We all have attributes, I have good balance for example. But thinking a little deeper I have started to realise that ambition is an attribute.
James got his purple belt this week at the gym. And rightly so. I have first hand witnessed his desire to get better on each individual part of his game on a weekly basis. Combine that with going the extra mile to get further tuition and then making it count in competition has led him to this moment.
One way to think about it is like a game of top trumps.
Rank - Blue Balance - 70/100 Submissions - 35/100 Reaction - 50/100 Guard - 50/100 Comp Exp - 6 Ambition - 55/100 Style - 101/100
This is by no means accurate as a representation of my game. Just a concept for the blog. However when thinking about what would make up experience points I have to think what goes into it.
So for ambition im thinking about how I have gone from strength to strength. In year one of my training it was very off and on, much like the first time I tried bjj at 16 which lasted about 3 weeks. I was more interested in girls.
In year 4 (currently) I am dedicated to training consistently, have a blog about jiu jitsu, am thinking about it more and more, have set up my loft gym and in general the longer I train the more I see myself dedicating myself in new ways.
To reach 100 ambition would be doing something like training full-time and entering every single competition. It’s not impossible but then again its just an analogy.
Today I decided its time to keep a training diary. I have always learned by osmosis, apart from experimenting with stuff for this blog. Today however saw me pilfer a blank excercise book from an uncredited source and begin jotting down, in as understandable fashion as possible what I did last night at the gym.
I think that definitely gives me +1 ambition.
3 Comments
October 24, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Nice post John.
I realised a while ago that ambition means alot if you want to achieve anything. Looking at people I went to school with, its those with the most ambition that have the good jobs now, not necessary the cleverest or the best achievers.
As for me, I dont really have much ambition in anything except for BJJ which I put all my efforts into!
I think you also have great ambition for BJJ, this blog together with your consistent training and regular competitions is proof of that!
October 25, 2009 at 12:10 am
Its only a matter of time before you blog James. Its the factory way.
October 27, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Ambition, hmmm.
Me personally, my ambition is to just improve.
I know this sounds really naff and unspecific, but larger ambitions of, say, winning a major IBJJF title, I think realistically at my age and lifestage is a no goer.
This is a good thing ie I can train without killing myself.
But also a bad thing – I am abit lazy and don;t really train with a larger purpose.
Having said that, I like to balance work, family and BJJ fairly equally so everyone is happy, which ultimately makes me happy.
Oh, and get to train with Kyra Gracie, now that Penny has been ticked off my list
Keep up the posts, great to read!