Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

As someone who enjoys being comfortable in nearly everything I do I have been reflecting lately on why I enjoy training so much.  If you think about it there are not a whole lot of aspects about jiujitsu that one could classify as “comfortable” whether your getting smashed into the matt from the 250 pound and extremely technical purple belt or your in some black belt’s wizard-like guard (damn you Pedro) I think I can safely say that jiujitsu as a whole is fairly uncomfortable.

So why do we put ourselves through this? A better question would be why put ourselves through this when we don’t have to? No one forces us to train unless perhaps your in the military or law enforcement.  So why then? 

For myself it comes down to progression and taking myself out of my comfort zone so I can grow.  This principle is one that can be applied to BJJ as well as life in general, but I’m not gonna try and hand down any life lessons from my lofty pedestal up here at blogspot.com.:)

If you want to progress in this game you have to put yourself out of your comfort zone.  Perhaps let the guy who isn’t as experienced as you pass your guard so he can work his guard passing and you can work your escapes and reversals.  Maybe, God forbid you let yourself get submitted by someone who ahem, has a lighter colored belt then you... The ways to get yourself out of your comfort zone are infinite and everyone has different areas that may be seen as “weak” areas.  For myself its my back defense.  When someone takes my back I am very uncomfortable and I know that I need to work on that area.  Next time I roll I’m going to force myself to at least attempt back escapes every roll.  If I get submitted so be it, I learn more from my ‘‘loses”anyway.  

The point I think I’m trying to make is that we can’t improve and get better if we don’t force ourselves to work on things that may not be our favorite.  Everyone likes to attack, I love to go for submissions just as much as the next guy but what happens when in my next tournament (in two days actually) I come across a guy that is insanely good at taking the back and submitting from there? At that point its to late and I’m in a world of trouble.  Admittedly two days isn’t nearly enough time to prepare but this is a goal that I’m going to continue to pursue after the tourney.  

The take home lesson here is, swallow your pride, have fun, try something new, and push yourself in areas you may not like.  After that training session whether you were successful or not you will be much happier with yourself (at least I always am), and remember there is always tomorrow but train like its your last time on the mats. <(I might have found my new catch phrase)