"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

When I heard this quote for the first time, it was a huge "Aha" moment for me. It made a lot of sense, especially in Jiu-Jitsu.

How many times have I repeated the same move, the same way, with the same guy and expected a different result? Plenty! I realized I was being insane!

It's like baking a cake using the same recipe every time, putting it in the oven at the same temperature for the same amount of time, and expect that this time the cake will come out better than the last time.

Guess what? It won't.

We probably have a lot of insane moments in our lives that we don't even know it.

There are two major definitions of insanity. One is "the state of being seriously mentally ill, and the other is "extreme foolishness or irrationality." I believe Einstein (Or whoever said this quote before him) was thinking about the latter when he said that.

We are not mentally ill, we are just foolish and irrational when we do such things.

Why am I talking about insanity and how does that apply to Jiu-Jitsu?

Because the moment we realize that every time we are being repetitive and not going anywhere, we should consider taking a deep look into the whole picture to see if we are acting insane or not.

For example, somebody mounted you. To escape you extended your arms to grab your opponent's jacket and bridge pushing her/him to the side. Your opponent saw that you exposed your arms and catches you in an armbar. The same person mounts on you again and you use exactly the same "escape." And, guess what, she/he gets you in an armbar again.

When we make a move the same way every time we get to a certain position and it never works, we should consider doing something different next time.

We have to keep our eyes wide open to catch ourselves in our insanities or some things won't get better for us.

For things to change, we have to change.

When I catch my students being insane, I point out to them that they need to change and what to change so they can get out of that rut.

But we don't always have an instructor or a mentor for every little thing we do. So, we have to question ourselves. Is there anything that you are trying to improve or accomplish for a considerable amount of time, and it is not going anywhere?

I have caught many of my insanities answering this same question. And the good news is when you find those (or someone finds them for you) and get rid of them, new and better opportunities will open for you, and you will move forward a lot faster than before.
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