Stories

Not too long ago I was talking to a training partner about partners.  I was lamenting that some people have a tendency to explode into submissions, thus increasing the risk of injury.

His response was interesting.  He recounted another gym he had trained at where there were some bad partners – people who exploded into submissions, had no idea what they were doing or were just downright mean.  There were also lots of good partners – people who listened to the directions the instructor gave, people who gave you room to play and people who were just nice.  He concluded the story by saying that he appreciated the variety of partners because it was like real life – full of different kinds of people with different kinds of attitudes.

The takeaway (for me) from this story was that we should try to appreciate all the training partners we have.  Whatever kind of partner they are, deal with them in a way that helps keep you safe (tap early, tap often), learning (relax and breathe) and able to train the next day.