Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Being the nail isn't so bad
Having an adult female who you outweigh by nearly 60 pounds grab a hold of your gi and strangle you is very uncomfortable. It’s even more uncomfortable if you are doing it for the first time and you have an unwarranted confidence of an eighteen-year-old man. This is where the new to BJJ student makes one of two choices.
One: they walk out the door and never come back. Two: a seed is planted, and that person has a thirst for the art so they walk back through that door. Thankfully I chose to walk back through those doors that held back a fierce female who nearly put me to sleep. Not only was it a shock to my system, but I was extremely uncomfortable. So the choice to walk back through the doors was an easy one. Either beat them or join them!
Get out of the worst spots in BJJ! Click Learn More!
My first day of jiu-jitsu was probably similar to many others. Why I was able to stick with it was due to many reasons. One of them being that I accepted that lack of comfort was the rule rather than the exception. Under all of the pressure of being controlled and smashed by my peers the addiction of navigating stressful situations had set in.
Jiu-Jitsu folk almost universally will find themselves in uncomfortable and compromising positions. A good practitioner will find themselves in bad positions all the time. Go ahead and re read that sentence.
Want to get better at swimming? You better jump in the pool. Want to escape the mount? Yup, every damn day you are going to have to attempt to escape the mount. It seems like a very easy concept, but in BJJ finding yourself in the mount means you must’ve made several mistakes beforehand. In training the focus can shift to winning. Instead it should be approached like sharpening your sword.
What if you couldn't get caught in bad spots? Click Learn More!
Somedays you may focus on your guard, and other days it may be passing. Then there are those times where sadly you have no choice because you are getting mauled. Cherish those times, and thank your partner who crushes you. They are helping, just in a unique Jiu-Jitsu type of way.
This ADCC Vet shows you how to escape anything! Click Learn More!
Being able to escape a disadvantageous position can turn the tide of battle. Here Tom DeBlass escapes a body triangle and immediately enters the legs. In a tournament setting DeBlass would be in a huge point differential due to back control. Until it doesn’t matter because you have Tom DeBlass hanging from your leg.
Having battle tested techniques only come from the fires of discomfort. Countless hours must be spent getting out of trouble, and the more you do the more comfortable you get. This also applies to real life situations. All of the sudden the guy cutting you off on the interstate doesn’t seem that stress inducing because you just got off the mat with a BJJ gorilla who was squeezing the life from you. Literally.
For more help getting out of uncomfortable situations, check out Tom DeBlass' Submission Escapes where he will teach you his favorite ways out of bad spots. You can get your copy here!
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