Failing Fast

I recently saw a quote somewhere on social media. Just the words, white on a black background. Little to no context as to where it came from. It read:

Failure is not the OPPOSITE of success. It’s PART of it!

As young Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, we often strive for success on the mats, and it’s easy to view failure, or a tap for many of us, as a setback or a sign of defeat. For some, we may even look past the tap, and we may consider being pinned for most of or an entire round as a failure. But are these “failures” really indicative of defeat?

I’m not sure where I would be without failures in my life. I doubt I would be half the man I am. I would lack a certain strength, resilience, and fortitude had I lived a life with no failures. Failure has this weird connotation, but the truth is that many of the most successful people in history have experienced failure. Many of the most successful people in our history have experience failure. Have you ever been kimura’d?

In October of 1951, Masahiko Kimura, a Japanese wrestler and quite possibly the greatest judoka ever, went toe-to-toe with Hélio Gracie. After a grueling first round where, Hélio was thrown about and pinned to the mat for much of the 10-minutes, the two came back for the second round. Masahiko took Hélio to the ground again, earlier in the second round, and established dominance, to which Hélio exposed his arms in an attempt to push Masahiko off of him. Masahiko snatch up Hélio’s arm, locked in a figure-4 hold and executed a gyaku-ude-garami. It is reported that Hélio was likely unconscious so he was not able to tap to the arm lock, and Masahiko continued to twist it until the arm broke. Twice. Carlos threw in the towel for Hélio when Masahiko went to twist his arm around a third time. And now, that particular submission is commonly known as a Kimura.

I haven’t read anywhere indicating that the Gracie’s made any excuses. There’s no accounts of doubt or second guesses in accepting that fight. Even with a 20-30 pound disadvantage, Hélio put it on the line. He gave it his all and loss.

And honestly, that could have been it. Hélio and Carlos could have hung up the towel. Called it quits. They had a good run at this new, hybrid fighting style, but after suffering a devastating loss, they could have pursued other ventures.

But they didn’t. They didn’t let that fight, that rather brutal loss, stop them. The Gracie’s actually viewed that bout as a moral victory for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. And because of that, Jiu-Jitsu is where it is today.

It’s important to remember that failure is essential in our journey towards success.

So, rather than fearing it, why don’t we embrace it as an opportunity for evolution and understanding? Every time we fail, tap, or get stuck, we have an opportunity to reflect on what went wrong and what we can do to be better next time.

I’ll share a recent failure in Jiu-Jitsu. This last week, there’s been a move that keeps resurfacing in our current system. It’s honestly not a move that I would put in my game, even if I could get it. But after dozens and dozens of repetitions, I think that one time I got anywhere near what the move was trying to accomplish. I had tried with people of different body types and sizes. I watch 3 or 4 other people who were consistently nailing the move. I slowed it down. I sped it up. I switched sides. I tried everything, yet I could not get the move.

And I could have called it there. I could have thrown out the entire system we’re working on over that one move. I could shun the control point we started from solely because I couldn’t get this one particularly complex sweep from it. But I didn’t, and the rest of the lesson I was getting the techniques with pretty good success. I didn’t let this one little hiccup trash my entire night.

And I’ll go back and try that move again. And as frustrating as it may be, I’ll keep trying that move until I figure out where the disconnect is. Because I know, even if I fail 100 more times before I get it, the victory of nailing the technique will be sweet in the end. Even if I never intend on putting it into my repertoire.

Even in our failures, if we really break it down, I think we can find little victories to hold on to. The silver linings that make it just bearable enough to keep grinding forward. I think I’ve shared this story before, but it’s one of my favorite as an example of this point. Early on I was working with one of our black belts during an open mat. We were rolling for the standard 5 minute round and he must have submitted me somewhere between 5 and 10 times. The timer went off, and I sat on the edge of the mat to get a sip of water. A fellow white belt (at the time) pointed out to me how many times the black belt had submitted me (like I wasn’t aware). My response was simply, “Yeah, but did you see when I swept him?” And that was enough victory for me. Actually, the icing on that cake was that during that roll, he complimented that sweep.

Just the other day, I was rolling with one of the ultra-heavy weights that trains at our gyms. After tapping to a submission and being worked over for most of the round, I managed to get on top, and I managed to hold a top position for about 45 seconds. Now, this is a guy who has literally picked me up and thrown me while rolling (with all good intent and in good fun) and one-arm bench pressed me off of him on more than one occasion. So to get a top position, and hold it for any amount of time – that’s one of those silver lining victories I’m talking about.

Just remember that failure is not the opposite of success but instead a vital component of it. Don’t be afraid to take chances and welcome the possibility of failure because, it is through those experiences, we can earn our greatest successes.

Thanks for reading.