Water Around The Rock

Well it's been a week since I posted anything so to keep this thing active I suppose I need to write something. My personal health issues aside I have been busy at work and keeping up my active training schedule of jiu-jitsu five days a week while attempting to be some sort of decent father/husband. Needless to say things have been a little busy as of late. But this is no reason to neglect you dear reader, so without further ado, my personal musings from the past week.

I have been spending a ton of time working with the guys at T-Town MMA getting ready for the upcoming Revolution Tournament coming up on the 17th of this month (more information on the tournament here). Somehow, I seem to have become the de facto warm up guy at the gym. In classes I either teach or am participating in I end up running the warm ups. Anyone that trained at Fosters back in the karate school days will remember that Jeff B used to own this position. Jeff would put you through some of the toughest workouts I can think of. On more than one occasion I was sent flying towards the trash can at the edge of the mat trying to keep as much of my lunch inside as possible. Ahh the good old days...but I digress. I don't mind running warm-ups at all, I feel like any experience I can get running a class at this point is a good thing. I have been using this time to both help guys develop a basic level of conditioning as well as get their muscles a little fatigued prior to drilling and rolling. The feeling of having to rely on technique instead of brute strength to execute moves is vital when going into competition.

The calm before the storm

The other coaches and I have been warning the guys constantly that they are going to feel an adrenalin dump and to be prepared to have rubber arms 30 seconds in to their first match. It happens to all but the most seasoned competitors. The stress of not wanting to go out and get rolled up and smashed on in front of all your family, friends, and coaches forces new competitors into a fight or flight reflex. To assert themselves in a match lots of grapplers try to prove they are stronger and can out muscle their opponent or they decide to sit back and only worry about countering what their opponent attempts to do. Both of the strategies are wrong for so many reasons, one your wasting lots of energy tensing muscles when you decide to have a battle of strength with your opponent. Two, you can lose focus on being mobile and ready to attack by trying to force a technique and then it becomes a total battle of strength.Finally if you constantly concerned with what your opponent is opponent is attempting to do you are not focusing on the things you need to do to win.

Mid-White Belt Melee

The advice I have given all the guys over the past couple weeks has been to trust your training. Being a veteran I understand what it is like to be tested at the highest levels. I also know that when you are truly being tested the one thing that will stay with you is the muscle memory and  the things you have drilled over and over in training. Certainly competition grappling is a less extreme example of combat but the same fundamentals apply. In jiu-jitsu as in war you have to be adaptable, aware of your enemies actions, and willing to take all necessary steps to win.One of the most common sayings in bjj is "you must be water around the rock". It's simple beautiful and completely true. Water is mailable, water will take up any space large enough for a single molecule to pass through, and it moves around obstacles with ease. Water is also unrelenting it's nearly impossible to dam its flow, it is heavy to carry, and in sufficient quantities it is deadly. This is the advice I give to all new competitors be water around the rock and trust your training. How very master Yoda of me!

As always if there are questions or clarifications please leave them in the comments section and don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Like me on Facebook. Good luck and hopfully I'll see you on the mat.