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Competition Training

1/8/2013

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For me getting ready for a competition is always more motivating and
stimulating than just training for training’s sake. I like to have goals and
something to shoot for. I always like the test and thrill of combat and the
opportunity to test myself to find out where my skills are at and what I do
well and what needs work.
 
In order to be fully prepared for competition you will need to
develop a ‘base’ level of: skill, strength, conditioning, and mental
preparation. This should be an ongoing process that includes a regular strength
and conditioning program, grappling classes and private lessons, strategy and
game plan development and adversity training. To be truly competitive this
process should be year round.
 
When training for a specific competition your training needs to
be similar to what your competition will be like. More emphasis should be placed
on situational drilling, live sparring and conditioning. A moderate to shorter
duration grappling workout with a higher output of intensity is best. 
 
This type of grappling workout should be planned for the last 4-6
weeks before your competition. Usually about an hour and a half is good to shoot
for. 2 hours can be a little long and sometimes leads to less effective use of
time. Make sure that everything you have planned for your grappling session has
a purpose.
 
Including actual “Live” matches where time and score is kept help
add with the preparation. When possible, schedule “Live” training matches so an
“audience” can be present. Invite friends or family or even have fellow students
be part of the “crowd” and simulate a real tournament environment. 
  
The week of the competition plan short, low intensity workouts so
that you can maximize recovery and take full effect of your body’s adaptive
capabilities. You should also plan in a day (or two) of full rest during that
week. I usually try to rest up the day before I travel because I know that
traveling will take a toll with additional stress of flying or driving,
unfamiliarity with the environment and/or foods and other possible disruptions. 
  
When I get to my destination I like to have a short intense
workout to help me get the ‘gunk’ of travel out of my system and settle in
mentally. I have found this is very beneficial over the years of competition
experience. It is also relaxing because your body has a chance to release some
of the nervous tension that comes up prior to competition.

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Hard Times

12/25/2012

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Picture
Brandon Ruiz working for a pin at the 2007 Greco Roman Wrestling U.S. World Team Trials
I was looking back through some of my old competition and training journals the other day and it took me back to a few years ago. It made me think about all the struggles and tough times that I experienced over that period. I kept records of my performances with wins and losses and I also remember exactly the type of experiences that my little family was going through over that time. 


At the time I was wrestling in the Greco Roman style and also doing some
submission tournaments as they came up. We just had our first child and had
moved back to Utah. Up to that point my wife and I had been living in Colorado
Springs, Colorado so that I could train in Greco Roman wrestling at the Olympic
Training Center. I had done rather well during the time we were there. I had
arrived as a nationally unranked athlete and quickly moved up to All American
finishes at the national tournament. I had moved up to a 4th place national
championships finish the year we had to make the difficult decision to leave the
OTC. 

It was tough. I had been steadily improving and moving up the ranks, with a
couple more years I feel that I could have possibly made some major
breakthroughs in Greco. However we felt like our place was home closer to our
families in Utah. It was nerve racking for many reasons. I had felt that I was
so close to getting to where I wanted to go in Greco but at the same time I was
still so far. All I knew was that I had a little family to take care of and that
it meant change for my athletic pursuits. I didn’t know how to digest it all
exactly. 

When we made it back to Utah I was fortunate enough to find work as a
landscape architect consultant working on a per-job contract basis with the
landscape architecture firm that I now work for full time. It was tough
financially and it was tough for me as an athlete. I was trying to support a
family, plus work, plus train as much as I could and continue to pursue Greco
Roman wrestling success. I had just left the best training situation I could
have possibly had and added tons of additional responsibilities to my plate. 
 
The transition was tough. I had a limited number of training partners most of
which I had to teach how to wrestle Greco. The steady improvements that I had
been making as an athlete were beginning to stagnate and I was feeling like my
dream was slipping further and further out of my reach. Despite intense
fluctuations in performance and training I was able to repeat my 4th place
nationals finish the first year being back in Utah. It was enough to keep me
going in Greco but at the same time I could feel that unless I could get back to
the OTC my chances were decreasing day by day. 

Financially we were a mess. My contract jobs were up and down and I wasn’t
making full time money. It was enough to keep us afloat but not much more than
that. I was incurring thousands in personal debt on credit cards not only for
competition expenses but for day to day living expenses. It was a brutal and
doubt filled time.

To supplement my Greco training the following year I increased my training in
grappling. There were just more opportunities to grapple, yet I was still
pushing as hard as I could to get to where I wanted to go in Greco. I was at a
crossroads in my athletic career. I really wanted to have success as a Greco
Roman wrestler. I had reached a respectable level and I wanted more. I could
also see that my potential may be greater in grappling. It was a time of
confusion and soul searching. 

During this time my wife had become pregnant and we were excited to welcome
in a second child into our family. My wife and family were the ones that kept me
going forward. We began thinking more about the future and what another child
would mean. Working as a contract employee meant that we did not have health
insurance and that we would be faced with the costs of everything related to
child birth. My credit was running out and so was time to train like I wanted
to. 

Still we felt blessed that we would be having another child despite our
financial situation. We kept a positive outlook and hope in our coming baby.
Then just as things looked the darkest, they got darker. After about 3 months of
pregnancy my wife had a miscarriage and we lost the baby. We were both
devastated. It felt like we had slid into a pit and couldn’t find the way out.
Our hopes had been dashed and our spirits sunken.

Despite my lack of quality training and family hardship I competed at the
Greco nationals that year and finished in the top eight but not high enough to
get to the Olympic trials. It was very disappointing as I knew that I could have
punched my ticket at the nationals if I hadn’t lost a match that I should have
won. After I was unable to qualify for the trials I decided to leave Greco
behind and focus on grappling and family. 

I was able to get picked up full time at the landscape architecture firm and
my attitude changed. I was able to see great potential in grappling and
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for myself. I was in great shape and took all of my training
knowledge and applied it to a serious study of grappling. Within a few months I
was competitive with the higher ranked students and instructors. My belt
promotions came relatively fast. I was promoted from a purple belt level to
brown belt within my first year of serious training. At that point the snowball
got rolling. I had success after success in grappling and BJJ and enjoyed every
second of it. 

In spring I won the Pancrase world championships along with the title “King
of Combat Grappling”. I finished 3rd at the IBJJF Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world
championships that summer as a brown belt. That December I attained black belt
rank and then the week later I placed 2nd at the FILA Grappling world
championships. My wife had a successful full term pregnancy that brought happy,
healthy fraternal twins (a boy and a girl) to our family. We were so happy to
have their bright new lives become part of ours. What a year!

It was like the success I had always wanted was just on the other side of a
few critical decisions. I had to endure trying situations. I had to seek for my
own ideals of success and happiness. I had to let go of some previously very
powerful goals and embrace new ones. There were days where my own identity as an
athlete and a person were in question. This time in my life was like a refiner’s
fire that shaped and changed me into the athlete and person that I am today.

I was fortunate in finding the best sport for my personal abilities and
makeup. I was blessed to have a supportive wife who held on right along with me
and kept on believing that our lives would get better. We held onto hope for the
things we wanted out of life. Many days that was all we could do. 

There are no guarantees that success will come. My wife and I could have just
as easily fallen on more disappointment and hard times. We could have given up
called it quits. We could have done any number of things that would have caused
different results. Now years later we are moving forward in life. It’s not
perfect. We still have struggles but we understand what it takes to get through
them. 

We all will go through hard times in this life. The secret to getting through
them is keeping a bigger perspective and a big hope in the future. We understood
exactly what we were going through and why we were going through it. We never
tried to hide or mask our situation into something that it wasn’t. We accepted
the reality of those hard times and pressed on anyway. 

When you’re going through tough times keep going. Don’t stop in the middle of
it. Giving up reduces ability to trust yourself and will only add to your
disappointment. 

Some days little steps are all you will be able to take.  Other days you
might not feel like you’re taking any. Just keep going. Keep seeking for
solutions. Keep believing that life has great things in store for you. Be brave
and be willing to take the hits. Roll with the punches and keep your faith in
your future. As you endure the struggles life will see your efforts and will
start to open up to you. It may take some different turns and twists to get to
success but you will get it if you stick with it.

You can achieve greatness. You can reach your goals. Be strong. Believe.
Hope.



Picture
Justin Ruiz, Carrie Ruiz (Mom) and Brandon Ruiz contemplating the competition at the 2007 US Greco Roman Wrestling National Championships.
4 Comments

Champions Find a Way!

11/24/2012

1 Comment

 
I'm so excited about my new book that is coming out! I am putting the finishing touches on and I hope to have it completely done the first part of December! This has been one of my life's goals for a long time! 

I thought you might enjoy a little snippet from the book. Enjoy!
  
"I have seen athletes who were 'not supposed to win' end up
winning and athletes that did all the 'right things' end up losing. I have also
seen the athletes who were supposed to win follow through and win. What the
winners all had in common was an appropriate game plan matched with appropriate
execution and adaptation. 

   There is no magic checklist that an athlete can check off on their way
to becoming a champion. It just does not work that way. If you think it does,
you are in for a rude and painful awakening.  You will always have
distractions that pop up and always be required to make adaptations in the
course of battle.

    The only REAL tried and true formula for success is: Execution
of strategy and technique under real and adverse situations.

    That is it! That is all, nothing more and nothing less! You do
not have to be a superstar with endless talent. You do not have to know a
thousand and one techniques. You do not have to take special vitamins, wear some
piece of special clothing, or be an amazingly popular and well liked person.

    You just have to execute during the competition. 
Everything you do leading up to the competition is either a help or a hindrance
to that execution. Your lifestyle and training habits all have an effect on your
level of execution. 

    Once it’s time to compete it’s about executing your best skills
and neutralizing your opponent’s through a sound strategy. If your preparation
was adequate for the task, then your competition should go more in the direction
that you desire. It is ultimately the person or team who executes that wins the
contest."



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Status Update

11/22/2012

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To all my loyal followers I apologize for the absence over the past few months. Where have I been? Well to be honest I've been working on a project that I have kept hush hush until now. I'm pretty close to finishing up my first actual book, making some polishes and a few edits.

This book will absolutely change your game! I'm jamming it full of solutions to problems that guys and gals like you face on a day to day basis in their pursuit of grappling greatness.

If you've ever dealt with pre-match anxiety, stress, doubt or fear then this book is for you. If you have ever wanted to konw what the secret to getting into the 'zone' state of mind for grappling then you will want to get a hold of this.

I'm super excited about it and I've got a goal to make it available asap! I'm hoping before Christmas so that you can hit the ground running in 2013!
 
Stay tuned for more info coming soon! Also stay tuned as there are going to be some more youtube goodies coming up the end of this year too!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving weekend!
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Mental Self Defense Radio: Worthy to Win - Joey Johnson & Brandon Ruiz

5/5/2012

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This weekI had a great time chatting with Jake Shannon of Scientific Wrestling and Mental Self Defense Radio. My coach Joey Johnson of Worthy to Win and I were able to have the chance to talk about Grappling and the Worthy to Win program.

Worthy to Win has been instrumental in my success as an athlete. I highly recommend listening!
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Execution is Greater than Desire

4/22/2012

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Execution is Greater than Desire

A lot of times I hear “that guy wanted it more than the other guy”.
Someone can want it “more” and have done all the
“right things” prior to competition but without execution they won’t win.
Sometimes we think that the wanting it and the desiring of something so strong
will somehow make it happen. The real key in competition is executing it in the
competition. All the preparation is in rehearsal to what you will do in the
actual event. If you don’t do it in the event it won’t happen. It doesn’t matter
how much you want it, how strong or well conditioned or even how technically
superior you are if you don’t actually go out and execute. You have to
understand this. It’s not who wants it most. It’s who can keep their
concentration and complete the necessary simple tasks under pressure. Desire and
wanting it certainly help and keep one motivated during the pressure and
adversity but if they stand alone they will eventually fall. Execution is king
in actual competition. If you want to be successful find more consistent ways to
execute.
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Competition Strategy

4/6/2012

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Pre-Competition Game Plan and Post Competition Evaluations are essential to improving.
Keeping records of wins, losses, points scored for and against and the specific techniques used
along with timing and mat strategy analysis are key components of the winning
athlete. If you are not willing to do those things you may be a physical and
technical monster but you will be beaten by the athletes who are willing to do
the paperwork. NFL athletes practice and study 8+ hours a day during their
training camps. About 3 of those hours are physical work, the other 5 are spent
learning plays, studying film and looking for weaknesses in their opponents. To
be a more successful grappler you must adopt this philosophy if you want to be
successful.

If you are serious about winning then you need to contact the man that helped me,
Joey Johnson, and start training with his Worthy to Win system!
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Study Greatness

3/12/2012

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Picture












Study Greatness

If you would be great study greatness. Too many people study the loser and why they lost.
They study how not to lose. They try to figure out how they can avoid making the same
mistakes as the loser. Historians tell us the falsehood of “those who do not study history
are bound to repeat it.” I have yet to see anyone who has studied history not repeat it.
Human nature is a repeat phenomenon. Studying the history of losing will teach you that
there have been some major failures in the past. 

This is fine if you want to continue to lose. You can’t study losing and
expect to win. 

Your mind cannot dwell on the reverse of a thing. You cannot dwell on losing
and expect to win. 

If you want to have more success in your endeavors study those who are
already successful. Study how they won. Figure out how you can repeat similar
successes as to what they have created. Borrow their ingenuity and example.
Develop the next step from where they left off. 

If you think that studying history will help you for heaven’s sake study the
winning team! Study the dominant figures and systems of the past. Understand
what they did and why they did it. 

Spending too much time on trying to understand someone else’s mistakes is the
surest way to avoid fixing your own. I would rather fix the holes in my own game
first. Jesus said ‘first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote of thy brother’s eye.’

 As you study successful strategies you will start to see the world
differently. You will start to do things differently. You will find greater
effectiveness and efficiency. You will find more and better solutions to
problems both big and small. Your mind will expand and you will ask better
questions. When you start asking better questions you will start getting better
solutions. 

Look for the way things are being approached. Look for the setups. Look for
transitions. Look for the finishes. Look for subtle things like timing and
positioning. 

Learn from the successes of the past and you will have a successful future.



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Studying Chess to Improve Your Grappling?

3/7/2012

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Grappling vs Chess...which is tougher?











Studying Chess to Improve Your Grappling?

Though at first glance chess and grappling may not appear all that similar they are both indeed a game of strategy and creativity. I found some very insightful thoughts on chess that I was able to relate to my grappling game by watching a chess video on YouTube. 

I have no idea who the video’s creator is but he left me thinking about
several things that I can implement into my grappling game.

Here are the thoughts I took from it:

• Always look for the space left behind.
• In strange situations both players tend to miss things because they are playing types of positions
that they both unfamiliar with.
• You have to flow with the moment. Be open to every possibility. Don’t be flustered with the unknown. Move with the struggle. Enjoy the chaos. Trust yourself. You can figure everything out.

How can these be applied more specifically to grappling?

Controlling Space
In grappling there is always a certain amount of space
necessary for every technique to be performed. This space always allows for new
opportunities to attack or defend. The better you are at controlling the space
the better your chances are of successfully attacking and defending. The best
attackers and defenders know exactly how to create openings for attack and how
to simultaneously shut down space to nullify attacks. 

Where are the spaces that you are leaving behind? Where does your opponent
have an opportunity? Where is your opponent leaving you an opening? Is there an
easier submission available?

Start looking for that “space left behind” and you will see new
possibilities.

Recognize Positions
One of my core philosophies is: The faster you can
recognize positions the faster you can turn it into an opportunity to attack or
defend. So much of what we do absolutely depends on recognition of body
positioning, yet how often do you actually train that? How often has anyone even
talked about that? In my experience it has been minimal. Most coaches often
overlook this all important philosophy. 

If you look at the best athletes they are masters of understanding where they
are at all times and the accompanying pitfalls and opportunities. This is why
you will see some athletes naturally gravitate toward a control game or wide
open game. There are few that can or prefer to do both. This is due in large
part because recognition is different for everyone. Some do it by feel, some do
it by sight, some do it by mental calculation. No matter how you do it
recognition has to become a large focal point of your game.

Flow
You can only flow in grappling once you have the ability to control
space and recognize positions and opportunities. Without those first two skills
trying to flow will often be like riding down the river on the way to a
waterfall. There are so many great grapplers out there who just like the chess
master can predict 3,4 and 5 moves ahead because they understand openings and
recognize positions so well. There is always a little ‘key’ that they find and
unlock your whole game. You can learn to do the same thing. All it takes is
time, patience, practice and a little creativity.

Trust Yourself
Every time I try to figure out a black belt’s guard game I
have to ask myself; “Where are my arms? Where is my base? Keep the pressure
here. Look for the opening at this point.” Etc. I have to trust that my
abilities to execute are as good or better than his in the areas in which I plan
to attempt my techniques. 

It is very much a situation of knowing where you want to go and looking for
the best path to get there because there is no ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ path. It
comes down to trusting in your physical and mental abilities as an athlete. You
have to believe that you can solve the problem and unlock the riddle that your
opponent presents. 

For anyone interested in watching the actual original chess video and seeing
what you can glean for yourself here is the link. 
ChessMaster GrandMaster Edition: Kogan A vs Waitzkin J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygrb_yp-Hdc 
 
Until next time good luck and good training!
 



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Honesty and Integrity

2/23/2012

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Honesty and Integrity

You may be asking what do honesty and integrity have to do with grappling, or
any other activity for that matter? 

Well at the heart of it they are two of the most important principles of
success in life and in athletics. In life when you purchase a product you expect
to pay the required price. You expect that you must pay for an item before you
can take it out of the store. Your level of integrity dictates whether you will
pay for the item, or if you will just walk off and steal it.

 When you ask an honest question you expect an honest answer. When you drive
down the road you expect that the other drivers will have the integrity to obey
the traffic laws. You expect that when you compete the other competitors will
follow the rules for safety and scoring that have been established and that you
agree to when you sign the entry waiver.

Honesty and Integrity are everywhere. Without these values there would be no
chance for much of anything in society. 

How does this more directly apply to you as an athlete? 

Honesty:
You must be honest with yourself and what your true goals are and
why you are pursuing them. You may be holding yourself back by hiding behind
situations and circumstances. You may be telling yourself little lies that you
aren’t able to do something because of family or because of work. You may be
making excuses to avoid putting in an honest effort physically. You may be
making excuses to avoid facing the reality of the pressures and stresses that
competition places on you. You may be hiding behind lack of coaching or
experience.

The honest athlete will learn to discern the truth from the errors, the
misconceptions and the lies both big and small that get made to excuse ourselves
from loss and disappointment. The honest athlete stares the reality of potential
loss and the opportunity of winning in the face and knows exactly which side
they are moving toward.

Integrity:
Integrity s when you come to grips with the need to be
completely honest with yourself and your level of commitment, desire and effort.
The athlete with integrity holds their self to a higher standard, one that
recognizes an excuse but makes the effort anyway. The athlete with integrity
gives forth their best effort and then builds upon it. The athlete with
integrity takes responsibility for their actions both on and off the mat. 

Honesty leads to better workouts and better insights into flaws and strengths
in technique and strategy. It is the beginning of development; it is the
beginning of understanding. Integrity is the inner strength to hold oneself to
their commitment to improve. Developing these two virtues in your life and in
your grappling game will lead you to greater and greater success.


   


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