7 tips to make you a more creative jiujitsu practitioner

Let it be clear: no creative inventor or martial arts champion has ever developed an innovative and creative technique without a lot of study and consistent work on the basic fundamentals.

That said, no one is stopping a novice on the mat from seeing a detail or angle in a position that few people have seen before. It is not unusual for a jiujitsu white-belt, or even a child, to trigger a technical question that makes the teacher review his or her concepts.

In case you want to be a jiujitsu practitioner faithful to tradition, attentive to Master Rickson's invisible details, and at the same time with an open mind to formulate your own answers on the mat, here are seven lessons from innovators whose creations have changed our planet.

1. "Don't hide your talents; they were made to be used. After all, what good would a sundial be positioned in the shade?"

(Benjamin Franklin, inventor of bifocal glasses and the lightning rod)

2. "Inventions are, above all, the result of stubborn work. The inventor is like nature: he doesn't make leaps."

(Alberto Santos Dumont, inventor of the airplane, the wristwatch, and the hot water shower)

3. "The water you touch in a river is the last of what has passed and the first of what is to come. So it is with present time."

(Leonardo da Vinci, Italian inventor and artist)

4. "Don't always walk down the same streets, where everyone has already been. Get off the trail once in a while and dive into the forest. Every time you do that, you are sure to find something you have never seen before."

(Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone)

5. "The world is not getting any easier. With all these new inventions, people are more hurried and under pressure. Haste is not the right way; you need time for everything in life—time to work, time to play, time to rest."

(Hedy Lamarr, actress and inventor of technological devices)

6. "Your time is limited—don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition."

(Steve Jobs, computer and mobile phone pioneer)

7. "Nearly ready ideas are always floating around. They come from the most diverse places, and the human mind has this wonderful talent of tossing them back and forth until one day they fit together perfectly."

(Tim Berners-Lee, pioneer of the World Wide Web)