Radical Shifts: A Path to Lasting Adaptability
As time passes, we tend to cling to what is familiar. That can feel safe, but it comes with a cost: the slow death of creativity. To keep the mind and body agile and adaptable, we must intentionally select discomfort.
While refinement is critical, growth is often hidden inside disruption. In an unfamiliar position, style, or methodology, your brain is jolted into creating new connections. The confusion, inefficiency, and awkwardness you feel at first are not setbacks—they are signs of transformation.
Grappling is constantly evolving; what was cutting-edge a few years ago may now be deemed fundamental. Those who embrace adaptation and constantly connect new experiences to their existing game excel, while those who resist are left trying to make yesterday’s tools solve tomorrow’s problems.
Consider an old-school player who decides to train exclusively to K-guard for several months. In the beginning, nothing works, everything feels awkward, and old habits scream to take over. But by removing the option to retreat, they discover something profound. Either a new flow emerges that reshapes their game, or they gain a deeper, hard-earned respect for why their original path suits them best. In both cases, they’ve expanded their understanding in a way that no half-hearted experiment ever could.
Structuring a Shift:
1. Identify a significant change. Pick something that truly alters your landscape—switching from gi to no-gi, a guard player investing fully in takedowns, etc.
2. Eliminate the escape route. Burn the boats. Remove the option to drift back into old habits too soon.
3. Define temporal boundaries. Set a timeframe—4 to 12 weeks—long enough to experience real adaptation, short enough to avoid burnout.
4. Fully immerse. Treat it like an adventure. Track your progress, embrace the discomfort, and see the experiment through to the end. Then decide what to integrate and what to let go.
Take a leap.
Consistency matters for the foundations. But for transformation, small tweaks rarely get you far. Sometimes the only way forward is a leap.
The truth is, you’re more capable of change than you think. The leap may be uncomfortable, but it will remind you of the same thing jiu-jitsu has always taught: you are built to adapt.