Mat intuition

‘Mat intuition’ is a term I’ve seen used to describe that quality of instinctively knowing how to move one’s body in scrambles, how to transition from technique to technique in a fast paced situation, how to improvise and appropriately adapt to the continually changing conditions of a roll. Some people are gifted with a high amount of it from the very start of their journey, others have to develop it through many hours of practice - some others may never develop it and always revert to spazzing out. It involves many things - a good technical knowledge, the motor skills of proprioception and spatial awareness, the capacity to match the other's intensity - but it's more than just physical intelligence; it also requires the notorious ability to flow, as well as something more arcane. The beauty of this quality really comes to shine when rolling with another human of good technical level that also has high amounts of mat intuition - that's when jiu jitsu really seems like a conversation, rather than two people shouting at one another.