Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Teaching the white belt class tonight, I said it more than times than I remember. How many times have we all tried to power through a move, forget a piece of the equation that finishes a move? This leads to the move not working, or working poorly. Or at the worst, injury. On the flip side, how many times have we sparred with our Head Coach, and been swept so easily, and at half speed by Coach? It’s trusting the technique. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Three top reasons why we rush:
1. Afraid the move won’t work
2. Afraid the move won’t work
3. Afraid the move won’t work
Ways to fix it. Drill with a compliant partner. You should already be doing that. Drill with a lightly resisting partner. Flow roll with partner. The older grappler has to train smarter, we don’t heal as fast. In fact, we aren’t as fast as we were a few decades ago. The only way we beat age and athleticism are with technique and timing.
What I’m doing to stay healthy and keep me on the mats. I limit the amount of sparring I do. And when I do, it’s to work on what I’ve been drilling on. I use sparring to test what I’ve been drilling. Don’t go into rolling without a plan. Stress test that half guard to full guard retention. The sweep you’ve been laying the smack down drilling. This isn’t me suggesting you follow my steps, I’m suggesting you train smart and moderate the amount of sparring. It’s the one thing that will wear you down physically and mentally. It took me about 5 years total mat time to get to Purple. I started in 2001. A lot of that time wasted not training was due to injuries, some to burning out. I’m the last of my circle of friends still training that all started at White not a Black Belt. Train smart, train longer.
As with everything I post, this is my experience and my way to keep training till I’m in my 60’s. If you find it helpful, add it to yours. If you think I’m full of it, cool. Thanks for reading!
