Page 56 - Issue 3

GRAPPLER Summer 2019

There are many techniques to bring your mind into 1) Ability to focus on technique when demonstrated.
the present moment, most of which involve focusing
on breathing. Focusing on the breath gives you the We have all been there: Coach shows a move, we see it,
opportunity to disrupt a habitual mental process, thus we love it, we get lost in a thought, we break for drilling,
creating the opportunity for new pathways or some we have no idea what move we just saw… It happens.
(momentary) mental clarity (like getting your frames in Humans…This whole ‘getting distracted by a thought’
while stuck in side control; can relieve pressure and give is exactly the situation which we are trying to improve.
you the opportunity to shrimp back to guard). So many people come to jiu-jitsu thinking about their
job, their wife, whatever. Training your mind to be in the
Inevitably, your mind will wander. That’s because, moment translates to thinking about the move presented
again, you are human. Congrats. When you notice your while it is being presented, allowing it to naturally flow
mind wandering, use your technique to bring it back. through your brain into your short-term memory, then,
That’s the real juice of the practice. Each time you bring after drilling, into your long-term memory. Getting
it back to the breath is the equivalency of a brain curl, uncontrollably lost in thought about your boss (or wife
strengthening your mental capacities and bringing you or classmate or Trump) disrupts this process, resulting in
closer to the moment. watching a move, but with absolutely no recollection.

Here are two techniques which I have used alternating 2) Less ego, less injuries.
for the past six years. I find them equally effective.
Everyone I know who does jiu-jitsu gets injured. It
1) Feel your breath on your upper lip. happens. I believe a lot of these injuries are preventable.
Every practitioner has a certain idea of how they should be
This is the style taught at Vipassana retreats, rolling: what a sequence of moves will look like and how
10-day meditation marathons. For the first four days, the it should result. This is a long train of mental processes,
only instruction is to feel your breath on your upper lip. which sometimes manifest themselves in a flawless
It gets crazier from there, but this is a fantastic place to tap, but usually (if you have good training partners)
start. Some people find it difficult to feel their breath on becomes disrupted with opposing techniques. It is in these
their lip. It is okay to breathe excessively hard just to get moments, when a sequence gets disrupted, that results-
the feeling going. After you feel it without issue, return to based grapplers (MUST….TAP HIM!) push harder. Pushing
normal breathing. Your mind wanders, bring it back to the your muscles in compromised situations results in injuries.
lip. Rinse and repeat. Training our brain to see what is happening, not what we
want to see or what we imagined would happen, can allow
2) Count your breath us to notice when our body is compromised and when to
let go, to move on to a different move.
This is the style taught to me at a Zen Buddhist center
in San Diego. Very simply, count your breaths on the Example: lately I have been playing rubber guard.
exhale. Inhale…1….inhale…2….inhale….3…all the way to 10, I love it. Nobody at my gym knows counters (yet). But
then start again at 1. Your mind wanders, start again at 1. sometimes my knee is compromised. Ego says ‘fuck it,
push through’. Focusing on the breath, feeling my knee,
“Okay, so what the fuck does this have to do I know to let it go, try again later. It’s okay, I have other
with jiu-jitsu?” guards…

Jiu-jitsu is an extremely mental activity (and physical, 3) Innovate.
duh, but also mental). The ability to be in the moment,
rolling without ego, can have numerous direct benefits to We are so lucky. We have years upon years of jiu-jitsu
your game. knowledge to build upon. So many techniques, positions
and paths have been established. But not everything. It
The advantages are as follows: is extremely beneficial to play with positions as they are
taught. This is how basic concepts get passed on.

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Credit:@marshallstamper