Recently, I read a biography about Einstein, and one interesting thing was his use of thought experiments to work out solutions to complex problems and highlight scientific concepts. What if you applied that method to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu?
Let’s see what happens.
The Thought Experiment
Two twins develop an interest in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at the same time, but they live different states. This means that that even though they started on the same day, they are training at different academies. Those academies also have very different systems for sharing the art. It can’t be said that all the instructors at both academies aren’t top-notch though.
The main difference in the teaching systems is that one focuses heavily on drilling and helping their students develop a core game from which they can expand from, while the other focuses on giving their students a wide base of knowledge.
Time passes, and by some miracle both twins have trained for exactly the same amount of hours after one year’s time. Which twin will have improved the most?
Things to Think About This
This thought experiment was left open-ended because I’m really curious about how opinions can differ on this.
One thing to keep in mind is that all variables were held constant except for the actual training that went into each hour. We’re assuming that both twins were identical in all other significant factors.
Also this builds on the question of whether or not all hours spent training are of equal value. You can also consider it a test of the 10000 hour rule popularized by Outliers vs Anders Ericcson’s deliberate practice theory which was highlighted in Talent is Overrated.
The Possibilities
There are three possible outcomes that can occur in the thought experiment:
- Both twins could have improved the same amount.
- The twin who was exposed to more technique could have improved more.
- The twin who spent more time drilling and refining specific tools could have improved more.
Take a moment, read the thought experiment again and think about the possibilities. Which outcome is more likely given the scenario? Why? Also if there is a difference between them, what are some ways that you would like to model your training in order to improve results?