The Mask of Zorro, 1998
All kinds of people walk into a grappling gym: men and women, young and old, heavy and lean, short and tall.
During the first few years, a beginner learns the same fundamental techniques as everyone else in the group. Yet no matter how hard he tries, many things simply will not work in live sparring. You seem to know everything, but the technique just does not work.
It is a pity that nobody told me this “secret” for ten years:
You are perfectly built for certain techniques and strategies.
A lot converges here:
anthropometry (sex, height, weight, wingspan, etc.),
temperament (attacking or counterattacking),
endurance profile (explosive or marathon-like),
the balance of strength between the upper and lower body,
thinking style in a match (improvisation or systemization),
natural joint flexibility or stiffness, and much more.
That's why certain techniques intrigue you for no obvious reason. You absorb them almost immediately, and they seem to “fire” on their own during a match. This is how your favorite techniques emerge: your tokui waza.
The typical path: grind through everything for years, until the crystals of your "crown techniques" slowly grow out of a supersaturated solution of skills.
But there is a way to accelerate your progress dramatically. It happens when a mature and experienced grappler tells you after a match: “Listen, pay attention to techniques X. They will suit you perfectly.”
That small thing means fewer frustrations and more joy in training — which matters most in the early years, when it feels like nothing is working and you're taking more hits than anyone.
In ancient tribes, elders handled this one-on-one transmission of experience. What matters isn't just knowledge — it's knowledge adapted specifically to you. That changes everything.
So if you're taking up a new sport, find a gym where experienced athletes train and where a curious question is as welcome as a generous answer.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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