Speed vs relative speed: Are you faster than Usain Bolt? This is a question that every single human on earth would currently have to give a negative answer to – provided we qualified the question with the usual unspoken assumptions – the race will be a fair one, on a standard athletic track, over 100-200 meters etc etc. what if we started adding some seemingly strange conditions to the race? Perhaps Mr Bolt has to run with a fifty pound weight vest strapped to his torso – that would definitely allow many good athletes to defeat him. What if he had a two foot rope tying his legs together? Then many people could defeat him. What if the rope were shortened so that his ankles were locked together? Then almost any healthy young person could probably defeat him. What if his left foot was handcuffed to his right hand? In that case I believe even I, with a crippled leg and a hip replacement, could probably defeat him (on a good day at least ). The point is that EVEN THE BEST ATHLETICISM IN THE WORLD CAN BE OVERCOME IF WE SUFFICIENTLY HANDICAP OUR OPPONENT. Jiu jitsu is essentially a means of doing exactly that. JIU JITSU IS AN ELABORATE MEANS OF HANDICAPPING AN OPPONENT IN WAYS THAT STRONGLY UNDERMINE AND DEGRADE THEIR ATHLETIC POTENTIAL RESULTING IN AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE IN OUR FAVOR WHICH CAN BE EXPLOITED TO GAIN VICTORY. In this way, bigger, stronger, faster people can, if the discrepancy in grappling technique is sufficiently In our favor, be controlled and defeated. skills that don't seem overly impressive to beginners- subtle skills of control and positioning that prevent your opponent from freely utilizing his or her strength, Speed etc are in fact, the very heart of the sport. The detailed study of WHAT CAN A MAKE strong MAN WEAK, A FAST MAN SLOW AND A HEAVY MAN LIGHT, is the basis of our sport and can make for a lifetime of study.
