Problem Solving Pt. 2

5. What is the best thing to do?

Efficiency is the essence of Jiu-Jitsu. Don't just act, prioritize. The best option is rarely the most dramatic one. It's the one that conserves energy, controls risk, and applies pressure that your opponent has no good answer to.

High-percentage positions and finishes exist for a reason; they've been tested (successfully) against resistance countless times. Favor them over flashy improvisation, especially when the stakes are high. Save creativity for another time.

6. How will you do it?

Execution. You've selected your path, now walk it. Position before submission. Structure before speed. A technique executed with sloppy mechanics is a different technique entirely; one your opponent can feel and exploit. Trust the mechanics and refine them through repetition, because repetition is how the body learns what the mind has already accepted.

Deliberate practice of the right mechanics is what makes them available when speed and pressure arrive.

7. Did you solve the problem?

Test the result. Did your guard retention improve? Did you stop giving up the underhook? Progress requires honest feedback, and in Jiu-Jitsu, feedback is built into the environment; you cannot fake your way through a trained opponent.

Results don't lie. If it worked, note why. If it didn't, return to step one without frustration.

The loop is the practice.

8. Can you improve what you did?

Good is not the end. Even a successful solution carries inefficiencies you couldn't see while making it work. Early on, the question is simply: did it work? As you advance, it shifts to, "Can it be cleaner, tighter, more fluid?" Could you have used less energy? Was the entry telegraphed? Were there earlier signals you missed?

This pursuit of refinement is what turns movement into art. It never ends. That's the gift.