From the gym to the big show: Here is an interesting photograph – it was taken one day before EBI 8 at Shawn Williams academy in LA. I taught a seminar on our back control system. Afterwards Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon did some light sparring both to help Mr Ryan finalize his EBI preparation and get a workout for Mr Tonon before his bout in Florida the following week. Can you identify the move Mr Ryan is using here on Mr Tonon? It is the exact Kimura sequence that he would use the next day to defeat Mr Hillebrand in his second match of the evening. This ability to take moves from the gym to the big show is critical to success at the highest levels. So often athletes have all the skills they need to perform, but lack the confidence to pull the trigger when the opportunity arises on the big stage. Note the calm reaction of young nicky Ryan as he watches this action unfold. He has seen the sequence so many times he barely reacts – interestingly his reaction the next night at the big show was identical – he calmly called out the steps in the sequence as we have all seen and done thousands of times. Breaking down the psychological barriers between gym rolling and big league competition is a huge part of our contest preparation- it is interesting to see such a clear example of it in operation here.
