When you encounter resistance – do you see closed doors or open doors? If there is one thing you can safely assume in combat sports it is that every opponent you ever face will resist every move you try upon him with as much tenacity and skill as he can muster. RESISTANCE TO EVERYTHING WE ATTEMPT is the basic feature of all combat sports and the thing that makes them realistic and effective. now when you encounter resistance to your moves, your mind can react in two ways. The first is natural, but undesirable. This is to feel frustration and a sense of failure that your opponent identified the threat you created and stymied it. The second is created through training and is highly desirable. This is to see the resistance as a pathway to new attacking possibilities elsewhere. An opponent cannot close one door without opening others – YOU MUST HAVE FAITH IN THIS! Your job is to identify the new possibilities and act on them promptly. Here, Nicky Ryan has had an initial attempt at an arm drag partially stopped by an opponent – just a second after this photo was taken he had already gone into two subsequent attacks en route to victory. What do you see here? Where would you go? Could you do it under the pressure of match conditions within the time available? These are the questions you must constantly ask yourself on your march towards your Jiu Jitsu goals
