Archive for May, 2013
Change of clubs
Change is either good or bad, it?s just a matter of perspective.
Recently, for reasons out of my control, I have had to make a change of where I get my BJJ perspective. If this is a good thing or bad thing only time will tell but I can tell you that I am looking forward to the new challenge.
I will miss my old club a great deal. I have been with that club for years and built a lot of strong relationships with other people on the mat. I also got great technical instruction from a BJJ black belt, who progressed me to purple belt as well as passing on a lot of other lessons that I will not forget. There were lots of talented people on the mat that I will miss rolling with as they presented some very good challenges.
However, I am looking forward to learning from a new perspective as after years under one instructor you learn just the one style and it is going to be interesting to learn moves from another angle. There are always different counters and set ups to learn from a new set of eyes that have never seen me roll. On top of that, I am looking forward to all the new people that I will get to roll with and the new challenges and puzzles that I will have to try to solve. Because as good as the guys were at my previous club I did get used to their moves and styles, just like they got used to mine.
There are a few extra challenges here as well, as I am the head trainer of Lockdown MMA the other fight coaches around the area know who I am. This meant that I had to get in touch with the new BJJ coach and make sure that it was ok for me to train at his club, and luckily he agreed. However this does add the extra dimension that people will know my name and will want to test my skills, so for the first little while I will have a target painted on my back.
I am writing this with only minutes before I walk out the door to do my first training at the new club. Overall a change in scenery will progress my BJJ and take away any complacency that had crept in to my game. Even though the change was not part of my plan and given the chance would go back to my last club in a heartbeat I am really looking to the new club and how they will grow my game.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Fighter v Athlete
One of our up-and-coming fighters asked a rather interesting question after training the other night – ?Are you athlete or a fighter?? This got me thinking.
An athlete is the guy that everyone knows, they are that annoying guy that picks up any sport and they?re good at it. They usually look the part and have a bucket load of natural ability. They are usually extremely good at one sport and very good at others. They are very determined and know how to win, so why does that not always equal a fighter?
People who have not fought in the ring / cage will not understand this, but having the will to win is important in every sport, especially in individual sports, but losing a tennis match or golf tournament is not the same as a fight. Your body goes in to flight or fight mode and releases chemicals that make you remember the loss so you do not put yourself in that position again. Being knocked out is rather primal and it is about as bad as it gets and the body does not want this to happen again so it makes you remember how bad it feels to make sure you do not make that same mistake. This is a hangover from our caveman days to protect us from continuing to fight sabre tooth tigers day in and day out.
Even comparable individual sports are not the same. I competed for years in kickboxing, then when I did a BJJ comp I almost found it relaxing, there were nerves but nothing compared to a fight. Then in the wrestling comps that I have done even as intense as they are still the nerves are nothing like a fight. I think part of it is that the worst thing that can happen to you in BJJ match is that you get tapped out, which happens to me on the training mat every night. In wrestling the worst thing to happen is getting pinned, which again happens to me in training so it was nothing new to me. Whereas when you are kickboxing / boxing or fighting MMA you don?t get KO?d in your fight training and you have no idea what it is like so you have the fear of the unknown involved.
Fighters are a rare breed, and part of their brain is unique. We seem to believe that we can beat anyone, because if you don?t you should not be in the ring. This is an undying belief in your ability over the next guy, and yes other sports have this mentality but fighters have something that can?t be taught or learned and it is the mind set that when they are getting physically dominated that there escape is only a transition away or that they are only a punch away from winning at any one point and they believe that it is there no matter how bad it is getting.
An athlete is physically impressive and can get confidence from their physical ability, that is they are confident as they know that they are faster than the person next to them. Where as a fighter doesn?t seem to care if you are faster, bigger stronger they will win because they are better and you don?t see that in other sports. A great athlete may not make a fighter, but you have a good chance of making a good fighter an athlete. Take Brock Lesnar – he was an outstanding wrestler at college, and a fantastic athlete (WWE) but was not a fighter. Yes he won the UFC title belt but when Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin were hitting him he did not want to be there, when he was dominating he was fine but the man did not like being hit and that is the difference between a fighter and a athlete
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
PROMO VIDEO
Enjoy 🙂