A Different Type of Goal

Separate from our one-year, three-year and five-year goals, there is a different type of goal that seems to be frequently not addressed by many instructors and understandably so.  Most instructors and school owner’s livelihood is reliant on their school.  They need students who are willing to pay for their instruction to keep their business alive.  However, I’ve noticed a few times over the last few years that a student’s reason for training doesn’t match their instructor’s philosophy of teaching. 

When determining our one, three, and five-year goals we are materializing milestones and things to strive for, but not we don't really determine why we want these things.  I suggest that at some point we all need to determine our overall goal.  That is, “Why do you train?”  Determining your “Why” is a key development in your game.  The great part of this question is there is no wrong answer.  This is your answer. 


You may train to get in good shape.  Maybe it’s for self-defense or for professional development such as law enforcement.  Maybe you want to relieve stress. Perhaps you want to fight in mixed martial arts competitions.  Perhaps you want to be a future UFC Champion.  Maybe you want to be a BJJ World Champion.  Maybe you just want to have fun and belong to a group.  All of these are great reasons to train!!

Determining this goal sets you expectation of your ROI, or return on investment, from your time on the mats.  You do invest your time and you do invest your money, shouldn’t you have a expectation of what you wish to receive in return from your time and money? 

This goal or ROI is executable from the SMART method of making goals.  This goal doesn’t need a time limit but is should be specific and attainable. 

Our overall expectations in life can change, therefore this should be a fluid goal, meaning this may change over time and that is okay.  As we age our perspectives and attitudes change.  Not allowing your jiu jitsu goals to change as well is foolish.  Either way it is a good idea to keep what your overall objective is fresh in your mind.  Keeping the big picture in mind will help us get through tough days on the mats and the occasional disappointments.    

Once you have decided your expectation ask yourself if you are doing the right things to achieve it.  Are you in the right school? Are you training with the right people?  Are you eating right?  Are you training the right way?

The reasoning of determining the overall expectation of our training is so we do not become disenchanted with our training.  I have met and talked with people that have been training for years and when I asked them “What is your purpose for training?”  They didn't have a definite answer.  They have been training for a long time yet really had no purpose in their training.  Training with no purpose is almost as bad as not training at all.


Take time and determine YOUR reason for training.  Give your goals and training a bigger purpose.

The Number One Enemy

Listen to a conversation in your office today.  I’ll bet if you listen to two people talk about any subject over a period of five minutes, the dominating theme of the conversation will have a negative topic.  Perhaps it’s negative talk about the boss, a negative political view, a negative speech about the company, or maybe it’s a person talking negatively about himself.   

The National Science Foundation estimates that, on average, humans have approximately 50,000 thoughts per day.  They also estimate that 70-80 percent of those thoughts are negative.  That is up to 40,000 units of negative energy each and every day!!! 

Negativity is easily THE NUMBER ONE ENEMY to the potential that each one of us has inside.   Negative thoughts are parasites that infect all of us, and negativity’s bastard children: doubt, depression, lack of confidence, complacency, worry and fear are the silent killers of our dreams.  Negativity, either from within ourselves or from outside influences, like our friends and family, can have a dramatic effect on our lives.  The offspring of negativity are the reasons many of us don’t take the chance to make our lives better.  They are the reasons we aren’t living the dreams we had in our childhood. 

So how can we battle this enemy?

A little over two years ago I began to notice the effects that negativity has had on my life.  I was always told to “Expect the worst, but hope for the best.”  Sayings and mottos like these have created an environment where pessimism and negativity have thrived.  Once I recognized the impact that negative thinking in my life has had, I had to make a change. I was now going to "Expect the best."

To stop thinking negatively we need to first do just that…stop.  I know that this may sound silly but that is the ultimate goal.  At first we need to make this a conscious thing. Take notice of your thoughts, don’t let negativity enter and leave your head without notice.   Once you are able to notice your thoughts, when a negative thought crosses your mind, stop it and replace it with a positive thought about the same subject. 

This first must be done consciously but after practicing this multiple times a day it becomes more and more automatic.  I equate this type of process of learning to learning techniques in sports or martial arts.  For those of you who are grapplers, remember the first time you did an arm bar.  It felt awkward, hard, and maybe it even felt impossible.   Now fast forward to where you are a couple years later: after practicing the arm bar an uncountable number of times, the ability to complete it is almost instinctual.  Through repetition, you have moved the conscious movements you had when you first started to the unconscious.  Using this method of battling negativity will eventually travel the same path.

The Challenge

Negative thoughts will never completely leave our lives, but reducing their frequency can have a dramatic impact on our lives.  I challenge you to consciously stop the negative thoughts and replace them with positive and confident thoughts every day, for the next 30 days.  Then enjoy the effects that more positive thinking can have in your life.

Let me know how it goes.

Jerome

www.fightlogs.com

MMA Strategy The CARVER MATRIX

Mixed Martial Arts and other combat sports are highly competitive.  It seems that every competitor or fighter is searching for an edge to help them get a leg up on the competition.  Fighters are often changing camps trying to find the winning formula for their personal success.  One of the most successful MMA training camps is in Albuquerque, NM with Greg Jackson.  Jackson has earned a reputation of being an excellent game planer and his teams winning percentage shows it.

But how does one game plan for fight, which is very chaotic?  Does a trainer fight to use his strengths or his opponent’s weaknesses? 

Well I want to suggest an idea that could help fighters develop game plans for their fights.  I will use the example of MMA for the matter of consistency but I believe that this method could be used in all the combat sports and all areas of life for that matter.

CARVER

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Military developed a risk based assessment matrix to help prioritize enemy targets.  This assessment matrix is called the CARVER matrix.  Today, many law enforcement and emergency personnel utilize this method when creating agency strategies. 

So how would this matrix work when planning for your next fight?

The acronym CARVER stands for Criticality, Accessibility, Recuperability (also Recoverability), Vulnerability, Effect and Recognizability.  Here is a break down on what each means when using this for MMA.

Criticality  Is this critical to win the fight?

Accessibility  Is this accessible or am I able to do this? 

Recuperability  Will my opponent be able to recover from this?

 Vulnerability   Is my opponent vulnerable in this area?

 Effect What is the impact of accomplishing this psychologically?

Recognizability Will the judges recognize the advantage or strike?

So how does this work and what does this mean?

To set up the matrix make a spreadsheet similar to the one you see below.  After reviewing film on your opponent’s fights get with your coaches or training partners and write down 4-8 areas that you may want to focus on when training for this particular fight.  Then rate each position or area of training, in each CARVER category, by scoring them 1-5 (5 being the most critical, the most accessible, the hardest to recover from, the most vulnerable, the biggest impact, and very recognizable; 1 being the least)Rating these areas could be done statically by taking careful statistics of your opponents last three fights.   You may also want to have your coach and training partners create their own matrix for your fight, then compare them.  This will give you a less distroted view and give you ideas that maybe you would not have thought of.

Below is a sample CARVER matrix of what a possible Muay Thai dominate fighter may come up with if he is fighting a fighter that is predominately a wrestler who likes to utilize the cage for dirty boxing. 

THE CARVER MATRIX

	Escaping from the guard	Takedowns	Single Leg  Defense	Boxing	Escaping against the fence	Passing the Guard
Criticality	4	2	5	4	4	1
Accessibility	4	2	4	4	3	1
Recuperability	2	1	2	3	3	2
Vulnerability	4	1	2	3	2	3
Effect	4	5	5	3	3	4
Recognizeability	2	4	4	4	4	4
Total	20	15	22	21	19	15

Utilizing the above matrix, would give the fighter the direction that training cage work and takedown defense is probably more important that drilling single legs and guard passing.   I realize this may be common sense but I believe that adding quantitative data to a problem can make solution easier to discover.  Using this type of matrix to organize your training could have dramatic impacts on your effectiveness, attitude, focus, and motivation.

This same matrix can be used for many purposes using the same guidelines of ranking each category.  Proper planning and preparation can mean the difference of winning and losing, being poor and being rich, getting hired and getting fired.   Try using the CARVER method with your training and let me know how it works for you.

Jerome

www.fightlogs.com