One step at a time: When competing at world championship level – the finishes don't come easy. At the recent ADCC world championships, Gordon Ryan shocked the world by exhibiting a submission rate of around seventy percent across two weight divisions despite the fact that half his opponents were former champions and/or medalists. A big part of his success in this regard is our approach to working through resistance one step at a time. This requires that we first identify where we want to be/what we want to accomplish, then what problems the opponent is creating for us that are currently preventing us from getting there. Then we must establish what ORDER these problems need to be addressed if we are to work systematically through each problem towards our desired end. This requires a certain calmness on our part. It's difficult to solve problems in a state of agitation or excitement. It also requires a clear goal on our part and the ability to identify the obstacles in front of it being created by our opponent. Lastly, we need the ability to put the problems in a list from first to last and the knowledge of how to solve each in turn. Working along these lines every day in the gym creates the results you saw Mr Ryan achieve. It was surprising to many to see such a young athlete working so calmly and methodically against very dangerous opponents to get breakthroughs. This calm step by step approach is the one I reinforce every day in the gym with my athletes. The physical speed that different athletes pursue it varies, but the mental process underlying it never does.
