This week our powerful word is Exclude or Exclusion. Which means…
1.) to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of.
2.) to shut out from consideration, privilege, etc
3.) to expel and keep out; thrust out; eject
As i mentioned in last weeks post this would be the 2nd part of what i see as one big major concept. Embrace (last weeks powerful word) can not truly happen until you Exclude the obstacles and obstructions to your path. Lets take a look at this concept of exclusions and examine it from a different perspective.
I remember when as a blue belt i could count on one hand the amount of times i had tried to go for an ankle lock or a toe hold. I remember asking my professor (sergio “marra” correra) if i could get some set ups and details on finishing the straight ankle lock, and he said no your passes aren't good enough! Looking back I'm glad i spent more time working on my passing game because eventually certain parts of my passing game became the foundation for some of my ankle lock set ups and finishes. everything on this earth has it own maturation process. Just like a baby doesn't just start jogging around the house. No, a baby learns to roll over then they learn to crawl and eventually walk, jog, and run. With Jiu Jitsu i adhere to 4 pillars of jitz:
-Survive (escape)
-Progress (pass or sweep)
-Dominate
-Submit
In jiu jitsu if you become proficient with a submission at the cost of the other 3 pillars then your game will suffer. It is for this reason (and also for safety reasons) that certain submissions are excluded from specific belt levels. Now i want to make sure that I'm not giving anyone the wrong idea. i fully encourage students to develop a leg lock game but just not at the expense of the rest of your game. Leg locks are an icing to the cake which is the escaping, passing, and sweeping. If you love ankle locks maybe you need to look at excluding them from your game to focus on your passing or your guard.
This same principle of exclusion can also be applied to the big guys in the gym. A lot of the time a big guy will be successful with something that is not fundamentally correct or very technical just because he is bigger and stronger. The big guy must work on excluding his strength during his rolls or he will never develop his mobility. unfortunately training like this constantly gets you trapped into a specific set of movements that are congruent with what you would expect if you saw two big guys going. Now when a big guy can move technically and have fluid range of motion; imagine what happens when he puts his strength behind that! Im not trying to bash size and strength at all. those that can; DO. Although just cause you can doesn't mean you should. Try to keep the end in mind. What is your final goal with Jiu Jitsu? I won’t be able to answer that one for you but if i had to guess pretty much every single students goal is to become a black belt. Attaining the black belt will have more to do with you conquering the 4 pillars of jiu jitsu rather than a submission or how strong you are.
There are three factors when looking at exclude regarding your training.
What do I need to keep out
- What techniques right now do i need to keep out of my game : When you are working on a specific part of your game learn to exclude the plethora of other options that out there. Make the decision to work on your passing. If you do then you better not pull guard or accept the bottom. Stay consistent to your plan of action.
What do i need to make exclusive
- what techniques or parts of my game will i be exclusive with: When rolling with students i try to commit to areas of my game that are not my best. In this way i start to improve on some of my weaker areas in my game. The hardest part again is not doing what you know you do well. For example i have an awesome deep half guard but my regular half guard needs some work. If i bail on the investment into my half guard but entering deep half guard when things get tuff then i don’t get better.
What needs to be taken out
- What parts of the technique am i doing wrong. eject the wrong body movements, mind patterns and just flaws in your technique. strip away the non necessities of the movement.
Once you have gone through these three factors and have figured out what you need to exclude from your game you will have now opened yourself up to Embrace a new chapter in your game. It is easy to see how you need to Embrace a new concept or technique in order to progress your game. It is much harder to discern what you need to exclude from your game in order to embrace your progress.
OSS!
professor jason yerrington
Want to take a moment and congratulate all kids that competed at naga houston and also the Kids Pan American Games this weekend. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I worked specifically with the kids going to the Kids Pans on Excluding and Embracing these past 4 weeks. They all worked very hard. We are so proud of you all and what you have accomplished.
Sergio and Moses took gold in their divisions
David and dragon took silver in their divisions
Eva, Bam Bam, and Jacinda took bronze in their divisions
You guys excluded things from your life in order to make the embrace of this moment happen. Many sacrifices go into championships. Whether it was weight cuts, dieting, extra training sessions, and coaches being a lot harder on you all. You guys did it! So Proud Of You ALL!!
OSS
Profesor Jason Yerrington
