Opportunity 02
In martial arts, one of the first things we learn, and teach, is how to fall.
Yes, it’s just as important “how” we fall, as “how” we get up.
Such an interesting correlation to life.
We seem to always talk about.. “Get back up”… “Don’t stay down”…
We don’t really talk about how you fall.
One of the things we start with in this instruction is really just making connection with the ground… the ending point of the fall. Many times in life, I believe we fall short to examine the ramifications of a “fall” before we act… we don’t “connect” with the end point.
Many times I believe, new students hold the perspective that “falling” is the last thing that is going to happen… and just like life… it is inevitable.
You WILL FALL… a lot.
Sometimes that fall is your own doing… a balance issue, proprioception, a slip, a full on collapse from fatigue, pain, or just not being prepared. This is once again mirrored in life.
Sometimes in the arts, you “get help” falling. You’re hit hard, thrown, swept, tripped, blast double legged…
And this also appears in life…
Yet…
The fall is ALWAYS ON YOU.
When we fall in martial arts or combatives… it’s not on the other person… AT ALL!
It is taught and completely understood that it is all on me to have control of myself in that exchange, and if I go to the ground, it was up to me to prevent it from happening.
Strange in life, we tend to not take that same accountability.
It correlates directly to knowing you are going to eventually fall, and then practicing how you fall so you can recover easier, with less damage, or even counter from understanding the impact versus the OPPORTUNITY.
Falls to a veteran of combat sports is no big deal… yet every single one of us can probably, in detail, give account of the first time we had the wind completely taken from us and blew snot bubbles out of our noses… a hard, hard, lesson.
The fall do not decelerate, the ground does not change, gravity certainly still exists… yet over time… by learning to ACCEPT the fall… rigidity leaves the body… but that process begins in the mind.
If your mind is rigid… so your body will follow.
If your mind is accepting that sometimes you WILL MAKE MISTAKES, MISTEP, COMPLETELY BLOW IT… and have fallen, in life or on the mat… the simple acceptance that this is opportunity to manage the damage, control the speed, breath through the impact, observe the opportunity to capitalize on the moment, or simply GET BACK UP.
How we fall, in repetition, once again on the mat and life, will develop muscle memory that will carry onto the very next thing… If you find you “blame” the fall on others, don’t own your shortcomings in control, mindset, and practice of being in hard spaces… doing hard things… it is very easy to let the ego define your mind and body’s next course of action… and typically, that will be to your detriment or even demise.
So given the opportunity of your next “fall” take full responsibility in how you land… then GET BACK UP…
The fight isn’t over until YOU quit…
and as many of you know… WE DON’T QUIT.