Yesterday was a full day of teaching and training for me. I woke up in the morning to this schedule: 10am Chiropractor, Noon teaching Fundamentals B Day, which was a great class by the way! 1pm Intro, 2pm another intro, 6pm open mat, 630pm KickBoxing, 730pm Masters Class. Now this is a long day with some running around and a very late lunch, it would be easy and understandable to not want to do something to wear you out before it even started. I had the opportunity to train with Matt at 11am before I started teaching; now Matt at 230 is 40lbs heavier than me, extremely flexible, very technical, and does not have the typical "big guy movement" but is very fluid. All my goals on the other hand need this training to accomplish, not only do I love competing but I love competing in the open weight and absolute divisions of tournaments too! Most bigger guys are slower and if they are bulky with muscle tire much much faster than me, but I do have a hard time dealing with their strength and sometimes get stuck and over powered. I need to confront this problem now as it only is going to get harder in the future. So I asked Matt if he wanted to train in the am Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am before I teach. And so it starts and Matt asks me what I wanted to work on. I chose the position opposite the one Matt's A-game revolves around. I need to get smashed and find a way out. So bottom of half guard it was... and I suffered... A LOT! I got tapped every couple of minutes over and over again, and the one or two times I got on top Okay Okay just the one time I got on top, I swept and passed then stopped and went back to bottom. Why? Because a champion doesn't take the easy route he studies, works hard, and evolves. A champion is always looking for the next challenge to overcome. A champion does not stop trying, and I want to be a champion so I must follow this path. Its a hard path to start and and even harder path to follow but if you can find a way to make it fun, your rewards will be incredible. I had fun training with Matt yesterday and will again on Tuesday, I am sure of it. And you know what, what do you think I will feel win I step out on the mat to compete next time, when I face a weaker, less skilled opponent than my training partner? I will feel relaxed, I will feel comfort, I will feel my hard work pay off, I will feel victory, I will feel happy!
So Train with those who are better than you, those who smash you, Train with the Big Man and you will feel it too!
No comments:
Post a Comment