't actually think "OK, move my hands a little further in a clockwise direction." No, you just turn the wheel.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
In a BJJ match you have to keep track of where every limb is, how your weight is distributed, how your opponent's weight is distributed, how your bodies are aligned, where everyone is gripping, and so on...
If an experienced grappler wants to stand up in the guard he's not thinking "OK, keep my knees exactly here and here to control his hips, now my left hand grips with the fingers in the lapel, twist my hand, grab the other sleeve, fingers exactly here, position my arms and body to prevent the armbar and triangle choke, shift my weight slightly, post one foot 13 inches from my body, push off, and now post my second foot about 22 inches from the other..."
Now this experienced grappler IS thinking - he's thinking about the important things. His mind gets freed up because many of the small adjustments are made on autopilot and by reflex.
Because he's not being distracted by every single tiny detail screaming for attention, he can use his bandwidth to concentrate on the big strategic picture, or try to solve a particularly difficult tactical problem (e.g. how his movement is being hindered by a particular grip his opponent might be using).
And it's the hours and hours on the mat that will eventually allow YOU to do this as well.
It's mat time that hones your reflexes and allows you to quickly react to your opponent's movements. It's mat time that gives you the experience to recognize different situations and instinctively know what to do. It's mat time that allows you to quickly filter the deluge of incoming information and quickly pick out what's important.
If your training consisted ONLY of mat time, and you had NO formal instruction, then you'd still get better. The reverse is not true. (Of course to really get good you're going to have to combine mat time WITH quality information).
More mat time equals more signal, less noise.
Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com
www.beginningBJJ.com
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