Dojo Discernments

Hi all! Here is your weekly installment of Dojo Discernments where I share some thought earned on the mats this week!

Keys To Victory: Deep Focus

Though the style of doing so is different for each competitor, every successful one is able to drop into a state of deep focus prior to stepping onto the competition mats. This is what I look for as a coach as my student prepares. 

Increased dopamine & norepinephrine as you sit along the mat waiting for your match to come up. Brainwaves shift to beta & gamma states as you hone in.

Whatever works for you, work to shift to a state of deep focus prior to your matches!

What to Avoid: Distractions

In competition one of the two major rules is to never stress. Stress does nothing to improve your competition state. Don't stress weeks out, days out, don't stress on the way to the venue. Don't stress. 

Stress is your norepinephrine, aka we are about to get in a fight chemicals, don't waste or leak them out through the channels of anxiety and worry! Save them for just before match time, so you are put into a heightened state of awareness!

Keep the air clear. Keep your head in the game. Keep good technique.

Rule #1 of competing! Don't stress

Deliberate Practice

Deliberate practice is often the opposite of enjoyable. The process of your neurons reshaping into a new form can often be a struggle.

Avoidance of deliberate practice long term though, can lead to a mound of work that led to short term satiation rather than long term satisfaction. 

There's been so many times someone has recommended working on a tool, but the tool was obscure to me so I failed to work on it, and later I realized I could have really used that tool. 

So now when I hit that feeling of frustration or haziness of something, that is my signal to spend more time in deliberate work there!

Feedback Can Hurt

It’s natural to rely on instinct. Feedback can feel like personal criticism, but within it lies the map to your next level.

Even Magnus Carlsen, arguably the greatest chess player of all time, hired Garry Kasparov, former world champion to critique him, to see the blind spots he couldn't.

If the GOATs can receive feedback, so can we.

What I'm Reading

So Good They Can't Ignore you by Cal Newport

Newport argues that passion isn't something you find, it's something you develop by becoming excellent at valuable work.

Instead of following your passion, adopt a craftsman mindset: focus on mastering rare and useful skills. This builds career capital, which gives you more freedom, impact, and purpose.

Real growth comes from deliberate, focused practice.
Passion follows mastery; not the other way around.

and as you can tell, was a major inspiration for this weeks newsletter!

Jiu-Jitsu Mission

As is with this newsletter: to pour life into people. To inspire you to pour life into people. May we take what we learn, practice it, and pour it into others. 

If this message helped you focus, forward it to someone you train with. Let’s grow together: on and off the mat. Dovadoggdojo