Page 57 - Issue 3
P. 57

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
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