I have been struggling with the direction of this blog. I initially thought I would talk exclusively about BJJ and yoga but then I started to realize just how much was going on in my life that did not include those two things....interesting stuff too. So maybe this post is not about nothing but rather about something different.
Today, much like any other day of the work week, I marvel over how much I love working in the school system acting as a fitness coach. I especially love working with elementary school kids because they are "so not the drama".
I have had my fair share of this boy likes that girl scenarios but I can say with full confidence that it's truly innocent. Its a blessing when the most frustrating thing is that all the kids want to be so close to you and each other that no one gets any space. I work out in Gadsden County, Florida...there is no reason for anyone to be all up under anyone else with all that space to yourself.
I may be getting off topic a little bit despite not fully knowing what my point is. I guess I just wanted to write something to express my gratitude for the little things. That's all.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
On: Progressing In BJJ
I was up early this morning studying and thinking about stuff to write about. I don't want to let another day go by where I don't blog or this will become a blog of embarrassing anecdotes about me. That wouldn't be too bad but only God knows what stories my wife will come up with.
Anyways, without getting too far off topic, I was up early perusing Sherdog when I came across a post about progressing quicker. I immediately thought, "this would be a good subject to talk about".
There are tons of articles on how to progress at this thing or that thing but to the individual what is most important is their definition of progress. For starters, I believe many people who come to BJJ wanting to progress quickly also have grandiose ideas about becoming a world champion, fighting UFC or running their own school. I will not begrudge them their grandiose ideas because I too had similar goals and have a have to an extent met all of them.
"To an extent" is not where my goals end though. I still keep those dreams alive because if I let go of them, I would feel like there is no more room for progress. For me, progress had to start with a small concept like better side control escapes and then evolve into larger ideas like running my own school. Lets be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find a BJJ school where the instructor had weak side control escapes. To this day, I strive to improve my escapes despite being a purple belt and having 6 years of training under my belt. Even with all of that, I see room to grow and that is the beauty of BJJ...there is always room to grow.
I have an 8 pronged approach to progressing. This is based off attributes from different players that I have seen over the years...And you thought it would be based on science, HA!! Wanna hear it, here it goes:
GO TO CLASS
There is no replacement for learning from an actual source of knowledge and in my opinion, that source should be an actual person. They don't have to be a black belt but they have to be competent and be able to move you fro point A to point B. I have no hard and fast rule on how often a person needs to go in order to improve but I know for a fact that you have to show up and show up with an open mind. I currently train twice a week due to work after training nearly 4 times a week and I am able to see the same results. How is that possible? I show up to class with a plan. Sometime I make it up when I show up but I have an idea of something I want to do better and try to do that thing.
ASK QUESTIONS (EVEN DUMB ONES)
Let me preface this with the following disclaimer...you might not want to go to your head instructor with all your questions, at least not all your dumb ones but DO ask them...ALL OF THEM. When I first started training, I had tons of questions but I was (and still am to a certain extent) shy and introverted so I looked at all the experience in my gym and went to all of them for advice. For me this took bravery and a lot of pride swallowing but I figured the worst thing that could happen is they'd tell me to leave them alone. So after asking everyone I looked to as a source of information, I came back with tons of answers...all of them different. What I realized is that my growth (read: progression) is ultimately up to me. They all told me what works for them. I had to figure out what worked for me. This sort of jumbled hodgepodge of information worked well for me because my brain (and my life) are highly disorganized but they both make sense for me. For the next person, if you need to take all that information and file it and catalog it, do that.
STUDY
BJJ is just like any other subject you take in school. You have to study to become really good at it. My advice here is simple and what worked for me. I keep a BJJ journal to jot down some things I might not remember later like a detail about a technique. I also write about how I felt rolling with different individuals. I don't just write about the physical aspects of training, I write about my emotional state of mind while training, my fears and anxieties. All of this is designed to give me information about myself at a later time and learn how to work around my deficiencies. I also study film like a football coach. I watch my matches or other guys matches to see how things really work. I especially like watching purple and brown belt matches because those guys really go for it...they fight for the submission. They also make mistakes which is good for me to see. I encourage all wishing to progress in BJJ to watch a lot of game film as well as instructional videos. There is a wealth of knowledge out there that's not in your school.
MAKE TRAINING A PRIORITY
From what I have noticed, the people who improve are the ones who make training a priority. This can be easy for some but is often difficult for most. I understand fully how life can get in the way and by no means am I suggestion anyone should shirk their responsibilities to go train...that's just plain dumb. My point is if training is important to you, you will find a way to do it even with life trying desperately to make other things seem more important. I lost my job this past May and once my wife and I figured out how and where we were going to cut cost (at that point we were both out of work), my thoughts turned to, "How am I going to pay for training""? Long story short, I talked to the right people and found a way to work it out while I looked for work. The moral of the story is, you will do whatever is necessary to keep the things you want.
DON’T REST ON YOUR GOD GIVEN ATTRIBUTES
This is a tough one for most people. Sparring in BJJ is can be exercise in crisis management. When in crisis, most people fall back on the things that make them comfortable such as size, speed, strength or flexibility. In no way am I saying you should use technique and technique alone…some techniques require that you reach into your attribute bag and pull something out in order for it to work. In this instance, I am recommending that in training, you be what you’re not. If you are a big(ger) guy like me, use more finesse or movement rather than just sitting your weight on people and waiting for the mistake. I had a guy tell me to roll like a little guy. He didn’t explain what he meant so I thought he meant move a lot. I did just that and figured out there was a lot of offense to be had in the transitions game. This epiphany took my game to a new level at that time. It’s difficult to be what you are not. It takes practice and requires that your ego be checked at the door. You will spend some time being successful but you will spend your fair share of time being frustrated as well. Anyone looking to progress should be ready for and accustomed to this.
HAVE PATIENCE
This is one of the most important variables when determining progress or not. It’s very simple; the one with patience will succeed (read: progress), the one without it will quit. BJJ is a humbling sport especially for people who are used to doing things a few times and being successful at it. Progress without patience is an exercise in futility. All successful BJJ practitioners will tell you that you have to take the highs with the lows. My preferred method is to ride the highs for as long as I can milking the success for as long as possible. For instance, if I am on a high, I will pull out new stuff and experiment looking for the next thing I want to add to my tool box. During the lows, I hunker down and do more problem solving. For instance, if my side control escapes aren’t working like they used to, I go back to Day 1 basics, reassess how I’m moving, examine if the timing is right and determine what path to go down to correct the problem. I also look for systemic issues in my game. If my side control escapes are not working, it also means my guard is getting passed (which happens to be the root cause)…I take time and re-examine how to work my guard as well. I may experiment less during a low but the end result is the same. I usually come away with a fresh perspective which adds up to progress for me.
PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL
This is another big one. I don’t think I’ll spend a lot of time on this. The guys who get better quick have a better grasp of the minute details. If you are having trouble with remembering details, refer back to steps 2 and 3. They will help you get your details straight.
HAVE FUN
The aspect often overlooked in the never ending quest to progress in BJJ is how vital it is to everyone’s development that they have fun with training. If training ever became a chore to me, I would stop training for a while. Studies show that people learn more when they are having fun in their learning environment. I may have just made that up but I know this theory holds true for me. When I have been in fun, nurturing training environments, I showed the most growth. When was stuck in a less than ideal training situation, my progress began to stagnate. My rule of thumb is, “If I don’t leave with a smile, I am doing something wrong".
I could probably write out more bullet points but I already feel like I have bogged you down with a lot of words and my fingers are tired. Stop reading, go somewhere and train, and let me know if you leave feeling like this guy
Anyways, without getting too far off topic, I was up early perusing Sherdog when I came across a post about progressing quicker. I immediately thought, "this would be a good subject to talk about".
There are tons of articles on how to progress at this thing or that thing but to the individual what is most important is their definition of progress. For starters, I believe many people who come to BJJ wanting to progress quickly also have grandiose ideas about becoming a world champion, fighting UFC or running their own school. I will not begrudge them their grandiose ideas because I too had similar goals and have a have to an extent met all of them.
"To an extent" is not where my goals end though. I still keep those dreams alive because if I let go of them, I would feel like there is no more room for progress. For me, progress had to start with a small concept like better side control escapes and then evolve into larger ideas like running my own school. Lets be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find a BJJ school where the instructor had weak side control escapes. To this day, I strive to improve my escapes despite being a purple belt and having 6 years of training under my belt. Even with all of that, I see room to grow and that is the beauty of BJJ...there is always room to grow.
I have an 8 pronged approach to progressing. This is based off attributes from different players that I have seen over the years...And you thought it would be based on science, HA!! Wanna hear it, here it goes:
GO TO CLASS
There is no replacement for learning from an actual source of knowledge and in my opinion, that source should be an actual person. They don't have to be a black belt but they have to be competent and be able to move you fro point A to point B. I have no hard and fast rule on how often a person needs to go in order to improve but I know for a fact that you have to show up and show up with an open mind. I currently train twice a week due to work after training nearly 4 times a week and I am able to see the same results. How is that possible? I show up to class with a plan. Sometime I make it up when I show up but I have an idea of something I want to do better and try to do that thing.
ASK QUESTIONS (EVEN DUMB ONES)
Let me preface this with the following disclaimer...you might not want to go to your head instructor with all your questions, at least not all your dumb ones but DO ask them...ALL OF THEM. When I first started training, I had tons of questions but I was (and still am to a certain extent) shy and introverted so I looked at all the experience in my gym and went to all of them for advice. For me this took bravery and a lot of pride swallowing but I figured the worst thing that could happen is they'd tell me to leave them alone. So after asking everyone I looked to as a source of information, I came back with tons of answers...all of them different. What I realized is that my growth (read: progression) is ultimately up to me. They all told me what works for them. I had to figure out what worked for me. This sort of jumbled hodgepodge of information worked well for me because my brain (and my life) are highly disorganized but they both make sense for me. For the next person, if you need to take all that information and file it and catalog it, do that.
STUDY
BJJ is just like any other subject you take in school. You have to study to become really good at it. My advice here is simple and what worked for me. I keep a BJJ journal to jot down some things I might not remember later like a detail about a technique. I also write about how I felt rolling with different individuals. I don't just write about the physical aspects of training, I write about my emotional state of mind while training, my fears and anxieties. All of this is designed to give me information about myself at a later time and learn how to work around my deficiencies. I also study film like a football coach. I watch my matches or other guys matches to see how things really work. I especially like watching purple and brown belt matches because those guys really go for it...they fight for the submission. They also make mistakes which is good for me to see. I encourage all wishing to progress in BJJ to watch a lot of game film as well as instructional videos. There is a wealth of knowledge out there that's not in your school.
MAKE TRAINING A PRIORITY
From what I have noticed, the people who improve are the ones who make training a priority. This can be easy for some but is often difficult for most. I understand fully how life can get in the way and by no means am I suggestion anyone should shirk their responsibilities to go train...that's just plain dumb. My point is if training is important to you, you will find a way to do it even with life trying desperately to make other things seem more important. I lost my job this past May and once my wife and I figured out how and where we were going to cut cost (at that point we were both out of work), my thoughts turned to, "How am I going to pay for training""? Long story short, I talked to the right people and found a way to work it out while I looked for work. The moral of the story is, you will do whatever is necessary to keep the things you want.
DON’T REST ON YOUR GOD GIVEN ATTRIBUTES
This is a tough one for most people. Sparring in BJJ is can be exercise in crisis management. When in crisis, most people fall back on the things that make them comfortable such as size, speed, strength or flexibility. In no way am I saying you should use technique and technique alone…some techniques require that you reach into your attribute bag and pull something out in order for it to work. In this instance, I am recommending that in training, you be what you’re not. If you are a big(ger) guy like me, use more finesse or movement rather than just sitting your weight on people and waiting for the mistake. I had a guy tell me to roll like a little guy. He didn’t explain what he meant so I thought he meant move a lot. I did just that and figured out there was a lot of offense to be had in the transitions game. This epiphany took my game to a new level at that time. It’s difficult to be what you are not. It takes practice and requires that your ego be checked at the door. You will spend some time being successful but you will spend your fair share of time being frustrated as well. Anyone looking to progress should be ready for and accustomed to this.
HAVE PATIENCE
This is one of the most important variables when determining progress or not. It’s very simple; the one with patience will succeed (read: progress), the one without it will quit. BJJ is a humbling sport especially for people who are used to doing things a few times and being successful at it. Progress without patience is an exercise in futility. All successful BJJ practitioners will tell you that you have to take the highs with the lows. My preferred method is to ride the highs for as long as I can milking the success for as long as possible. For instance, if I am on a high, I will pull out new stuff and experiment looking for the next thing I want to add to my tool box. During the lows, I hunker down and do more problem solving. For instance, if my side control escapes aren’t working like they used to, I go back to Day 1 basics, reassess how I’m moving, examine if the timing is right and determine what path to go down to correct the problem. I also look for systemic issues in my game. If my side control escapes are not working, it also means my guard is getting passed (which happens to be the root cause)…I take time and re-examine how to work my guard as well. I may experiment less during a low but the end result is the same. I usually come away with a fresh perspective which adds up to progress for me.
PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL
This is another big one. I don’t think I’ll spend a lot of time on this. The guys who get better quick have a better grasp of the minute details. If you are having trouble with remembering details, refer back to steps 2 and 3. They will help you get your details straight.
HAVE FUN
The aspect often overlooked in the never ending quest to progress in BJJ is how vital it is to everyone’s development that they have fun with training. If training ever became a chore to me, I would stop training for a while. Studies show that people learn more when they are having fun in their learning environment. I may have just made that up but I know this theory holds true for me. When I have been in fun, nurturing training environments, I showed the most growth. When was stuck in a less than ideal training situation, my progress began to stagnate. My rule of thumb is, “If I don’t leave with a smile, I am doing something wrong".
I could probably write out more bullet points but I already feel like I have bogged you down with a lot of words and my fingers are tired. Stop reading, go somewhere and train, and let me know if you leave feeling like this guy
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