Back in 2006, John Will was in Perth teaching a jiu-jitsu seminar at The Academy. Whilst I enjoy John’s BJJ teaching (he’s Australia’s most prolific BJJ instructor), I find his relaxed and informal conversations to be the real highlight of his visits. He tells incredibly interesting stories, and over the years he has developed a keen insight into  how people learn and develop. I think that this is what makes him excel as an individual within the BJJ community, more than any of his on-the-mat accomplishments.

It was during this seminar that he presented an idea which has stuck with me, and is largely responsible for forming my view of progression with respect to jiu-jitsu. I wrote about it then, but it has further solidified in my mind over the last 5 years.

Specifically, he highlighted that the difference between a beginner and an expert (a white belt versus a black belt) is their ability to acknowledge and respond to situations faster. His example revolved around a person wading into quick sand. The white belt would be up to their neck before they realised that it was dangerous, and from here it’s much harder to escape. In contrast, a black belt would dip their toe into the quick sand and immediately detect it as being unsafe. As such, their escape is much easier (or rather, is comprised of less steps).

I think this analogy really works well with jiu-jitsu, but I’ve used it personally to represent other situations in the past 5 years to great effect - it describes software development too. I think the visual images that are conjured are very easy to absorb and relate to.

This weekend John added what I consider to be the reverse analogy to his initial point, and whilst it’s not a new concept, it seemed to really click with me.

The idea is that nobody wakes up 40kgs overweight; it’s a gradual progression which results in you one day looking in the mirror and asking yourself “how the hell did I let this happen?” (I think this is another way of phrasing the “quick sand” analogy).

When you make the conscious decision to tackle your problem, it can seem insurmountable. It’s impossible to lose 40kg in a day, no matter how hard you work out (and presuming amputation is out of the question). However, it is possible to go for a run, watch what you eat and lose a kilogram by the time you go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat and you’ll find yourself chipping away at the problem.

Another way of thinking about it is within the realm of finance - you can’t get out of $100,000 worth of debt in one day (unless you rob a bank), but you can save $200 fairly easily. Now the problem is only $99,800 and you’re making progress.

John labeled this as being a 5% improvement (don’t do the maths - it’s just an approximation ;)

When you’re up to your neck in quick sand, imagining yourself clear and free might be impossible, but imagining yourself in a position that’s a 5% improvement is well within your reach. So make that one little adjustment, and then reassess the situation to determine what the next 5% adjustment is.

I think the power in this is even more than John highlighted, because these adjustments will potentially reveal other pathways or opportunities that you didn’t see from the start.

Consider this: as you’re backing out of the quick sand you make your 5% adjustments and then bump into a tree root, hidden below the surface. Now you have a strong escape option that you simply couldn’t have foreseen when you were up to your eyes in trouble. It was the small escapes; the small adjustments that led to this saving option, but you’d have never found it unless you started that 5% journey.

Again, whilst I don’t think any of these concepts are necessarily revolutionary, they had a revolutionary impact on me back in 2006, and then again yesterday. Considering my hard work and effort was acknowledged with the awarding of a purple belt yesterday, it felt like that story - of getting into trouble, but then getting out again - was complete.

It felt like John gave me the other bookend.

This post has been in draft format since October 2010. WIth the recent Rapture discussion, I thought it might be worthwhile dusting it off and finishing it.

On the weekend I was asked about my religious views, with respect to how I identified myself through Facebook. Whilst I think the intention was to push my buttons and spark controversy, it’s instead had a different impact on me.

Until a few minutes ago I considered myself, according to my entry on Facebook, as being “strongly atheist.” At the time I set this, I certainly felt as though my stand was being questioned on a frequent basis (I was marrying Magdalena and her family identifies as Catholic), and the position of “atheist” didn’t summarise my feelings strongly enough.

I’m not someone who is uncertain, or simply hasn’t been exposed to the right information or a strong enough opinion to sway me. On the contrary, I’m quite certain of what I believe. Back when you could click your religious affiliation link on Facebook and find others who were similarly aligned, there was only a few dozen of us in the “strongly atheist” camp. I wasn’t in a majority; not by a long shot. But I also wasn’t alone.

So what has changed in the last few years? I think there’s been two major influences on me.

Firstly, my general day-to-day life has exposed me to more people with a greater range in religious associations. Many of the people I consider the dearest consider themselves Christian, or perhaps “strongly Christian.” These people love me for who I am (cliched, I know) and what I believe in, and funnily enough seem to care less about questioning my lack of faith than you might expect.

Secondly, I listen to the Joe Rogan Podcast quite a lot. Through this I’ve been exposed to an even greater variety of ideas and takes on religion, spirituality, and more often that not, their links to hallucinogenic drugs. I find the podcast format very interesting, in that I feel like I almost know Joe, Redban, Joey Diaz and the rest of the Death Squad crew personally. I feel like I know them as deeply as I know people I consider my friends, though the closest interaction I’ve ever had was seeing Joe from 50m, at work at the UFC in January. That’s a weird position to be in, when you’re in Perth, Western Australia, and they’re in Los Angeles, USA, and have no idea you exist.

However, I feel like I’m involved in a conversation with these people, whereby I’m not actually talking, but instead just get to listen.

I’m eavesdropping on the most captivating, relevant and applicable conversation imaginable.

Many times I feel like the podcast has been tailored just for me, as the topics discussed intersect my interests perfectly. The fact that both sides of any argument or idea are always discussed (that’s one of Joe’s awesome personal traits) means that often my perspective comes up in the discussion anyway. The fact is I respect the hell out of these guys, and admire their honesty and intent.

So yeah, for the last 6 months my religion-as-defined-on-Facebook has been “Joe Rogan” and in the same way as Christians have found a role model in Jesus, I feel like I have a role model in Joe. The main differences I see is that Joe talks one way to me, instead of me talking one way to Him…

And I can prove to you that Joe exists ;)