> How do you apply the OODA loop in a BJJ fight or sparring session?

By drilling until the target action is nearly automatic and fluid. Start with the opponent in my guard, practice getting their arm over and over. Then practice moving from that to having a leg over their upper back. Then from that to the arm bar. Repeat all steps until I can start with them in my guard and end with them in an arm bar as one fluid (or more fluid) motion rather than 3 or 4 stilted motions. In the drill they're passive or semi-cooperative. Step it up with them resisting more. In rolling they're deliberately countering so learn how to adjust mid-motion.

> Would you be aware of all the loops you'd be going through?

As a novice, I'm very much aware of what I'm doing at each step. I still have to think about things too much. But after practice, something like changing my hip position, getting a grip on their collar or sleeve, and changing how my legs are gripping them, all becomes one action instead of three or four. My decision then is to do one thing (that is three concurrent actions) rather than three decisions. I can't go all the way from guard to arm bar with one decision, but I can get parts of it done more easily.

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To qualify this. I do not think strictly in terms of OODA loops. But I do think in terms of internalizing the decisions I need to make, which is an aspect of improving your feedback loops. By gaining muscle memory and learning to recognize my opponent's advantages and disadvantages in any moment more quickly I can improve my overall response time.

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> If you were to transfer your knowledge of the OODA to a colleague or a friend, how would you do it?

I don't speak in terms of the OODA loop, but I'm doing this with my girlfriend. She doesn't know how to drive and will be learning soon. I focus on situational awareness. When she's in the car with me I ask her where things are around us. I ask her if there will be a vehicle two lanes over once we pass a semi truck that's in the center lane. These are things a driver has to be aware of, and is something like what my dad did with me as a kid. Just asking what I noticed and what I remembered. This wasn't a constant routine, but it was moderately frequent and helped me internalize the idea of maintaining situational awareness. I do it now without thinking that I'm maintaining SA.

I'm also telling her, and demonstrating, that when she commits to an action like changing lanes she needs to do it deliberately. And that she should make smaller (at first) individual choices. You don't decide a mile out that you're turning left at the next light. You decide that you need to be in the left lane and get there. Then you decide that you need to be in the turn lane, or to slow down, or whatever is appropriate along the way, then you decide to make your turn. The turn was always the goal, but it was not the action you were committing until the end.

And the other reason to avoid hesitation is to avoid conflict with other drivers. When I signal a lane change and see a gap, I take it. I don't hem and haw over it because then the other driver doubts my intent and may close the gap. When I then change lanes I create the potential for an accident.

After a period of time, once she has a license and can start practicing, then I will have her making compound decisions. Instead of deciding to check the mirrors and blind spots. Turn on the blinker. Check the mirrors and blind spots. Change lane. She will learn to do those things simultaneously or as a smooth fluid action from one decision, rather than as a sequence of decisions. This will, by its nature, free up her mind to be more attentive to the other elements of the road and start being a better and more fluid driver, and become more proactive rather than reactive to the other vehicles on the road. An experienced driver can plan miles ahead. An inexperienced driver can plan for the next three seconds.

But in all things, it requires practice to improve. Either real world, practice courses, or mental simulation.