Interesting experience the other day.
In the same session of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I both got a minor promotion (a stripe on my blue belt) and had a very interesting conscious ‘disassociation’ during rolling (sparring).
I’d been grinded into the mat and run ragged several times by one of the Black Belts in class, and thought I was in for an easy ride with a young man who’se a 4 stripe white belt (so he’ll be a blue belt next). I’m bigger, stronger and been training longer than him so went into the rolling a little too relaxed probably.
Anyway this guy was putting up a good fight, despite his size – BJJ is an art that is specifically designed to work well against stronger and heavier opponents.
Well I was tired, taking it too easy, and before I knew it, this chap has a strong Cross collar choke on me. it went something like this…
It came out of no where and I felt the pressure around my neck as decreasing amounts of oxygenated blood struggled its way to my grey matter.
As I felt the black lights descend, my vision face and mental processes dull, I had this… moment.
Amid the mental sluggishness I remember thinking something like “”what I need to do now is something amazing that I <consciously> don’t know how to, but my body does”.
And
Then
I did it.
I still don’t know what I did, but I know it started with a Scorpion movement. See below.
That’s what it felt like anyway.
So what you’re thinking perhaps. and yes, so what?
Well, what was interesting for me was I was disassociated from the whole thing, like a mental observer.
As opposed to the usual ‘flow state’ that athletes are in at times of peak performance (I’m certainly not saying I was performing at my peak!), I wasn’t ‘in the moment’ I was ‘outside’ of the moment.
If you can get out of your own way, and you know you can, how would you congratulate yourself as you did something that you thought you didn’t know how to do but DID?
So, as my Turkish pal puts it:
“Think about that!”