📝 Field Notes
Three Thoughts from This Week
When Competitions Don’t Pan Out
I had a thought recently about students that sign up for Jiu-Jitsu competitions and don’t make it to the competition. When this happens a student can feel like they failed themselves, the gym, or even their instructor.
As if the time preparing was wasted.
The reality is, the competition for most students is icing on the cake. The prize isn’t the comp or even the medal. It’s everything you were able to accomplish and improve in preparation to the competition. Be proud of the work you put in.
White Belt Tension
I rolled with White Belt recently who was pretty aggressive and operated with a lot of tension. Normally, I don’t submit newer people as often as I did him, but I needed him to dial it back a little. Nothing malicious, just deliberate.
I decided to roll with him a second time that same day and this time I told him, “I want you to be more relaxed and don’t be so tense.” While still aggressive, he applied that aggression better as I walked him through some objectives. My hope is that he’s able to roll a bit safer with others.
One of The Best Compliments
While at Open Mat one of the Brown Belts was helping a guy get ready for a competition. I asked if either wanted to roll and she urged him to since he was competing soon.
Before we started she mentioned, “I would love to roll with you though, you have such beautiful Jiu-Jitsu.”
For an art that is predicated on violence and can sometimes be brutal, the artist in me absolutely loved the compliment. It made my day and yes, I’m putting it down on my resume and any future business cards.
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