The Beauty of Being Prepared In Judo

I can tell you right now that as a judo player, there was no greater feeling in the world than walking on the mat for a competition and being prepared. And conversely, there was no worse feeling than losing because I was not prepared.

As I became a more mature judo player and I discovered that 'training hard' was much different than being 'prepared.' Training hard meant that I was doing just that - training, hard. Not getting better, not learning more, not doing more, not improving, not elevating my game, nothing. Just training hard. At the lower levels of the sport of Judo training hard has its merit. Sometimes you can win at the lower levels just by outworking your opponents and working harder than the opposition and competition. But at the higher levels of the sport, everybody TRAINS hard. It is those individuals, teams and coaches who understand that smart training supersedes hard training; who will go far in the sport of judo.

Being Prepared

Being prepared is the smart thing to do. Having a planned out and periodized training program is the right thing to do. Getting professional help with your technical development is the smart thing to do. Acquiring as much knowledge as you can about the sport is the smart thing to do. And being prepared by scouting yourself and the competition is the smart thing to do.

There is no substitute for being prepared.

If you take a trip out into the desert, there is one thing that I'm sure you know that you will need and that one thing is water. Well, water is most essential for your immediate survival and it will keep you alive for the most part but without proper clothing for the hot days and proper protection for the cold nights in the desert you will still be unprepared. This is what happens to most judo players. They run out into the competitive environment; the desert, if you will, and they just bring water. They have no clue about the other things which are necessary for survival. They only know about water. In order to fix such a problem, you need to go speak with some people or access people who have walked through the desert before and ask them what it is that you need to take with you so that you can make the jourey.

Ask them what you need so that you can be prepared. And then take the appropriate steps to making such levels of preparedness in your judo career a reality.

In summary, find some experts in your field and observe, question, listen and learn. Also, understand that scouting yourself and your opponents if crucial to your successes. And lastly, do "drink the water", most certainly "train hard" but understand those things are only the bare-minimum and although you will find success with such things at the beginning stages, such practices cannot be sustained if you desire long term development.

      By Dr. Rhadi Ferguson PhD

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