Polaris 33- Consistency and Presenting an Image of Strength

Last month I was at Polaris 33 in Croydon- the last 8 weeks have seen event after event of some form or another so I’m playing catch up a bit. Catching up on documenting and working out my own takeaways and learning from them.

My good friend and former training partner Owen Livesey asked me to help with the warm up and cornering for his Polaris light heavyweight title contest. We don’t use the term ‘cornering’ in Judo, we would simply say ‘coaching’ or specifically for contest we would call it ‘mat-side coaching.’ To echo something similar to what Camberley Judo Club’s Head Coach Luke Preston (who coached Owen and myself) has said before, “You don’t really coach people that are already successful athletes, more just look after them.”

Even ‘Looking after,’ to a lifelong international competitor like Owen is too far. I translate it simply to just ‘making things a bit easier’ for them where you can, and providing some natural moral support. Owen is an extremely experienced and highly dedicated athlete that knows exactly what he is doing on event day; weight control, knowing essentials to pack, staying relaxed prior, when to warm up, how to warm up, focus level between warm up and contest, contest game plan, contest management. He is in control from day’s start to day’s end. There is virtually nothing for anyone else to do. ‘Accompanying’ him for the evening’s match would be the most accurate description. 

Although I knew Owen needed very little the 3 best small ways I saw I may be of service to a successful evening were:

 

1. HELP IT BE ENJOYABLE- While I watched Owen grind out plenty of wins throughout differing stress levels during his Judo career I believe, like most of us, he was at his best when he was enjoying it and we were all having a laugh. Nothing special to do in regards to this, a bit of banter and a few old stories to get the spirits up- what would happen anyway when we or any old mates catch up. We had a joke around then he locked in when the time came.

  2. BE A DURABLE WARM UP BODY- Owen likes a good hard warm up. I knew that he likes to do a full contest in the warm up room before a grappling match. Us Camberley lads used to go at each other hard in the warm up before tournaments so this wasn’t a totally foreign concept. We haven’t actually done any mat based training together since we both finished competitive Judo. I did what I could to keep the pace and intensity of the warm up rounds high but it was a lot like I remember it, I was underneath mostly and even wanted to squeal a couple of times in the last few minutes! Luckily the social pressure of there being a couple of other people in the warm up room just about prevented that!!

3. MAKE THINGS A BIT EASIER FOR HIM- carrying the drink bottles, stopping people disturbing him by asking him for photos 2 minutes before he makes his walkout, ensure he can get fluid easily between rounds etc. Aid focus by removing the smaller tasks.

It was a solid performance as usual from Owen and the contest played out almost exactly as he predicted it would, submitting the opponent in the third round.

I had a good number of people I train with or know through BJJ message me in the 48 hours or so after the event asking what it was like and questions about Owen and his training and approach. 

While Owen has many obvious attributes I believe, without a doubt, his ‘super power’ is his consistency.

He trains daily, on the mat and in the gym. I’ve known him for 20 years and it’s always been the same. I don’t recall him ever ‘skipping’ a session. Just one example- he went to the gym early on the morning of his own wedding day. 

He eats properly- we all lived under the same roof at Camberley so I observed him take on good proteins, carbs and vitamins/minerals with every meal. 

He studies it and constantly talks about it. After the event we had a few hours where we got food and chilled out at the hotel bar- obviously we chatted about what was going on in our personal lives but otherwise the conversation was all geared around Judo, grappling or MMA. He lights up when he talks about sport. 

There is no bullshit with him either. Nothing flash or pretentious. His priorities are his family and sport- little else distracts him.

Another takeaway was a simple but an often overlooked one. Between rounds Owen stayed standing, a quick bit of fluid then straight back to the middle of the mat ready to go well ahead of the next round starting. He never discussed doing this, just a piece of his embedded personal contest discipline. This is all part of the psychological ‘grinding down’ of the opponent. We were always told no matter how you are feeling you never sit down or lean on the wall in training, don’t tidy your kit on your knees, get to your feet quickly after every break in standing sparring. When the opponent begins to tire and you are presenting an image of strength and non-fatigue, regardless of how you actually feel inside, it can very often strain their will to be in there with you. Important base behaviours that start in training. Owen’s contest was another strong display of this. 

Anyway, another enjoyable evening of sport with great friends. Congratulations also to Owen’s wife, Julia on picking up another win in an entertaining contest. Good effort from coach Andy Roberts for getting in there again too.

This month sees us at the Northern Home Counties Open (Judo), The Welsh -18 Open (Judo) then out to Rome for the IBJJF Europeans (Jiu-Jitsu). As always, onto the next.

Danny