At one of the first tournaments I’ve ever did as a black belt, I had an unexpected conversation.

It was the middle of the day. The event was already underway, and I was waiting to compete in the gi.

As I walked around, I saw someone I recognized.

At that time, though, I didn’t know his name.

But I remembered him from Copa Nova (one of the old local tournaments), where he coached against one of my teammates. And for some odd reason, I decided to strike up a conversation.

From that talk, I learned that after he got out of the military, he uprooted his whole life just to go and train with Master Pedro Sauer. And it was obvious from the enthusiasm in his voice that it was a decision he never regretted.

So I asked him a question that I have also never regretted. It was simply:

What’s the best lesson you’ve ever learned while training there?

And his answer was:

Comfort is control.

Boom. It blew me away. To this day, I still think about it.

There’s so much contained in those three words. And it shifts your focus away from the technique and the position to a different set of problems.

How can I be comfortable in this situation?

How can I make my opponent uncomfortable?

If you’re always thinking of those two questions, and coming up with answers, regardless of the position, you will have CONTROL.

Case in point:

Getting smashed in the half guard is an absolutely horrifying situation.

Opponents grind their shoulder into your jaw. You’re flat on your back, and it’s hard to move. It might be hard to breathe because of your nose and mouth are smothered.

It’s just not a fun place to be.

But while I’d rather not play in that position, I’m quite comfortable there.

Why?

It’s because I’ve spent a lot of time there while I was coming up through the belts, and I’ve put together a series of counter responses to get back to better offensive situations.

Many of them can be found in Half Guard Trickery.