http://thebjjmind.com/2012/09/01/why...o-garcia-wins/
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Awesome - thx for posting.
thank you. i love 10th Planet JJ
Wow that's the coolest thing I've read in a while.
Thanks great post!
Cause he's a superior athlete. He is now trying to make sense of his success.
I'm going to try this in my workouts. See if I get more out of it. I can't wait!! Already put 2 hours+ into workouts, everyday other then sunday or when I feel off. Its going to be insane when I add training on top of that. Fuck it I'll work graveyard if I have to. I love combat 'sports' way to much, lol.
I don't think Marcelo Garcia was a superior athlete. A introspective and intuitive dude to be sure. But I don't see anything from his body type that stands out aside from his calves, lol. He says he just trains Jiu Jitsu though. Nothing else.. So one has to imagine the hours and hours he has put in. I was getting there in wrestling but I was cutting and staying at 112, lol. Not exactly ideal for physical attributes and growth.
I don't think Jiu Jitsu is the type of art were you will really have some freak of nature having a lot more success then everyone else. I mean yeah you'll have some monsters in the ADCC like Joao Assis or Popovitch but everyone gets beaten. Their success and losses come from one thing more then anything, and that is timing. Timing, timing, timing. Drill, drill, drill. Cut down that reaction time and get those transitions down and anyone can be a champion. Now some people will need to tweak some things. If your overweight you'll need to focus on cardio, if your small then you'll need weights. But its no different then boxing really. You wanna punch hard and fast? Then punch things with a instructor over your shoulder, lol.
Awesome article. The more you love something the more you will want to do it and get better at it.
If love was all that was needed them helio could've won the mundials at 90.
I have rolled with many black belt world champions and they are cut from a different athletic cloth.
That's why you get better everytime you get out there. There's a reason Eddie picked you as his 1st bb. Your out there blazing the path for there rest of us and setting the standard for the next wave and showing all of us what it means to be a 10p black belt.Quote:
Originally Posted by DENNY PROKOPOS
I know mginaction some what skews my view, but also listening from some interviews also it doesn't seem like anyone rolls as.much as Marcelo, for him to roll with all these visitors plus his students all day long can become a grind, but he just goes no stop
He doesn't even lift or do any other working out, just teaching and rolling
He is a highly athletic but I would say almost every medium-larger sized academy has someone just as athletic as him.
What made him succeed was his unflinching drive to train bjj. In his heyday, he told me he knew of nobody that trained more than him.
Why do we imagine that bjj is different from other sports where athletic prowess is foremost.
We're not, everyone at that level is athletic, some other things come into play also
Attitude comes 1st everything else is an excuse. Never be envious of what someone else has or can do if your not prepared to do what they've done to get it.
It is very important, but I would not say it is foremost, especially when weight classes are concerned.Quote:
Originally Posted by brent_littell
There are many BJJ world champs that I do not think are freaks of athletic abilities (of course they are all excellent athletes to a certain extent- but not phenoms).
I think the amount of hours and years of mat time, ie. technique, can overcome some physical deficiencies.
Cobrinha, Mendes Brothers, Marcelo, etc- they all used to train around 6 hours of mat time on a daily basis. That is more than most competitors (although nowadays, it seems a little more common).
I think Demian Maia is a good example of someone who is at the top level of grappling without being a superior athlete.
Jon Fitch got a long way on superior work ethic without tons of natural ability. I've also seen vid of Eddie discounting athletic ability as a major factor in his success.
I guess popovitch loved bjj more when he beat Marcelo.
Btw It sounds like many are mixing up love and hard work. He's in the gym 8 hours a day, that's why he wins. Even if he hated bjj, he would still win with that work ethic.
Matt horwich spends 6 hours in the gym and lives and breathes mma and bjj. Where's his UFC belt. Henderson fucked around a lot and skipped practices and he has had many belts
I know we would all like to imagine we have limitless potential to be a world champion but I would venture to say we all can't be that guy. We can be good but greatness is innate. I've been around long enough and rolled with enough world champions at the bb to know it.
I guess dreamers got to dream even if this is a hard reality to face. We aren't all world champions, but it's what we indentify with. Just because some one never holds a belt or wins a world championship doesn't mean they shouldn't make the attempt or quit. Call it naieve and nor am I disagreeing with your experience or knowledge, but it's the love that brought me back to the mats and the dream of winning world championship that keeps me coming back.Quote:
Originally Posted by brent_littell
Can't we love to do it without being the best in the world. I know I'll never be a world champion. I still train 20 hours a week
Brent Littell World Champion 2013. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by brent_littell
Yes, when we do it for the love we can't go wrong
I wasnt even basing my comments on the article. (In fact I dont even really agree with the main premise of the article...that Marcelo's success is just based on his love for bjj)
Of course we can love doing bjj without being the best in the world.
However, I think something that should not be discounted (just like Brent said we shouldnt overlook a champion's unique athleticism), is the amount of time these champions put into the mat.
I really think that if you train 35+ hours a week, for 5+ years, you will be super successful at BJJ. The Miyao brothers are the popular champs at the lower belts right now. These guys live on the mats (actually sleep on their academy mats). There looks to be nothing physically special about them- same can be said for many other champs.
IMO, if you take 1000 kids, aged 13 years old or so, and tell them they don't have to do anything except train for 35+ hours a week, for 5 years...I think maybe .5% of the people would stick to it.
Almost every academy has one of these kids- they train their asses off until around blue belt, and then without fail, they quit or cut way back on their bjj, as they get more involved with girls, school, work, life.
I think that is what factors the most in making a world champion...enduring the grind of training day in and day out, when nobody else is....for many years.
The point is that it is the love that allows for the necessary dedication you are talking about. The people who love it the most are lesslikely to be distracted, and more likely to put in the necessary hours.
Love is the most powerful motivator. More potent than any external motivator - such as money, medals, belts. To use MG as an example, if he is motivated by love (as he says he is) and his world class opponent is motivated by a title, or a medal - my $ is on Master Garcia.
If the ordinary person is motivated by love of Jiu Jitsu, there is a good chance they will still be training in 10 or 15 years. Another person who is motivated to train Jiu Jitsu so they can defeat wrestling in their burgeoning MMA career probably won't ever reach black belt