TIPS, TACTICS and RANTS

10-15-08

Welcome to the tips, tactics and rants section of the website. In this section we will try and give you hints and concepts to make you a better grappler or fighter quicker. This is a compilation, ongoing and past, of things that I wish had been presented to me when I first started out. Some things are lessons learned, and some are just FYI.

Let me tell you a story about a Hit Pit MMA student. This student came in to the gym about a year ago. He didn’t have any formal experience but was a good athlete. He quickly learned the material and was making good progress, nothing remarkable, but very consistent. He didn’t really take any breaks, just kept coming to class day in and day out. His first tournament was not really that special. I think he lost a match and had a couple of draws. At about the 6 month mark though, his abilities started to really climb. At about 9 months, he is really doing well and even starting to invent and tweak his own moves. I mean, his ability level just skyrocketed from where it was to where it is. What happened? Well, I'll get to that in a moment but first let’s talk about some things that I saw. At about that 4-5 month mark I noticed this student really getting put in bad positions, getting submitted by people that shouldn’t be beating him and not being near as dominant as before. This lasted for at least a couple of weeks, maybe even a touch longer. Same thing over and over, bad positions, tap outs, yet no frustration. He seemed to be happy as a clam to be getting the results that he was getting. Ready for the answer? This student was actively learning. Let me tell you what active learning is vs. passive learning. Passive learning is what you do when you come to practice and do what you are supposed to and have a good time and go home. Do it enough and you will get it. But nothing grand. Active learning is where you are going out of your way to make your body learn. Most of the time, it starts with your head, not your arms and legs. This student was actively learning. He was going out of his way to do things that would increase his ability level down the road. That meant he had to do something that is easy to say and really hard to do; lose the EGO! This student was purposely putting himself in bad positions to see if he could escape. Was giving opponents the advantage and not complaining or making excuses when they tapped him out. He wasn’t going for his one move that he is good at, he was going for the 10 others that he needed work on. This student was actively trying to make his body learn different material.

So I am going to tell you the same thing I told him early on. It may take a while for some of you to really understand it, and even longer to apply it. But I want it to be out in the open right away. Sometimes you learn more by winning less. Sounds dumb I know. But if you can force yourself to learn MMA and grappling techniques when you are sparring, instead of just trying to get as many tapouts as possible, you will get better faster than the guy who just comes in and wipes the floor with just one move. Don’t be afraid to come outside your comfort zone and try new stuff. If your side control is junk, work on it. If you need practice on guard work, work on it. Work on it in sparring, in practice. Work on the things that you know you are weak on, even if it means losing to someone that you don’t think is better than you. Work on making yourself a better grappler even if it means not getting ten tapouts every practice. Only have light guys and you are a heavy weight? Work your bottom game only. Let them have top position. There is so much more to gain in sparring time than just going for a tapout. This is a difficult concept, and not everyone will learn it. But if you can force yourself to understand and apply it, you will see incredible results.
So the guy that was doing this in class? Guess what, he still does it. I still look out and watch and see him in positions that are not optimal, and still going for moves that are not bread and butter. Guess who is still having his skill skyrocket? This could be any one of you. The guy that I am talking about is already winning tournaments, and against guys with 2-3 times his experience level. And we are just seeing the beginning. His athletic abilities are gifted, but his work ethic and eagerness to make himself better at the expense of his own ego are what makes his advancement extraordinary.