I was watching the Simpsons in Spanish the other day (yes, I do that kind of thing sometimes) and it got me thinking that even though my Spanish is weak that I could still understand what was going on because of the context of the situation.

Even without any knowledge of the Simpsons or of Spanish, because of the brain’s ability to adapt, second guess, assume and fill in the gaps you could watch a whole episode and be able to tell someone what had gone on.

To a degree the foundations of animation and the structure of children’s TV aid that ability massively. For instance, you can watch any kids TV show and there will be an edit/cut every second or so to keep the kids attention focused.

In terms of training I think that people worry way too much about trying to answer every physical question (i.e. a successful sweep) with an opposing answer. (i.e. retaining position/guard)

Obviously you want to do well but if you get swept, passed or submitted a lot of people think that it’s because you haven’t got the right answers, when actually it might just be that the other person had an unanswerable question with their positioning, foresight, ability and/or experience. (more…)