I don't deal with "rests" well

“They got this depression on”

I’ve been forced to face facts and take a small rest from jiu jitsu for about 10 days. This is day 6 and already I’m starting get the shakes. Well okay, maybe it’s not that bad but I’m not great at watching others have fun while I sit on the sidelines so it’s been hard so far. What happened to make you stop for a week I hear you ask. Or maybe that was just me asking myself the same question. Well it’s sort of embarrassing. About 6 weeks ago I was teaching an MMA beginner’s session and coaching an underhook. One of my fighters was my dummy and he’s sort of… jerky… for want of a better term. Anyway, while I was hanging on to him talking to the class, he decided that this was the best time to show me how powerful an athlete he is and yanked me forward mid-sentence. I went over on my big toe which made a pop. There was a good bit of pain but not too much. I honestly thought it would be fine and I had Robert Drysdale in town the coming weekend. I taped it up for the two sessions with him but then when he and I were due to roll on the Monday morning I couldn’t as it was too painful. Since then, it’s been sore as hell but I’ve taped it and just rolled and trained on it. Sometimes it’s been fine but then I catch it in something and I yelp like a dog. It’s been 6 weeks now and it’s not any better. So I’m going to see what 10 days total rest does for it. The consolation is that the reason I’m resting is because I have a big week coming up with the awesome Abmar Barbosa. I plan to train with the man every day, twice a day while he’s over, so this would be a good time to have two healthy feet. By the way if you’re reading and are looking to train with Abmar, he’s doing private training with people in the mornings and on the weekend of the 2^nd and 3^rd so if you’re not a member of my gym, you can still get a chance to train with a top black belt. Give me a shout if you’re interested.

“Every time there’s a show, someone takes a beating. Today, it’s you”

Words of wisdom for one of my younger lads who got beaten in an amateur match on Sunday. Probably not the best thing in the world to hear once you’ve been TKO’d, but true nonetheless. I used to deal with defeat very badly. It would put me in a state of depression that could last weeks, but I’ve become a bit more philosophical about getting beaten, probably because I’ve had so much practise. It’s a hard thing to take, but take it you must, because frankly you don’t have any other choice. The old saying is that you learn more from your defeats than your victories. I buy that. The corrections I’ve put in place after being beaten have made me a better fighter, a better coach, and, to get really deep, a better person. We had our worst day in a long time at the amateur championships on Sunday, 4 defeats out of 6 matches, but I’ve been here before. It’s not quite cyclical but sooner or later it’s your turn to take the beating. On Sunday, it was informed performance’s turn. Well done to all of the guys who showed the guts and willingness to test themselves in the ring. Congratulations to those who won. Commiserations to those who lost. Get back in the saddle, hit training harder. Analyse what went wrong, but look at what went right too. Take the little things out of your defeat that encourage you, and strive to make better the things that cost you the fight. Try to eradicate the mistakes. That’s all we can do.

See you on the mat