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Conditioning

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There is a story about two men who go out to seek the advice of a fitness expert. The first approaches him and says, my goal is to run a 5k. The guru tells him to start with 1K and gradually add distance every day for a month until he can complete the 5k. The second man tells the guru that he wants to race a 5k. The guru tells him to run 20k at your fastest speed every day for a month. The second man is flabbergasted - "I don't understand, " he tells the guru, " you told the other man to start with 1k and build up, why did you tell me to start with 20k?" The guru responded: " because if I have you run 20k at your top speed for a month, by the time the race starts 5k will seem like nothing."

If you want to compete in Judo (or any sport for that matter), you need to be able to go the distance. Not just the full 3,4, or 5 minutes as it is, but also be prepared for another 3,4,5 or even 20 minutes of Golden Score. You need to be as fresh after 10 minutes as you are after 2!

Don't believe me? Read a Judo biography or two - In his 'Game of Throws' - Neil Adams talks about how he'd beat the students in his dojo at footraces - even though they'd cheated - AFTER he retired. Ronda Rousey talks about training to win a gold medal, ON YOUR WORST DAY.

Years ago, I went to San Jose on business and decided to try out a class with the vaunted SJSU Judo team. I found out from talking to the students that they were doing Judo, Cardio and/or Weights 6 days a week.

The bottom line - if you want to succeed, you need to be conditioned. And if I want to compete again, so do I.


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