my Arte Suave

My game for eating right and earning it

How are you sure that you deserve anything as far as competition is concerned? One way of thinking I totally agree with, is Tom Brands way of thinking, who is currently the head wrestling coach for  Iowa Hawkeyes, one of the greatest teams ever, period. He goes to say, “You dont deserve anything, you only deserve what you earn!”

These words have had a profound effect in how I approach a lot of things, and truthfully I wish I had this kind of approach on my University studies, haha, but that is another post. So how do you know you deserve a victory or a gold medal at a tournament? Is there anyway to know? Of course, training hard, putting in effort, time, and energy. But every I feel as though everyone trains hard, rolls hard, does their sprints, so how do you know? More importantly how do I know? The honest answer is to live everyday like a champion. How do I know how a champion lives? I read, and read more, not about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters, because BJJ fighters just aren’t that chronicled, I have somewhat of an idea how my favorite fighters Terere, and Jacare have trained, but I don’t know their habits, what they do on a daily basis, and how they approach important things like drilling, strength and conditioning, mental preparation as it relates to getting ready for huge events. So I instead read about, NCAA wrestling champions, Olympic gold medalist in any sport such as Judo, and whomever else has to go through hell fire and brimstone to prepare for huge events, huge tournaments. And what I have found, and what I like best is Cael Sanderson’s suggestion of “living every single day like a champion”. When I read that, I knew at the time I was not doing the best I could and a lot of the details he was speaking about, which a lot was about my attitude towards preparing and just doing everything in our power to ensure we get the results we want. Since reading about Cael, I know that I have to prepare more, and do more, and after that do a little bit more. And what I have found is this game I made up out of no where for myself…

Everyday that I practice, I do a mini circuit after training, regardless of how I feel, and if I have done conditioning and strength that day. The circuits must include at least 3 of the following.If you want to play along, you can have your own exercises, these are some of Cael’s favorites and mine, and are the best for a grappler.

1. Sprints
2. Rope climbs
3. Pull-ups
4. Wall-sits
5. Push-ups
6. Planks or get on the roller thing

This part of the game is the MORE aspect of my training, just a little more of this, and I always feel like I could of done more, and when I do this after a training, I feel like I have done really well.

The other thing I am doing is 50 pullups after every practice, regardless of anything I have done previously, I will try and do the pullups in the circuit or if not (my gym does not have a pull-up station at the moment) I will do them at home on my doorway pull-up thingy.

The other game I am playing is that I DO NOT GET TO EAT UNTIL I HAVE COMPLETED THESE “MORE” CIRCUITS! This builds upon my discpline, to finish any and all tasks, and to make sure I am doing right by me, and not cheating myself, I am sooooo sure that Every champion I admire has not cut any corners, and neither will I. Dan Gable said it best, “if you don’t train, you don’t eat”. A little extreme for most people, but I have to maintain a certain weight, and Gable said this to his athletes on the off-season when they werent training and wrestling like they were during the on-season.

This is how I will earn GOLD at the 2011 BJJ World Championships, everyday I will earn gold, not 8 weeks out not 12 weeks out, but every second of everyday I will try my heart out to get .01 percent better.I am not in a big BJJ scene in Rhode Island, but who cares, I am going to work…

In closing, it is my belief that if you aren’t doing it everyday and your opponent has done more days more hours, minutes seconds then you, then you do not deserve that victory. This is about accountability and discipline Do you think you deserve and why?

I will continue to try and pay the price everyday…The idea is to never get tired.

**In other news**

Today I weighed 200lbs, already on weight for my division lol, and my roommate told me my abs are beginning to show after I did my pullups, this made me glimmer. Looking at this weight makes me think about fighting at 194lbs for CBJJ events. Hard work is visibly paying off, now its time to make my technique show when it counts. Also this game helps to improve your work ethic.

Important question…and the idea

MP: Clearly, technique and conditioning are the more important aspects of wrestling, but strength certainly helps improve positioning and finishing. How much did weightlifting comprise of your routine?

Cael Ssanderson:  I was more concerned about hustle and technique as a competitor but strength is icing on the cake.  I did lift weights.  The year I took second in the world I learned that I had to get stronger.  I felt that the top guys were much stronger than me.  I did a lot of cleans and thought about lifting in wrestling terms.  In wrestling you have to explode, and push and pull. So I did the exercises that made me a stronger wrestler.  When I first got to Iowa State, Coach Douglas told me that if I did 50 pull ups every day I would be an Olympic Champion.  I did 50 every day.  When I first got to Iowa State I couldn’t do 10 pull ups.  I feel like you get the majority of your strength through wrestling.  After practice, as an athlete, I always did a couple sets of wall sits, rope climbs, sprints, pull ups, and shoulder press.

Right now more is important. More cardio if I cant do what I want with drilling. I feel like i need to do more. Lately I have been feeling I haven’t been getting the kind of reps I want whether it be because training partners aren’t as into drilling as I am or they are broken, whatever, a champion will overcome this. So right now its about the pull ups, the wall sits, the sprints, the rope training, after practice and in no specific order to believe whole heartedly that I wont get tired, ever, while doing my techniques. The Cael Sanderson mentality to being an Olympic Champion is what I am trying to emulate. ‘Hustle, and technique’. This brings me back to that Iowa Style type of training, intensity and cardio over technique..And while I disagree that strength and intensity are more important then technique, I believe that these different aspects of grappling go hand in hand when your trying to compete at the top level. Already I am doing the “50 pull ups” after every practice, idea, except I started out doing 30, after every practice, no excuses, no exceptions. Right now it is about more.

To read the whole Cael Sanderson interview go here:

http://www.muscleprodigy.com/cael-sanderson-interview-arcl-1125.html

Paying the price

Everything has a price tag. What does being good, great, the best in the world mean to you? What price would you put on that? The following excerpts are the most most motivating reads. The bar is set so high. Check it out,

An excerpt from Wrestling Tough by Mike Chapman.

“I can pay the price” to be great, say millions of athletes. What they really mean to say is, “I can pay a certain price, but don’t ask me to go beyond what I think I am capable of doing.” Ninety-nine percent of athletes will come up toa line in the sand and halt. Once a person has entered into the pain threshold of severe training, he or she, naturally tends to shut down.

“OK, that’s it,” is what most of us tell ourselves. “I’m hurting, I’ve worked hard enough and put in enough hours. I’ve paid the price.” At that point, however we are just knocking on the door of paying the price.

Its hard to even begin to quantify the words Paying the Price. But for me it means, I am not working as hard I can everyday. I am beaten up in sparring, beating myself up in the gym 4 times a week. Drilling almost everyday (or when I can). Is that enough? Is waking up at 8am to get to Next Level to do S&C then straight to BJJ right after, then another bjj session at night, is that enough? I don’t feel it is enough at all. Keep reading.

“Coaches would always come to Iowa to try and figure out what Gable did differently, what his secret to success was. It was hard work,” said Troy Steiner, NCAA champion and four-time All-American during his Hawkeye days. “But, like Gable always said, most people do not know what hard work is.”

“Most people do not know what hard work is.” To answer my own question. Do I really know what hard work is? 

My favorite story so far from Wrestling Tough. 

One athlete who does [understand what paying the price] is Ed Banach.[…] After a red shirt year, Ed captured two straight NCAA titles at 177 pounds. Going for a third, he was defeated by Mark Shultz of Oklahoma in one of the greatest showdowns in American wrestling history. In his senior year, 1983, Banach moved up to 190 pounds and ran into Mike Mann of Iowa State, a tough and talented three time All-American who was determined to claim his first NCAA championship in his final shot. In their first two meetings of their final season, Mann scored decisive victories over Banach. It looked to some  as if Ed was destined to close out his career with straight misses after claiming national crowns as a freshman and sophomore.

“It was after I lost to Mann in the dual meet in January by a 13-8 score,” recounted Banach in 2004. “I went up to Gable and said, ’ Coach, what do I need to do to win nationals?’ I was willing to do about anything. […] The Hawkeyes were already holding two punishing workouts per day leading up to the NCAA championships. What gable proposed to Banach was a third grueling workout. Banach’s first thought was natural: “When?” The Hawkeyes were already working out at 7 in the morning and in the late afternon, and recovery time was required for such taxing workouts. Gable’s answer was to meet in the wrestling room at 5 a.m.!

[…] “Gable wanted me in the room at 5 a.m., dressed and ready to go,” said Banach. “We did it three times a week. After it was over, I would go to a small trainer’s room at the back of the wrestling room and take a nap before the 7 a.m. practice.”

[…] While most of the city of Iowa was fast asleep, a small and determined band of wrestlers was paying a huge extra price to try to achieve their lofty goals.

[…] It was an incredible commitment by coach and athlete; how many other coaches and athletes would be willing to pay such a price? When the NCAA tournament rolled around in Oklahoma City, Ed Banach and Mike Mann both made it to the finals. Then, in an incredibly tense, hard-fought battle, Banach scored the only takedown of the championship match […] for a stunning 4-3 triumph and his third NCAA title.

We can all learn to be just even .05% tougher, just by taking something like this in. I am still learning and know and I feel I am still unsure of what true hard work is. But I will continue to kill myself in training to find out what that is.

This is what I want to emulate in my training. I am not going to be wrestler boy, but in my training, in my mental training, I will try to be even harder.

Like the theme goes: ”Most people do not know what hard work is.” I have much to find out.

I want to be a Purple Belt World Champion in 2011!

Now I’m off to move a mountain. Happy training!