Photo by Dan Aponte (@just.dan.thingz).
When done properly, the pressure from the knee-on-belly position really feels like a knee through your soul.
The position puts the individual on the bottom in a terrible predicament:
- Keep your shoulders flat on the mat and absorb the pain of the knee.
- Turn to your left or right side and have the pain temporarily alleviated, only to have the position transform into something much worse.
Stress, panic, flail – those won’t do any good. The more tense you are, the worse the position can and often will become.
Calculated thinking and deliberate execution are the only things that will do you any good in a place like this.
People escape from the clutches of knee-on-belly all the time, but that’s never been accomplished through channeling worry and fear into one big push of productivity.
But isn’t that true for all stressful situations in life?
What good is an overwhelming storm of emotions when clear skies come from logic, critical thinking, common sense, and experience?
When you are training with someone new and you apply even a gentle knee-on-belly to your partner, it is fascinating to see the instant (and ineffective) panic that comes as the initial reaction to being in a bad position. The situation inevitably becomes worse as the panic and anxiety take over.
Only after training for several years and being on the receiving end of these positions time and time again are we able to calmly navigate the chaos.
This is not something that any of us were born knowing, but something we learned and acquired over time as a result of experience, reflection, and more experience.
Pressure creates diamonds (or some other version of that saying) has been said far too many times, so I won’t use that as my closing message.
Instead, I will point to the example of improving at BJJ and martial arts in general. Shying away from challenges is a sure-fire way to get in the way of your own progression.
Pressure forces growth, and although the entirety of your existence doesn’t need to be you being beat down, there’s nothing wrong with absorbing some punishment as a means of personal development.
Don’t shy away from the knee-on-belly.
Understand and be confident that there is a way out from underneath the pressure you’re experiencing, and know that using cognition instead of emotion is a reliable way to become more capable of dealing with these pressure-filled situations.
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