Having Faith in Your Training

My Dad was full of nuggets of wisdom that he’d give you in catchphrase form. It made conversations with him very interesting. You’d tell him something, perhaps seeking advice, and he’d say something like-

“A camel is a horse designed by committee.”

And then you’d have to figure out what that meant. If you were really lucky, he’d expand on it and you wouldn’t have to ponder for too long, but often, that was the end of the conversation, and you were expected to sit and interpret this phrase and the hidden meaning within.

I bring up the camel thing (and I mean no offence to camels) because I see people overloaded with information. Gurus are in common supply on the internet. You can’t open your social media without being bombarded with a chorus of self-appointed experts telling you what to eat, what to avoid, how many days to train, how much to rest.

In Jiu Jitsu, we’ve got guys telling what the best 5 moves for any beginner are, the top 9 things you must know to get better at this or that, the 3 people to avoid rolling with on the mat, how to tell if your coach is good, how to spot a toxic gym environment…

Blah blah.

Now what used to happen was you went to club, you followed their curriculum, you took on advice from more senior members, and you followed their structure. More and more, people are coming to me at novice levels asking me about obscure positions, how such and such a guy says you should never train this way or that way and so on.

Now I’m not advocating blind faith in your coach, but with no faith whatsoever, I think you’re destined to become a camel.

Once again, no offence to camels, or camel lovers.

See you on the mat.

Barry