It's not the Move - It's You
A technique that feels wrong may not be wrong for you. It may need more time, a few adjustments, and a version that fits your body.
Before you decide a technique is not for you, stay with it long enough to identify what stopped it and make the adjustments that fit your body.
I wanted to talk about something that's happened to me - and probably you too.
You try a technique, it doesn't work, and your first thought is:
“Yeah… that move just isn’t for me.”
But there’s also a pretty good chance that, believe it or not, you’re wrong.
Why it is easy to move on
When something doesn’t work for you, it’s easy to move on to something else right away.
You could say that you’re not flexible enough.
Not strong enough.
Too old.
Too small.
Make the move fit you
But if you do that, you skip over the part where you actually learn how to do the move for you.
We’re all different - different ages, sizes, and abilities. Sometimes the same technique has to look a little different to accomplish the same goal.
So writing something off too early because it doesn’t feel right can hurt your progress more than you think.
Stay with it long enough to learn
This is where sticking with one thing for a while really helps. The longer you stay with it, the more you start to understand it.
That’s where progress actually happens.
Or you could just give up.
It’s cool with me if you don’t want to get better at jiu jitsu.
See you all on the mat this week.
Joshua is the owner and head coach at 608 Jiu Jitsu in Cross Plains, Wisconsin. He writes about learning, problem solving, and becoming a better training partner through jiu jitsu.