Would You Walk Through the Forrest Without a Compass?

Greetings Team,

Last week we talked about how to attempt our skills to increase our success rate. This week, let's talk about how to streamline our training in a way to mazimize our improvement.

I find all to often that students try to get good at TOO many things at once. As a beginner, or someone new to a skill, we are very novice. There are many pieces of the puzzle that we are missing. If we try to fix every problem we have at once, none have a chance at getting corrected. If, however; you focus on one idea or attribute at a time, all of your attention is put to fixing that mistake in your technique.

With that same thought in mind, I often find students try to get good too many different techniques at one time. I once heard that a man that is kinda good at 100 techniques is nowhere near as dangerous as a man who is outstanding at just a few. You need to pick one skill, punch, submission, etc...and then work on it RELENTLESSLY.

Remember Team, the martial arts is a LIFE LONG endeavor. This past summer I celebrated my 23rd year of training. And there are MANY skills I just now feel like I am becoming highly proficient at. You have to look at the big picture and look for long term skills, not short term.

You may hear me say often that Everyone WANTS to be good...But not Everyone knows HOW to get good. You have to have the tenacity to pick one skill and go after it for 5,6,7,8 months if you have to. I personally have been working on my Rear Naked Choke since JANUARY! And I STILL have a long way to go. :)

So my encouragement for you this week Team is to streamline your practice. Find a skill or two to "master" for a few months. When you feel some decent improvement, move on. By the end of the year you should have 1 or 2 moves that you do well. And just maybe, you will be "dangerous"...


Hope you found some benefit in this!!


All the Best!

COACH

Do You Use a Shotgun, or a Sniper Rifle?

Greetings Team,

My topic for you today is the concept of getting laser beam focus on achieving your goals. For this particular conversation, I will relate it to our Martial Arts training. I'm sure, however; that you can easily apply this concept to your everyday life.

My metaphor of a shotgun and a sniper rifle simply refers to the method you may chose in attacking your goals. Let's take Jiu-Jitsu for example. If you are playing from bottom guard, you have a list of attacks and sweeps in your arsenal. The challenge is, how do you ensure you can get them to work? If you randomly go after submissions and just hope you catch one, you are using a shotgun. If I were to stand across the room and shoot my shotgun at my target, I'm hoping some bullets hit it. This is really what you are doing when you attack in this way. Hope is not a great term to use in fighting. So, how do you ensure victory? Use a sniper rifle.

I think it's safe to say that if I aimed at that same target with my sniper rifle, I wouldn't hope my bullet hit its mark. I would put it in my cross hairs and pull the trigger. To that end,  you need to put your opponent in a position where you know where he can go and what he can do. If you tie him up and limit his movement, THEN go for your submission, you have put him in your cross hairs and pulled the trigger.

So as you are training this week, make a point to put your partners in positions where you can attempt certain attacks. I guarantee you'll see better results!

Next week we will talk about how to streamline your practice even further by isolating  yourself to only a few skills/or techniques.

Hope this helps!


All the Best!

COACH

Sometimes Victories are Measured in Inches...not Yards

Greetings Team,

My topic and reminder for you today is the concept of how to track your progress. Often times I will hear students say, "I don't think I'm getting any better." Another one I hear is, "I feel like I'm getting worse." Normally when we feel this way about our training, we are going through a "growth phase." Simply meaning that we are at a point where we are trying to get better at certain skills.

Let me help you keep this simple. When you are new to training, many of us do not know any skills. Or if we do, chances are we are learing new skills in areas we are difficient. Either way, we go through this massive learing cycle. We start to get in better shape and we start to pick up skills we had no idea how to do before. Once we go through this big shift, change starts to slow down. And when it does, our improvements go from extremely noticeable to very small. Because of this, our brain has a hard time recognizing when we get better. We are so used to these huge achievements, the small ones rarely get noticed.

I'll share a metaphor. If you were very overweight, the first good chunk of weight loss is such a huge physical change that it is very easy to notice. It excites you and motivates you. But then, change becomes a lot smaller. Your body gets tighter and more fit, but it takes longer and is harder to achieve. This is when most get discouraged and give up. They ruin all they're hard work.

So, my encouragement for you is to not apply that thought model. If you do, you will also give up. Sometimes you need to rely on your Coaches, Teammates, and friends to remind you that you ARE doing well. If you give yourself enough time you will get the hang of whatever you are working on. You just have to stay focused on your goals and don't lose sight of your long term objectives. Believe me, you will be so happy you did not quit.

No one EVER gained ANYTHING from quitting...

Hope you find benefit from this today!!


All the Best!

COACH

Welcome to My New Blog!!!

Greetings Team,

I wanted to have the ability to share my thoughts with you on how to improve your training, as well as your personal lives. These blogs can range from a Jiu-Jitsu technique to how to set and achieve goals!!

I will be sharing some weekly wisdom with you...I hope you get benefit from them!!


Pursue Excellence!

COACH