“HAMMERTIME!”

This post has already appeared on Facebook, but I wanted to get it on the official ECU BJJ and MMA Blog.  I was not present for this event so I had to bring in John DiMarco as a guest author.  Enjoy!

 

The advertisement read: "Hammertime: Go Hard or Go Home!!” High-Intensity tech drill and battle... 5-7pm plus." Well, the operative word here is the "plus". After a 4 1/2 hour epic seminar with Master Dustin "Clean" Denes where we drilled the dog position (where you gotta battle like a dog), several brave ECU soldiers tested their mettle with an additional 4 hours plus of drilling.

Everyone works hard during the week at our regular classes at ECU, but this was an opportunity for us to really test ourselves, be pushed to exhaustion, try new things and see who could thrive under pressure.

In the end, it was over 8 hours of BJJ on Saturday, something very few ever come close to attempting. Jojo always says that when you're tired is when you need to focus on technique, but it's also where you test the limits of what your body is capable of. After this kind of training, a one hour class or a round of tournament matches are much easier to handle because both the body and mind have been conditioned for battle. 

One of the things that we love about Jojo is that he gives us what we need. He is master technician, but also an amazing instructor and coach who is never afraid to pick up new tricks to share with us. Hammertime was also an opportunity for him to observe us and better understand our strengths and areas of need. Master Clean also has more knowledge of what makes us tick for the next seminar.

Comfort and growth don't co-exist. You need to push yourself out of your comfort zone in order to really grow, and that's what this weekend was about. The BBQ on the beach was a nice reward at the end!