|
Written by Carlos Valente |
 NO SHORTCUTS - Want to get ahead? Focus on enhancing your physical abilities and your technique, says Carlos Valente. For illustrative purposes, Andre Galvao submits Wayne Lao.
Throughout my career, many people have come to me looking for "the edge." You know, that piece of training, knowledge or gear that would allow them to prevail over their opponents.
In Forest Carter's book, "Gone to Texas" (Perhaps you will remember the movie: "The Outlaw Josey Wales" with Clint Eastwood), Josey Wales was obsessed with "the edge." His gear, habits and even what he fed his horse reflected his endeavor to persevere. The same determination is in the eyes of many who asked me for advice. I often hear, "What else can I do?" or "What should I be doing?" Following are my answers.
Attend Class
The first answer, as always, is go to class as much as you can. However, it is not enough to merely attend class. You must train smart. In previous articles, we have discussed some of the key training topics, such as picking your partner wisely, determining how much is enough, the option of private lessons, the meaning of the belt and the value of competition. These ideas are more than enough for you to maximize your training time. Thus, the single most important thing you can do as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner is to make as much time as possible to train and get as much as possible out of your training time.
Physical Abilities
Next, you have to put as much emphasis on improving your physical abilities as you do on your technique. Running, calisthenics, weight training and stretching are all important to reduce the likelihood of injuries, as well as improve your game.
There is one activity, though, I feel is the most complete exercise for jiu-jitsu, and that is swimming. In my opinion, swimming is unmatched in combining cardio, strength and flexibility in one package. Of course, the object is not to switch sports from grappling to competitive swimming, but you do need to put your time in the pool. An ideal workout is 1,000 to 1,500 meters, alternating strokes. You can do the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly. You should swim three or four times a week. This is what I continually encourage my students to incorporate into their training programs.
The Most Difference
Obviously, there are many additional things I also suggest to people who want to improve their game. In future articles we will discuss training programs and even things we can learn from the other martial arts to help us find that ever-elusive "edge."
For now, if you are a beginning-to-intermediate-level grappler, I stand by those two things that I feel will make the most difference in your ability. Those two items are, of course, training and swimming.
How to Reach Him
Name: The Valente Academy
Headquarters: 9888-G Carmel Mountain Rd., San Diego, CA 92129
Phone: (858) 538-8688
Web site: www.valenteacademy.comShow comments (0) - Add comments to this article: |
