APH-2025-063

Intention:

Staying calm is one of the hardest things to learn in BJJ, or any combat sport. You hear it all the time, but the truth is it’s pretty fucking hard to “relax harder” when you’re getting punched in the face, or when someone’s strangling you.

Further, the neuroscience is pretty clear that you can’t incorporate, much less retain and recall, highly technical information under high states of duress (i.e. panic is induced).

The opposite is also true. In order to “commit new information to (long term) memory” we need to be in a parasympathetic (i.e. rest and digest) state — the opposite of “fight or flight.”

My client rode a motorcycle to the gym, so there was a ready metaphor. At some point, going a little too fast is kind of fun and exciting. However, there’s a very fine line where you start to lose control and things go to shit real fast.

He got the picture.

Work:

2 x 10 minute rounds (with eyes closed)

~ 5 minute technical reflections after each round

Plus the above sermon.

Resource: