In this post, I’m going to examine some of the similarities I’ve noticed in learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) at the same time I started my career as an air traffic controller (ATC). Both skillsets are known for being cerebral and abstract. Jiu-jitsu and air traffic control are both a thinking man’s game. They also both rely heavily on the ability of the practitioner to synthesize mistakes and make micro-improvements towards the elusive goal of “perfection.”

The trainee in both BJJ and ATC starts out knowing the goal, but not how to get there. In BJJ we know we want to A) survive, and B) submit the other person. In ATC we want to A) separate aircraft according to the rules and B) provide as expeditious a service as possible. Just like simply surviving in BJJ isn’t enough to be considered “skilled”, simply separating aircraft in ATC isn’t enough to even hold a certification to work. Both require we go above and beyond survival. We need to survive (and keep airplanes from crashing) first before anything else. After survival, we actively work towards perfecting our craft.

In BJJ, we can consider “perfection” as being able to submit our opponents using as little wasted energy or movement as possible. In ATC, we work towards moving as many airplanes as expeditiously as possible, while still following all of the required rules. In both skills, the goal is to not waste energy (in BJJ) or transmissions (ATC) and to get as much done (submitting your opponent in BJJ, moving airplanes in ATC) as quickly as possible.

Both skills are measurable. In BJJ, if you can submit your opponent in 30 seconds without breaking a sweat or even raising your heart rate, that is better than taking 20 minutes to submit somebody using all of your strength and energy.

In ATC training, we would run a daily competition on the simulator. The goal was to see who could use vectors and speed adjustments to land as many airplanes as possible on an instrument approach while still following all of the rules. A computer would track how m any airplanes each student “landed”, while catching any errors too. The winner would be whoever landed the most aircraft without any separation “busts”.

The greatest thing in common with learning BJJ and ATC is instant feedback. All trainees in ATC know how aggressive feedback from instructors can be. It’s not unheard of for trainees to publicly break down in tears after being told—often in a loud voice—all of the things they are doing wrong. A trainee working in a simulated ATC environment or a real one, will be dealing with the stress of multitasking and solving complex situations. During this time they will receive a steady stream of feedback from their instructor.

In my experience, the best learning environment for BJJ is when you get tapped by a better person and they explain why they got you, or what error you made leading up to it. You could roll with high-level grapplers and get destroyed, which is in itself a form of feedback. But if you don’t get the verbal feedback as well, the actual deconstruction of your destruction, it may take you a long time to figure things out.

These similarities are not special to BJJ/ATC. They apply to tennis or chess or any other myriad skillset. I believe that if you can find a way to get really good at one thing, a hobby or profession, if you can break down how you went from incompetent to competent, then that understanding will help you get competent at many other things. Air traffic control and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are specific to my own life experience.