Attention to detail

Over the last few weeks I have noticed a great deal of improvement in my overall game from striking, vertical grappling, my takedowns and throws and of course the final range, horizontal grappling. After taking a long hard look at my training over the last 4 weeks or so and analysing some of the class notes I have taken and pondering over the times from my runs against average heart rates whilst doing these runs it is no coincidence that these improvements in efficiency and effectiveness [against training partners] is down to attention to the finer details of my work.

I have spent a great deal of time hitting my conditioning hard for about six weeks now, with that my percentage body fat has dropped markedly, my times have improved by almost one minute on some runs, my cardio has improved a great deal and as a result I am able to work harder than my training partners during hard sparring and stay at this intensity for longer.

Concentrating on compound exercises has meant my strength has improved a vastly and due to some more intense plyometric work I feel more 'athletic' (if that is possible). My greatest gains however have come about within the technical aspects of my performance - I am 'catching' people more often. Drilling has been a big issue for me in the past, all my consciousness was getting through the 'boring' drill and looking ahead to 'testing' the drill in rolling or stand up sparring. There is no coincidence in the fact that due to the time and effort I have put into the finer aspects of training whilst on the mat I have improved dramatically!

Every single book on physical education, sports science and the like will stress that same. That through drill and repetition comes mastering of skill and the more concentration we put into this drill the better and more efficient our open and closed skills become. However, most of us skip this part and yearn for the end product (or close ot it) this is the difference between recreational players and world-class performance.

Look closely at the passage below:

Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of many years.

How many F's did you count? 3? Look again; you should pick up six... Don't forget the F's in 'of'.

The word 'of': It may seem like a mundane, everyday word that just links words in a sentence but it counts. It counts to form sentences, narratives, paragraphs, books, journals, novels and masterpieces...

Drill practice: it may seem like a bore and monotonous repetition but it breeds skill development, it enables and lines cognitive pathways that we call on without a second thought and is paramount to development.

Train intelligently!

David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com
Sponsored by: KombatClinic.com & Fixahome
Full-contact Stickfighting - Muay Thai - Karate - Olympic Judo - Submission wrestling - BJJ - MMA:
"Synergy between theory & best practice"
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2403992214