Competition vs Training

‘You sink to the level of your training, you don’t rise to the occasion’

A big factor which holds people back in their training is putting too much emphasis on what they can do in training and performance in the gym with their training partners. They mistakenly believe that how they perform in this comfortable setting with their friends and training partners is a good reflection of how they will do in competition.

Training Vs Fighting

Winning in training is easy. You turn up at the familiar environment of your own gym every night at the same time and train and spar with partners who’s games you’ve already figured out. You know which positions they are good from and which submissions or attacks they are likely to attempt. You are also certain that you won’t get injured or hurt during training.

Fighting is much different. You turn up at a venue which you’ve probably never been to before and take on opponents who its likely you don’t know much about. You don’t know their strengths or weaknesses and will usually have to quickly figure them out on the spot. Even if you had the opportunity to research and study your opponent before hand there is no guarantee that their game hasn’t changed significantly since then.

Don’t leave your best fights in the Gym

Some people look really good and perform well in training but can’t put it together in competitions and fights. Others do not look great in training but perform well in fights. The reality is that the guys who don’t look good in training are usually just holding back, working on their weaknesses and developing their overall skills rather than just trying to win every round.

People who win matches and fights know how to train. They know that winning in training is not important and is meaningless. They use training to work on their weak areas and to keep improving.

Why do the others not improve? Due to going too hard they eventually run out of people to train with. The other students in the gym either get injured or eventually just avoid them or refuse to train with them. People who go hard in training are usually also the same ones who are first to complain and quit when training partners turn it up on them.

People who want to win in the gym often avoid training or start skipping rounds as soon as their training partners start matching their intensity. Due to their desire to always win in training they tend to stick exclusively to their good techniques and avoid having to work on their weak areas. This leads to their game stagnating over the years while other students keep developing and eventually overtake them.

Don’t Try to Win in Training

The number one principle of Training Vs Competition is this: Training is just training. What you can do in training is a poor indication of what you can do in a

 real match. In training you are relaxed, there are no nerves, no fear, no risk of injury, no stress about embarrassing yourself, no fatigue from cutting weight the previous day,

To get the most out of each training session: