Learning to walk again! (Written Dec 22 2008)

Learning to walk is probably one of the most challenging things you have ever had to do. Most will not remember the time, but if you have kids you can see how hard it is for them to figure it out. Watching Thor learning to walk reminded me of Fridays and Saturdays in Va Beach when I used to stay out all night at the bars. When I would leave, I was also grabbing onto furniture and walls to keep my balance but only getting a few steps before falling. I am glad it doesn’t faze him when he falls because I know the only way he will get better is through repetitions. It still goes back to anything that you want to learn -- it won’t become ingrained into muscle memory until you get 8,500 – 10,000 repetitions.

Success in anything depends on a lot of factors (talent, genetics, environment etc…,) but one of the most important things, and something that is often overlooked, is repetition. Most individuals will look at a pro athlete and think he is what he is because of talent or genetics, but they never see the repetitions he puts in. Ask any athlete at the top of any sport and I can guarantee that they are not there without countless hours of repetitions.

Take Mixed Martial Arts. It is only in the past 5 years that you have started to see fighters that can go from every range without hesitation. In the past, most of the fighters were good at only one thing and if they were taken out of that range they would look really bad and lose. Think about the UFC fighters that can proficiently go from punching, kicking, clinch and ground; there are still only a handful who are experts at all of the ranges. Guys like George St. Pierre, BJ Penn and Anderson Silva come to mind, and while there are still only a few, the number is increasing.

If you have been following the UFC in the past 5 years you have been able to see the effect of repetitions in fighters. Fighters like Forest Griffin and Kenny Florian have become two of the UFC’s best fighters, but they didn’t start out that way. Take Kenny Florian -- he was already one of the best ground fighters in the UFC when he started. He is a BJJ Black Belt with many grappling championships under his belt but he lost 3 of his 14 fights in the UFC. If you look at his record you will notice he has not lost in the past 6 fights and he has crushed some of the top guys in his weight class. Why? Because he is now as proficient at standup and clinch as he was already on the ground. His standup was not great at the beginning of his career but you can now call it one of the best in the UFC. If you ever hear his story on what his daily routine is you will understand why he has become one of the best; he is doing the reps in the things he was weak at!

Doing reps is the only way to become better at anything. The problem with reps is it is boring so the people that can become good at something are usually the ones that can put in the boring time. Those are the times that are the hardest but most important, the times when no one is there cheering you on or telling you what to do. You know that you just have to do it. It is hard to do reps of anything unless you have a passion for it. If you have passion, boring becomes fun!

I started this subject on my blog because I am also learning to walk again. I had ACL surgery and my meniscus tendon repaired in my knee. This is the second time I have gone through this, so I knew what to expect. Having your ACL repaired is actually more pain and suffering than the actual tear. The recovery really stinks and it is a long process of boring reps. I didn’t go through physical therapy because I want to do it on the mat like I did last time. I can duplicate a lot of the movements that they were showing me in physical therapy on the mat. I get to roll too which is a great workout. It is also a great experience to grapple this way because it makes my defense so much better. I am grappling with only one leg so learning to survive without being able to move my hips in certain positions is very difficult. It is also very humbling because of how many times I have had to tap. Makes me feel like I am a beginner again. It is always like this when I injure something, I try to grapple around it. So if it is my arm that is injured I put it in my belt or if it is my back I work form the guard position so it is supported. In the 12 years I have been training, I have been only been off the mat for an extended time of two months and that was because of a security job. So if you figure that I train 2-4 times a week you can start to see the reps I am getting on the mat. If someone does the exact same program that I have done but they train 4-8 times a week then they will be as proficient as I am in 6 years.

It was unheard of for guys to get their Black Belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in less than 10 years but guys like BJ Penn and Lloyd Irvin broke that mold; they did it in 4 years. I personally witnessed Lloyd’s growth in BJJ and I can remember his meteoric rise through the ranks. He started roughly the same time as me and we even competed in a lot of the same events together so I got to talk to him a lot back then. When he was telling me how much he was on the mat back then I was stunned. He practically didn’t do anything but train, 2-6 hours a day, 6 days a week. He quickly became one of the best grapplers in the world in half the time it would take most guys.

Later when I joined his team, he would give me long talks about training and how reps were more important than genetics and talent. Of course I would argue with him and say that he was good because of his natural talent and genetics. Lloyd would go on to explain that when he was in the NFL, the most boring drills and patterns were in every training session, three times every day. He said that basics were being ingrained in their muscular skeleton through reps so that they could do it with their eyes closed! He took the same training methods he learned in the NFL and applied it to BJJ.

Lloyd also went on to prove me wrong with his prodigy Mike Fowler who came to Lloyd with only one goal, to become the best at submission grappling. I remember the first time I met Mike and watched him on the mat. He was getting tapped by everyone in the class. He wasn’t anything special, but Lloyd had told me about this kid he had on a program and I needed to watch him because this kid would do whatever Lloyd asked him to do. Mike would come in early and stay late getting the reps that Lloyd told him to do. Mike’s skills grew quickly and in less than 5 years he has become one of the best grapplers in the world.

I know that not everyone can train all day long. That is why I tell all my competitors and fighters that they need to be honest with themselves -- how much can you train and how much are you willing to train? If you can’t put in the time then you should set your goals for longer term. This is hard for a lot of fighters and grapplers to swallow and they still want to try and push the time without doing the reps. Like I have said before, there are no short cuts or magic pills, so get out there and start getting the reps.