The power of adaptation: Very often in the sport we have to adapt our game around changes in our body. Usually these adaptations are in response to injury or age. When one part of our body is incapacitated we have to adapt our game around that problem and find new ways to play in order to maintain our overall effectiveness. The main thing to remember is that our goal is to continually improve our overall effectiveness in the sport. It does not matter if I lose some of my best weapons due to injury, so long as I can adapt and create new ones. Sometimes this cycle of adaptation in response to physical changes and problems can have very good effects. An injury can make us play the game in a very new and exciting way; then when the injury resolves itself over time, you get your old weapons back along with your new ones. In my own case, I always favored ashi garami on my left side, but after my hip replacement I completely lost my ability to perform it. I quickly had to become more proficient on the right hand side in order to demonstrate to my students post surgery. Now it feels as natural as it used to on my left. Here I work for a rather feeble looking ashi garami on my left against the highly skilled Eddie Cummings – the end of my 14 inch surgical scar visible outside my shorts – perhaps one day it will return and I shall be ashi garami ambidextrous
