A Key to Unlock Any Door

The point of this story isn’t to teach you how to pick a lock. Instead, I’m highlighting a common theme I’ve noticed throughout my years of training jiu-jitsu.

Many of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners are not only technical on the mats. They also exhibit impressive talents in other aspects of their lives as well.

Sometimes, those talents are surprising. Picking a lock with a card is a good example. Taking the cap off a bottle using the end of a lighter is another, which I also learned from a jiu-jitsu practitioner.

In other cases, those talents are a bit more practical. For instance, no matter where I train, I continually meet more and more skillful jiu-jitsu practitioners who also prove to be talented artists, musicians, coders, etc.

If you’ve trained in jiu-jitsu, you’ll likely notice the connection.  

In any activity where well-applied skill leads to success, there’s a thoughtless, tiresome, uninspired approach that yields mixed results at best and, by contrast, a thoughtful, efficient, and inventive approach that makes success more likely or at least measurable.

What does that second approach look like in jiu-jitsu?

It starts with a willingness to learn. Be open to the idea that the knowledge you need exists, but you don’t have it yet. Before ever attempting a technique, you should begin by believing that there’s a correct way to do it.

The next step is to practice. Knowledge without practice won’t get you far. That’s why the vast majority of jiu-jitsu classes focus on drilling. Perfection may not be achievable, but you can move towards it. Consistency and focused repetition will allow you to perform techniques effectively without spending energy unnecessarily.

The third and final piece is one of the most important of all. While openness allows you to learn techniques, and drilling allows you to improve your techniques, identifying when and how to employ each technique is what allows you to become proficient in jiu-jitsu.

In other words, if you want your training to be fruitful, you need to start with thoughtfulness, build efficiency on top of that, and execute your techniques with the inventiveness that each situation calls for.  

Consciously or not, top-level jiu-jitsu practitioners regularly depend on those traits.

Unsurprisingly, those traits are valuable beyond martial arts as well. In fact, allowing those traits to bleed into the rest of your life gives you the chance to open doors that previously seemed impenetrable.

Consider this: How many times have you felt frustrated after not getting the results you want in life while others seem to succeed easily? How many of those times can you honestly say that you took a thoughtful, efficient, and inventive approach to getting what you want?

There will always be factors that are out of your control, including luck and natural ability. But at the same time, there’s plenty within your control, the most impactful of which is the approach we take to problem-solving.  

Whether you’re progressing in your career path, trying to pick a lock that needs just the right touch, or attempting anything else, mindset makes the difference.

In jiu-jitsu, each opponent is nothing more than a problem that includes both known and unknown factors. Pairing well-trained techniques with adaptability is what makes those problems considerably more solvable.

Of course, there are other ways to solve problems.

Brute force comes to mind. For example, the locked door in my story wasn’t the sturdiest one you could imagine. A strong kick or hip check might knock it off its hinges. But then our training space would be left with a broken door.

Similarly, you don’t become an aficionado on the guitar solely through grip strength exercises, you don’t get a promotion from your boss through the threat of force, and you don’t debug your code by smashing your computer.

So, brute force has its limits.

What about the other end of the spectrum? In the case of my story, some might suggest obtaining a key to our training room door. Present that request to those in charge, and they will certainly give you what you need.

Well, believe it or not, the club officers had tried that to no avail. Ultimately, passively waiting for help is a lot like hope, and hope is not a strategy.

So, in most cases, you’re left to do the best you can with the tools you have to solve the problems that matter most to you.

We know that success is never guaranteed. However, it’s also essential to note that the mindset that makes success more likely is not one you can master overnight.

For example, jiu-jitsu beginners are often in awe of the skills of those more experienced than themselves. At first, expert practitioners seem to have a near-magical ability to anticipate their opponent’s moves and capitalize on their mistakes as if they had read a script in advance.

Still, no matter how incredible those practitioners appear, there is no mysticism that allowed them to become that way. The reality is that the building blocks of technical mastery are as available to you as they are to anyone else.

With that in mind, the next time you fail to overcome a challenge, give yourself honest answers to the following questions.

Is there more you need to know before making another attempt?

Have you spent enough time honing your skills?

Are you creative in how you adapt your skills to your unique problem?

I believe those who can answer yes to all three are more likely to achieve the outcomes they desire. Or, if they fail, they are at least more capable of finding improved solutions that bring them closer to success.

If you’ve never tried it, know that the effect of this type of thinking is more powerful than you might expect. The question is, how can you develop it?

By no means is jiu-jitsu the exclusive source of the perfect problem-solving mindset. It’s simply one reliable way to awaken that mindset within yourself.

Those who get the most out of training recognize that jiu-jitsu presents an opportunity to practice problem-solving while growing accustomed to performing under pressure. That opportunity for improvement exists regardless of what pre-existing talents you hold.

Most importantly, whether you embrace that opportunity is entirely up to you. The same is true for the rest of your life, too.