Join John and Matty as we discuss a question sent in by an avid listener!

So you were training jiu jitsu and you accidentally got choked out...

You also know that tapping is a much more favourable option. You know that you should have tapped out earlier, and for this reason you may be a little upset, worried, or embarassed at what happened.

As a devout learner, and a good student you will take this experience and you’ll learn from it, in order to do things better the next time this situation eventuates.

The Milk is On the Table.

Or, there's no use crying over spilt milk. Spilt milk comes in the form of many things, but it's important to remember that shit happens, and for you it happened on a few fronts, albeit hopefully not literally.

Sure you slept, which was unintentional, yet it happened.

The more important milk that had been spilt, was the choke that made you sleep. There is a time and a place to escape submissions, but that wasn't one of them. It was clearly deep enough to make you sleep, and in the ensuing battle of escape vs tapping, you held onto the hope of escape for too long, which is why it happened.

To Play is to Tap Often and Always.

You can do this because you're there to play, not fight. Just as your training partner isn't your opponent, so too you're not in a battle to the death. You're allowed to tap, and there's no shame in yielding to the good work of others.

Defence First.

And with this being said, you can play, and still not get caught. The secret is in your defences. In jiu jitsu, you need to stay safe, which is why you need good defence. Just like you clear your gutters of leaves to prevent fires, you can't wait till the submission is almost on before you think about defending it!

The truth is it's your neck, and your joints, and it's up to you to keep them safe way before any danger can eventuate. Posture. Defence. Always. 

Joys of Jiu Jitsu

The beauty of this martial art is that it takes many years to learn well, and it is inevitable that you will fail along the way. On your path to black belt, you will tap hundreds if not thousands of times. These taps can either be many failures, and/or many opportunities to learn.

It's the opportunist, and the future black belt who will take what happens, think about it objectively, and learn from it so that it doesn't happen again.

Just like that the ups and downs and lessons and learnings of jiu jitsu are a portal into everyday life. Not everything will go your way. Sometimes there's nothing to do but accept this, move on, and try again, no matter what. So never mind getting choked. Enjoy jiu jitsu, stay on the mats, and learn for life.

Original blog post can be found here.