Pareto's principle and how to apply it to jiu jitsu

http://management.about.com/cs/gener...reto081202.htm

For those of you unfamiliar with Pareto's principle it is a theory used by economists that basically says that 80 percent of our results are yielded from 20 percent of what we do, in a nutshell. It can be even more complex than that, so I attached an article for you guys to read. Since I'm not a full-time grappler, nor am I training for any world championships where 80 percent isn't enough, maximum efficiency yielding maximum results is the key for me! I have a full time job, like most of us, with a family, so it's tough keeping up with the studs wrecking shop at all the tournaments! Here is how I try:

How to perceive this is that to yield 80 percent of results from training, you have to figure out the 20 percent of things that get you there. If you commit to more than 20% (of the most efficient practice) the results yielded are significantly lower! For example 25% of that training may only result in 81% of your results. Hence why sometimes getting sufficient rest and training 3 to 4 times a week can be better sometimes than training six days a week with insufficient rest ( have you ever asked yourself, " I'm training twice as much, why aren't I getting twice the results???")
How I personally use this theory may be different than how others break it down. I look at the principles that make a good overall grappler, which many of us may agree or disagree on- good no gi, good gi(if you're into that :-)), good takedowns, strength, flexibility and endurance. So lets put strength and flexibility together, say do your yoga and weight training consecutively. Now you have 5 focal points that can divide your attention equally,for you to receive the most out of it and be well rounded.
I don't follow this exactly, but I tend to refer to it when trying to come up with a balanced routine. You may even want to break it down by positions like where your game needs the most work, etc. if I were to start fighting MMA again I would probably break my training time up similar to this as well!
Any back and forth banter is encouraged, so questions, comments and concerns are welcome....

Interesting concept... I'm going to have to do some thinking on this.

Cool, glad to make you think.

Very interesting, enjoyed that and it does make a lot of sense.

I read the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss several years ago. He talks quite a bit about the Pareto Principle and how it applies to things such as learning a language, setting your advertising budget, choosing a target market, etc...

I took that idea and decided to apply it to my jiu jitsu practice and drilling. I have definitely seen results. Basically, it just helped me to narrow my focus and it gave me something to actually focus on, rather than simply practicing whatever I happened to think was cool at the moment.

The Gracies have essentially done this with their Blue Belt/Combatives curriculum, as well. They chose the 36 techniques that they believed were the most essential, and you pretty much only work those until Blue Belt.

Eddie has done that with his HQ Warm-Ups series. Those are the techniques he believes are the most important to the understanding of the system. Master those and watch your results pop.

Thanks for the post, man. I love this kind of stuff!

I look to the elite military for examples in training. Unlike economics the military trains your mental capacity alongside your physical capacity. They purposely overtrain you to teach you to perform in the worst of situations. Now your examples seem to me more like issues of efficiency than statistical levels of effort. Training is at its best when it is purposely looking to reach maximum effectiveness. But I find your mental attitude to be the most important factor in training. The will to pursiver can get you farther than talent if you train it! At 43 I think it's unrealistic to think I'm going to out perform my partners that are half my age. Now I focus more on mental toughness and have seen better results than when I focused on rest and physical training. I used to hussel to my tank ran out and let exhaustion take me out. Now I protect let them ware down then when we're both tired I let will power and tenacity lead me! Great Post!

I did get the principles from a similar book that I know drew ideas from the 4 hour work week. I use the warms ups even when instructing in a Law a enforcement capacity. It helped develop essential skills in a very limited amount of time! It has made my time much more efficient with them.

Kevin I think you got the wrong idea from my post. At no time is the training NOT hard, what you're referring to is a selection course for Special Operations. The purpose of that is very different than what they do on a day to day basis. I guarantee when a unit is training up for a deployment, they will not waste much time practicing skills unneeded for what they are about to do. Time is of the essence and no moment would go wasted. When training elite athletes, if you interview most conditioning and strength specialists, they will say getting their guys to put out110% isn't the issue, it's usually getting them to do only what is nesecary becomes hard.

Even with what Being said, "Gut Checks" are involved! For example after class I spend time working "bad" positions because I am one of the higher ranked dudes where I roll and rarely have my back taken or spend significant time mounted or in side control bottom. I pull 3 or 4 guys do round robin where every fresh guy picks a dominant position on me for up to 12 minutes or more. That will definitely test mental fortitude!

Pareto isn't the end all be all, but it s a tool to add to your tool box. In your case make that mental toughness 1 of the several aspects of your training! It may allow you to develop a few more skills that those meatheads half your age aren't thinking of! Remember we don't run down the hill and fuck a cow, we're the bull that walks down there and fucks them all! Good Posts guys!

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing

Jesse you are right. I'm overlooking your point to make my own lol. As to the specwar training my Dad was SEAL in 67 and most of my knowledge is from that time era. But I agree it's toughest at the weed out phase but the training of mental toughness is instilled to be a lifelong shift in personal perspective. My dad is in his mid 60's now and still looks for ways to test his body and mental tenacity. I just think we've moved in the ultra scientific approach like Ivan Drago in Rocky 4 when we should lock ourselves in a shack in the snow and learn to feel no pain lol.

Interesting concept and Oh so true! The Covey Institute (7 Habits) is really big on their classes/trainers focusing on the concept of systematically prioritizing their time by letters and quadrants to maximize their results so if you take the Pareto Principle in as a #1 factor in prioritization of your time, I can see this becoming a system of training like Jesse and Brandon have stated. Good stuff!!

Kevin's goin old school Dan Gable style! Good shit, I have a buddy like that he's a farmer purple belt about 5 years older than me, who smokes on top of that. His only workout was doing jiu jitsu. I am the exact opposite: my best friend is a strength and conditioning coach in Vegas(he's worked with Vitor Belfort, Robert Drysdale) so he always has me on the latest and greatest workout plan. me and this guy are exact opposites in our approach, but When we go at it NOONE will put me through more hell than that guy, I can't give him an inch and it literally takes all I have to submit him and I can count on one hand how many times that's happened! So there's something to be said about that approach as well.

Matt, I actually have that book. I need to sit down and read it and we'll come up with a whole new thread on the jiu jitsu approach.

[QUOTE=Jesse Briggs;191313]Kevin's goin old school Dan Gable style! Good shit, I have a buddy like that he's a farmer purple belt about 5 years older than me, who smokes on top of that. His only workout was doing jiu jitsu. I am the exact opposite: my best friend is a strength and conditioning coach in Vegas(he's worked with Vitor Belfort, Robert Drysdale) so he always has me on the latest and greatest workout plan. me and this guy are exact opposites in our approach, but When we go at it NOONE will put me through more hell than that guy, I can't give him an inch and it literally takes all I have to submit him and I can count on one hand how many times that's happened! So there's something to be said about that approach as well.
My Dad use to run 6 miles a day while smoking a cigar at my age so my role model was old school. I will admit at my age it's easier to be tenacious than it is to find time to cross train.