Yin vs YangThe Battle for Success in Life

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Saturday I teach people how to choke other people.

Well, not every Saturday. Many classes have no chokes in them. Instead we work other Jiu Jitsu moves such as positioning, leg locks, arm bars, triangles, escapes, etc. However, many days, my job as an instructor is to teach people the best way to choke their opponents.

This is not just a physical thing. Sure there are sequential steps to properly apply a choke, but mostly, the art of choking someone is a mental battle. There is a certain philosophy to achieve success. It takes focus, faith in yourself, and most of all, patience.

I have actually found that the philosophy behind choking someone properly, and achieving success at something, are one and the same. In fact, the process is quite relative. The steps to securing a successful choke on someone are almost identical to the steps to succeeding at whatever you choose.

Let’s take a look, using the philosophy of applying the Rear Naked Choke, pictured below, as an example.

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Step 1: Set it Up right from the Start

Obvious, but very true. The set up is everything. If you have a bad setup, you will never succeed, be it a choke, or a business venture. You can not build anything solid on a shaky foundation. You have to put yourself in the proper position from the start to apply the choke successfully, or don’t bother wasting your energy. With the choke, everyone knows the hand has to be around the neck, but did you see in the picture how the feet (called hooks) are wrapped around his waist. This is also an important part of the set up that many beginners over look. Without the hooks, the person can roll out of the choke. Without putting yourself in the proper position, you will severely limit any chance for future success.

Step 2: Go for it.

The Choke is not going to come to you. It is one thing to finish a choke on someone while learning, and a whole other process to learn how to apply it in a real life situation when people are going live. No one is going to roll over and say, okay, I’m ready, choke me (at least I hope not). You have to commit yourself to going for it.

Step 3: Try, Try, and Try again.

Success in anthing takes trial and error. Sometimes their resistance is so strong, that you really have to slowly dig your hand under their chin just to slip it in there. It can be a tough road when people are competing against you to succeed. They never make it easy. However, once you succeed a few times, you’ll gain the confidence of a natural. The important thing is to be patient, and learn from your mistakes. Trust in the fact that eventually, over time, you will figure it out. Just continue to faithfully battle your hands around the neck of success until you see an opportunity to capitalize on it.

Step 4: Finish the move

You can’t believe it. You actually put yourself in the perfect position, and now the time is here to reach your goal and finish the choke. Take a deep breath, and relax. I know it has been a long road, but you don’t want to have to start all over again from the beginning. Stay focused.

Once you get a good grip with one hand on the neck, the next step is slipping in your other hand in to tighten the choke. This is where most people mess up. Setting up the choke, and getting the grip are the first two steps. They take patience, and so does this step. Remember, the closer you get to your goal, the harder the resistance is going to be.

However, you will remain calm, because you know you set up a solid foundation, properly applying the previous steps. Therefore, you will ignore the chaos around you as the other person fights vigorously to escape, simply focusing all your energy on finishing what you started. It is always the calm, steady approach, like a snake choking it’s lunch, that wins the war. Being over aggressive, or over anxious, will make your life 100x more difficult every time.

All in all, hopefully you will try to use these metaphorical tips achieve success in whatever your heart desires, and not just to try choking the people you know.

Well, at least not the good people.

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