Staying on course and focusing on the foundations to get to freedom.

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Hi, I’m John.

This year I will be 38 years old. For 19 years now I have been training jiu jitsu. For over 12 years I have run an academy. For well over 28 years I have been lifting weights doing my best to look like Sly Stallone in Rocky IV. Or even Rocky 1.

I have a wife and 3 babies and I’ve been a parent for over 5 years now thanks to Rosco.

I’ve finished school and gotten a Uni degree. I have gone on adventures.

Over the years of life and experience and trying my best to do as well as I can in all endeavours I apply myself in, I have come to notice a few trends. This noticing has come amongst an onslaught of the information age and self help books and social media posts and gurus galore.

It seems as though everyone has the answer to your problems. The problems are often the same but the answers always seem to be different. They have to be, because if they weren’t they would be ignored. The headlines are getting more boisterous, the solutions more intense, and everyone and everything has a different opinion on what’s most important.

I’ve been sitting back observing and listening and watching a whole bunch. I’ve fallen for stuff, we’ll call it experiment, and come up with conclusions based on results. Maybe that’s how it ought to be.

And at the end of the day I come back to the same ideas.

Excellence in anything comes down to the basics done right, over and over. In any field or sport, or endeavour, there are basics that are not a secret to anyone. These basics form 80% of the meat and potatoes to get to where you want to go.

“Boring is the battlefield”

We all want to focus our energies on what’s new and exciting and different and unique. And on the flip side of that we don’t consistently sit with what we know will get us to where we want to go.

In jiu jitsu we know there are fundamentals of movement and technique and concepts that make up the vast majority of a black belt’s competence. Then there are the tricks that come as the icing on the cake.

It is boring to continuously work on the fundamentals. But what if 80% of the time you focused on what is most important? You refined your distance management, your weight distribution, your base, and your timing of the regular techniques. Then 20% of the time you worked on new movements and different variations from different positions.

It isn’t as spicy as constantly focusing on the ‘meta’, the cool, sexy stuff you see at the high levels. But if you haven’t locked down your fundamentals and continuously gone back to ensure they’re finetuned and sharp, then you may be barking up the wrong tree.

The same applies anywhere and everywhere else.

If I want to lose 10kgs, should I ensure I jump in a sauna and an ice bath 3 times per week, for 12 minutes and 30 seconds at a time because I heard it on a podcast with Andrew Huberman? Or do I ensure I eat an adequate amount of protein and veggies and carbs and fats, and make sure my intake is enough to drop weight slowly but surely? The ice bath is fancy and fun, but the quality food intake in the right amounts at the right time is where most of your energy ought to go.

I understand the pull. I have an internet connection and an Instagram account. I save those moves that come up and promise myself I’ll drill them after class that evening. But I then remind myself that it isn’t the most important stuff to focus on.

After almost 20 years on the mats, sometimes the new stuff is fun and entertaining. There are only so many armbars from guard you can drill before it gets tedious. And we need to keep it fun if we are going to continue on the path. But let’s not forget what got us to the dance, and what allows us to continue improving.

Wherever you’re at right now, and whatever you’re focusing on, what’s the basic, boring stuff you should be putting most of your attention on? Focus on this, watch your level of skill improve, and leave the circus moves to the extras.