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Exercise Ideas

Learning Faster

The idea is to keep trying new things and let failures happen, learn from them, and then move on.

I see a lot written about the value of failing. The idea is to keep trying new things and let failures happen, learn from them, and then move on.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) you fail by “tapping out,” signaling that you’re caught in a submission hold. Tapping your hand on  your opponent indicates you’re  giving up, throwing in the towel, crying uncle, whatever you want to call it. You’ve failed to submit him and you’re in a position you’ve failed to escape from.

There’s no shame in tapping out. Top instructors tell you to tap out, and keep going.

Some guys don’t want to fail and will fight against a solid submission hold until they  wind up hurt and ultimately unable to practice for a while. It’s better to keep a playful attitude toward practicing BJJ; accept the failures and learn faster. If they have the newer idea of “learning faster,” they can replace the “never tap out” idea that they’re clinging to.

Some people practicing a new technique will feel like they’ve skipped or messed up a step in their first attempts at it . They’ll usually stop and start over. Instead, it’s better to note the mistake and finish doing the new technique; and then try the whole thing again. Just because you’ve failed part of a new technique doesn’t mean you should toss out the attempt.

Don’t fight the failures, they happen and we learn from them.