Stoicism can give you a helpful framework for your thoughts & actions.
It helps you narrow down what to focus on so you won’t have to worry about things you don’t need to worry about.
The basic idea behind Stoicism is simple.
There are things you can control. And there are things you cannot control.
So, focus on what you can control.
That’s all, more or less.
You can apply this way of thinking to your BJJ training as well.
Here, I want to bring your attention to one aspect of BJJ.
Question:
Can you control how your opponent is going to react?
It might seem that you cannot control how your opponent is going to react.
But the thing is, you can control your actions. You can control how you move unless your opponent is completely dominating you.
What you want to do is to control your moves in such a way that your opponent will have to react to you in a certain way.
When you can predict what’s most likely to happen (because you are the one luring your opponent to move in such a way), you will be way ahead of your opponent.
Essentially, this is what’s happening between high-level competitors when they compete against each other.
On a related note, I do this mount escape… by kinda giving up my arm.
I let my opponent think that my arm is available for armbar. (I don’t make it too obvious though.)
Most people will try to take it.
And I know when exactly it will happen, and that’s when I do my escape.
Even in a seemingly bad situation, you can control your actions like this.
So, whether it’s a BJJ context or outside of BJJ, always ask yourself…
Is this something I can control or not?
And if not, how can I achieve similar results by controlling my actions?
Asking these questions and acting on your answers can help you do better.
p.s. If you are curious about Stoicism and want to know more about it, here‘s a good starting point.
This Way of Thinking Helps
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