If those of you reading haven't figured out by now, my sport of choice is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I have competed in many others, trained in others still, and even trained people in sports that I am not particularly interested in. One of my underlying hobbies is the great outdoor recreation of Rock Climbing. I have only been to an indoor rock gym less than a dozen times in my life, but since my first trip with the Boy Scouts when I was maybe a freshman in high school, I fell in love with the atmosphere, the thrill, and the challenge. I have since tried to get back into the sport several times, but just couldn't make it work. You won't find too many boulders or crags in the desolate corn and bean fields of central Illinois. The southern tip of Illinois is a bit of a different story, but that is still a few hours' drive from where I was previously living. In other words, too far for weekly training time.
Part of this blog is to encourage "open source" athletics. This is concept adopted from Bruce Lee's JKD principle that instructs us to "absorb what is useful and discard what is not." Put into the context of this blog; I want to synergize all the aspects of nutrition and exercise that I have experimented with over the years. I find Rock Climbing to be a fascinating sport in and of itself. Unfortunately there is usually only enough "spare time" in one's life to be dedicated to a single primary hobby that captivates most of your interest. For me that is fighting, specifically BJJ but also the occasional striking session. However, cross training is an important part of any training program. This is a way to stay active and productive in your training while reducing the chances of burning out at any particular phase; be it pre-competition camp, off season, or during a competitive hiatus. I usually work specifically on BJJ four days per week. I like to cross train, for time and convenience reasons, once or twice per week. A single day of the week (this is just as important as training hard) is dedicated to active recovery which typically means for me about a half hour to and hour of yoga and meditation to relax and stretch out. My cross training staple is Rock Climbing. Do a few forum and Google searches on the similarities between BJJ and Rock Climbing and I bet you will be a little surprised :-) This is now much more feasible for me as the school I am currently attending has an indoor climbing wall and even a climbing club/team!
I'm really getting into this! Some financial and time restraints have cut into my BJJ competition schedule. Make no mistake, I'm a born competitor, always will be. It's just in my nature to totally immerse myself in and obsess over anything that I feel is worth doing. While I love BJJ there are two reasons that seem to inhibit us all from being more active in our recreational hobbies: Time and Money. Let me explain my situation a bit more. I expect the best from myself when it comes to competition. This means that I refuse to enter a competition if I do not feel I have or can train the way that I think will prepare me to bring my A-game. A few months ago I relocated, not for BJJ but for school. Thus, my main focus is school and I am leery of how much time in (and out) of the gym I can contribute to training when various projects/papers/homework and such can pop-up at a moment's notice. Then there is the money. I currently don't have a job, so "fun" expenditures like BJJ competitions (entry fees, gas to get to the gym, travel costs for the competitions, etc...) are on a bare minimum. You can go a lot further on a weekend climbing/camping/biking trip for $20 - $50 thank you can for BJJ. Rest assured that you have not heard the last of my BJJ comp days, but they are just on an indefinite hiatus for the time being. But like I said earlier, this blog is dedicated to a variety of athletics. It is no longer merely "fighting and dieting." It is an open source, multi-faceted, continuum of innovation, experimentation, and inspiration.
Tap more, learn faster, ROCK ON!
No comments:
Post a Comment