Be Quick, But Don’t Hurry

In jiu-jitsu, we often imagine time as an opponent — something chasing us, compressing us, forcing us into rushed decisions. But the longer you spend on the mat, the more you realize that time is an ally. When you move with it rather than against it, your jiu-jitsu becomes clearer, more precise, more definitive.

There’s a coaching concept from John Wooden: Be quick, but don’t hurry. That distinction matters deeply in grappling. Quickness is the expression of readiness — the body and mind working together with purpose. Hurrying is the collapse of structure — the mind racing ahead of the body, the sequence breaking down, the fundamentals scattering into pieces.

Anyone who has rushed through a technique has felt that moment: you reach the “end,” but something is wrong. A grip missing. A post forgotten. A frame misplaced. You arrive at the final step only to discover extra pieces in the wrong places — or missing entirely — reminders of the shortcuts you took.

But when you take your time — not moving slowly, but moving correctly — the technique assembles itself. Each step supports the next. The structure holds. The final detail fits into place with its own quiet satisfaction. You weren’t fighting time; you were working with it.

Time, after all, is not the enemy. Even its final expression is non-negotiable. There’s no point in sprinting toward it, as if speed could change the destination. Better to spend time in a way that reflects who we are: deliberate, aware, present. Moving at a pace that lets us feel the feedback of cause and effect, the rhythm of give and take, the subtle dialogue that makes jiu-jitsu what it is.

The world accelerates around us. Information moves faster, expectations tighten, attention fractures. But on the mat, we still have the choice to orient ourselves differently: to breathe, to observe, to act without haste. To let technique unfold at the speed of understanding rather than the speed of panic.

Let your jiu-jitsu become a conversation with time, not a race against it. And in that conversation — when you move with clarity and composure — time isn’t something slipping away; it’s something supporting you.