You're never going to feel good about your training sessions – you're never going to feel one hundred percent going into a match: We al have a dream that one day our Jiu Jitsu will feel unstoppable and that the efforts of training will be rewarded with constant progress to a point where you win every match without effort and that our bodies will strengthen with the training to the point we feel physically perfect. This is a pipe dream. Your body will always have issues and pains and in most cases you will have to face up to your challenges in a less than optimal physical state with nagging injuries and constant fatigue. In addition, understand that all your training partners are progressing at roughly the same rate as you and thus you will never have effortless victories in the gym. Every session will be a slog against the pains and fatigue inside your own body and the training partners who grow along side you and remain a severe test every single session. This photo of Gordon Ryan was taken one week before his dominant double gold performance at ADCC. It shows clearly the strain of a standard daily training session (one of three per day). If you saw how effortless many of his matches looked at the world championships you might think the training sessions were even more so – this picture tells a different story. ITS NEVER GOING TO BE AN easy RIDE FOR YOU – don't think in those terms. The only measure of worth is this – ARE YOU SLIGHTLY BETTER AT THE SKILLS YOU ARE WORKING ON WHEN YOU WENT TO SLEEP THAN WHEN YOU WOKE. No matter how tired and beat up you might feel after your workouts, THAT'S a realistic and worthwhile goal for each and every session.
