Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Settling down to business...

Well, I posted the footage of my 3 matches on facebook, and I may not have time to post them here as well. Go ahead and friend me on facebook in the meantime, I suppose.

Work's busy as always and I'm preparing to leave for some vacay with my husband and family on the east coast. I don't know if it's fatigue or burnout or what, but I'm just not motivated to train right now. I went to class this morning and had a nice time, but didn't do nogi at lunch and really not feeling class tonight. I should be training, but I'm thinking it might be productive to let my mind lay somewhat fallow, get a solid 10 days of rest, and come back fresh next week.

7 comments:

Elyse said...

WHERE ON THE EAST COAST??

BJJ CailĂ­n said...

Seconded!

(I love BJJ ppl, lol!)

Wm Blaker, printer said...

You aren't burned out, in the classic sense, imho. I faced the same feeling after two tough fights at the Pan Ams. I trained hard for the Pan Ams, and it was deeply disappointing not to win. Not consciously deeply disappointing, because I'm wiser than that to understand the many factors that go into winning or losing, and to appreciate that how well you fight is also very, very important.

But we are creatures of evolutionary habit, and sometimes at a deeply subconscious level see thinks in black and white - win or lose - and so it hits us hard to lose.

What separates us from a pack of chimps or dogs is that we have a brain that can overcome the instinct to blend back in the herd and just accept the status quo.]

For better or worse, our brains compel us to keep pushing forward.

That's why easy win or hard loss, the people that stick with BJJ keep plugging away until they are really damn good at it.

But our brains are - or should be - smart enough to know when to take a time out, give it a rest.

In my own case, I had a double whammy - mental recovery after the Pan Ams, then my mom went in the hospital and got better, declined, got better, died. Trust me, that's way worse, psychologically, to deal with than prepping for, fighting at, and dealing with the aftermath of, a tournament.

Honestly, the BJJ training - the cycle of train, defeat, train more, never give up, see improvement, manage expectations about how fast and how much we improve, manage expectations about how much innate athleticism and talent we have - translates well for me in dealing with the death of my mom.

We aren't cut from the "give up, take it easy" segment of humanity. We don't quit. If we are smart, we start over and regain all lost ground (as I am doing, gradually, in my return to the mats last week).

In short, besides being as great a player on the mat as we can be, we also, ultimately, have to learn how to be our own ultimate coaches (except for that ultimate coach in the sky).

If your instincts tell you to go with the inevitable flow of having commitments that take you away from the mat anyway, then enjoy your rest, and when you come back, make a plan that will bring you up to speed quickly, but without resort to the puke bucket in the corner of the gym.

And it's true, jiu jitsu makes you better in life, and if you learn to manage your life better, and have hope and optimism, you'll be better in jiu jitsu. They feed each other and make each other better.

Why else would I put up with all the bruises, pains, and gi rashes on my face?

Georgette said...

I'll be on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Charles said...

Rest is just as much an important part of training as working out is.

leslie said...

*pout* That's the wrong side of the state. Mountains are very relaxing ;)

Georgette said...

My almost-brother (childhood friend) lives near Blacksburg and I'm staying with his parents on the shore... maybe we'll make the drive over to the inland part of the state. If I do I'll definitely come train! I wanna meet Leslie and Cailin (sorry can't remember your real name at the moment) and definitely want a private with Ryan :)