Right Voice, Right Time

Most jiu-jitsu instructionals teach the same things. The techniques overlap and the concepts repeat. That's fine. Sometimes what you need isn't a better technique. It's a different person explaining the one you already know.

The same is true of self-help books. You don't find a better answer. You find the right voice at the right time.

There's a concept called the anti-library. The unread books on your shelf are more valuable than the ones you've already read. They represent what you don't know yet.

This is why, whenever someone says a book changed their life, I look it up. I almost always buy it. Sometimes I don't read it for months. But it's there when I need it.

Same with instructionals. There are submissions I've been hitting for years. When a coach I respect puts out a video on something I think I already know, I watch it anyway. I've been surprised enough times to stop assuming I have it figured out.

It works the same on the mat. Go to class even when it's a technique you've seen a hundred times. Go especially when there's a different instructor. A new voice on the same material can unlock something that never clicked before. But don't skip class just because it's the same instructor either. Good teachers find new language. New analogies. A different way in.

I do this when I teach. If I'm covering the armbar from mount, I'll adjust what I emphasize based on what the class has already seen. Same technique, different angle.

You never know which version of the lesson is the one that lands. Sometimes you go to an armbar class and something clicks for a completely different technique. Learning how to control someone with your legs that night unlocks your triangle choke. You weren't even working on it.

Not every class will feel that way. Some will feel like a waste of time. That's fine. That's part of it. Maybe it takes seeing something a certain number of times before you're ready for the next lesson. You don't get to skip that part.

You don't know when the growth spurt happens. But it won't happen if you think you've got it all figured out.

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If you want to put this into practice, I have an instructional. Check it out here.