Now, more than ever, there is a tendency for people to live in a false reality. You see people living their real life and how they portray it through social media. The same thing goes for belief systems, like those that think the earth is flat. Even if you show them all the evidence in the world they will not budge an inch since they have already declared themselves in that group.
The same can happen in jiu-jitsu. Everyone starts with a blank slate for the most part and is uncomfortable when they begin training. As they continue to train on a consistent basis, it will get more comfortable. You start to become friends with your training partners, get acclimated to how they move when rolling, and then you start to tap out more and more people. This is where you need to switch things up to see if what you are doing is really true and will work on people other than your training partners.
Getting comfortable seems good, and in some respects it is. But no one progresses as much or as quickly as they do when things are uncomfortable. When it is time to roll, the lower belts should be asking the higher belts to roll with them. You should want to test yourself on a regular basis to see if your skills are progressing. The margin of error gets smaller and smaller as you go through the upper ranks. This will teach you all of the little things you are missing that will increase the percentage of you getting that sweep or submission on a regular basis with less effort.
As you have probably heard before, the greatest learning opportunities come in defeat. Don’t let the fear of losing hold you back from the chance of winning in the future. Make an effort to train with people that have a higher rank than you. Get an extra roll in when you are tired. Test your skills against other people who are outside of your school.
The last point to be made, and the one that will expand your game the most, is to go out and compete. It is by far the best way to get uncomfortable to make other situations more comfortable. If you were to get into a fight with someone on the street, how comfortable would you really be? You never really know until you are in that situation, but the best and safest way to simulate it is through competing. The learning experience will not only teach you a lot about how you can improve your game, but it will also teach you a lot about who you are and what you are capable of beyond jiu-jitsu.
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