Unintended Consequences ...

When we are ‘on mission’ - that is, moving with purpose toward a goal - there are many, many side (precessional) effects. My favourite example (from Buckminster Fuller) is the Honeybee example: the bee, in it’s pursuit of pollen, is the cause (probably unknowingly) of a hugely important side-effect that benefits the world - that is, cross-pollination of flowers - which in turn, creates more flowers - which in turn, allows the bee to collect more pollen … and so it goes. Bottom line is this: the cross-pollination effect is not the reason the bee does it’s thing - it is just a ‘side benefit’ - even though it’s importance may seem almost immeasurable.

As we progress in our BJJ training, the same ‘unintentional’ effects are taking place; both on and off the mat. On the mat- as we work on establishing and maintaining ‘side control’ for example - the precessional effects are many, we learn to make micro-adjustments with weight and learn to focus it where and when it is needed. As we become better at Side Control  our partners become better at disallowing it - and so both sides progress. Off the mat we learn that resilience pays off; we learn that things are achieved by focussing attention on the step-by-step process rather than the goal itself; we learn that small gains are very, very important, etc. 

The goal might be to win at competition, to achieve the next rank, etc - but the unintended consequences are the real ‘payoff’ … JBW