More on that second super fight:
My opponent had a strategy for killing my half guard, and he played it to a T.
Time after time, he was able to force me out of position and put me in dangerous situations. I didn’t panicked though. In fact, throughout the whole thing, I felt comfortable and confident.
Then a day after, in a little kawinkidink, someone randomly commented on an old post I wrote in the land where books and faces transform into something that resembles neither.
It was quite apt to the situation, so I’ll tell you the story:
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At one of the first tournaments I ever did as a black belt, I had an unexpected conversation.
It was the middle of the day. The event was already underway, and I was waiting to compete in the gi. As I walked around, I saw someone that I recognized.
At that time, I didn’t know his name.
But I remembered him from Copa Nova, where he coached against one of my teammates. And for some odd reason, I decided to strike up a conversation.
We started talking. And I learned that after he got out of the military, he uprooted his life just to go and train with Master Pedro Sauer. From the enthusiasm in his voice you could tell that it was a decision he never regretted.
And I asked him a question that I have also never regretted.
It was simply: What’s the best lesson you’ve ever learned while training there?
And his answer was:
Comfort is control.
Boom. It blew me away. To this day, I still think about it.
There’s so much contained in those three words. And it shifts your focus away from the technique and the position to a different set of problems.
How can I be comfortable in this situation?
How can I make my opponent uncomfortable?
If you’re always thinking of those two questions and coming up with answers, regardless of the position, you will have CONTROL.
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Yup.
That’s what I felt.
Despite losing some positional battles, I did little things to make myself comfortable while making my opponent uncomfortable. Those little things kept me in the match and eventually led to the opportunity to turn everything around.
It goes to show that even in the very worst positions, there are little micro adjustments you can do to make yourself comfortable and create opportunities for stealing victory from the jaws of defeat.
In fact, that will be the focus of the next lesson in micro adjustments.
I’m going to break down exactly what my opponent did to neutralize my half, what factors made it difficult to easily counter, what I did to stay comfortable and safe, and my current thoughts on what could have been done better to flip things around earlier.
It’s on deck for release by Monday next week.
But you’d have to sign up here to learn:
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