The Fluid Game

Over time, we all collect techniques, some of which click together well to form solid combinations, others seem to be only suited to very specific situations, others still have perhaps novelty value alone.
Eventually, driven by environmental factors (on the mat this = partners we are rolling with) we sort and collate our collections of techniques into little game-plans. Eventually we develop little game-plans to cope with the most commonly arising situations – and we call this – our Game.
Over time, as we refine and further develop our Game, we construct a kind of structure upon which we can add other new, compatible techniques. Our Game grows but it also becomes a ‘storage mechanism’ for more and more information.
Tiny drops (techniques) become larger blobs (mini-plans), which in turn begin to form the basis of our Game. Techniques are not all that flexible/adaptable – games on the other hand, by very definition, can adapt and change moment by moment – driven by the forces of the struggle. Games should be, by their nature – very fluid.
JBW