I recently got a Kobo ebook reader from this classifieds site called Kijiji. It’s the basic original version, not the one with Wi-Fi, which I actually wanted, because it won’t fry my nuts and kill all my little soldiers if I fall asleep with it on my lap.
The other reason I forsook (is that a word?) Wi-Fi for the communication-impaired version is because I don’t want to be distracted when I’m reading.
When I read, I read. That’s why people are shocked when I tell them I read 80-100 books each year.
When most people read, they’re eating, texting, checking email or even watching TV.
How the hell can you concentrate on your book if the anchorman is telling you how 2 people who live near you just got shot to death, Lady Rihanna is telling you how much of a hoe she is, and your buddy is texting you about how he banged some random drunk girl from the club last night?
‘Nuff said.
Plus, more and more I’m seeing the benefits of ebooks vs. traditional paperback or, gasp, hardcovers, such as:
- They’re thinner, lighter and sometimes smaller (sometimes not).
- Better for the environment – you can store 1000’s of books on one… How many trees die for 1000’s of books to fill a bookworm’s library? Plus, how much gas is used getting the book into your hands?
- eBooks tend to be cheaper, so the thing pays for itself if you read enough.
I only had to get over the attachment to the feel and sound of flipping pages, which I’ll admit, I’m still not 100% over.
Anyway the Kobo I bought (which I got for $50, score) came preloaded with a hundred classic titles and one of them was Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’.
If you don’t know who Sun Tzu is, here’s an artist’s interpretation of him:
One bad ass mofo, eh? 🙂
I don’t remember where, but I also heard that the title could be interpreted as ‘Art of Strategy’ instead of ‘Art of War’. I think this is a better interpretation myself, because the strategies in this book can be applied to many different scenarios, one of which that is uber-important to both you and I which is MMA fighting.
I’d been meaning to read this book for at least 2 years now, but never got into it.
By fate, ‘Art of War’ was the first book I noticed in the list, so I dug in.
The book is short and will probably take you far less than an hour (of focused reading) to finish, but I suggest you spend 10 x that amount and read slowly, thinking about the points he makes.
I’m still reading through it and I’ll share more later, but for now, here are a couple of points he makes and my thoughts on how they can be applied to MMA on each:
“All warfare is based on deception.”
A big part of Sun Tzu’s strategy is deception and faking out your enemy. Think of how UNDERUSED feints and fakes are in MMA.
If you become a master of making your opponent think one thing then do another, you will have amazing success and be far ahead of your opponents and training partners. Here’s what to do:
Advanced Training Tip: Come up with some feints in your head, then try them out with some buddies and ask them what they would do when you do the feint. When they respond, think of what you would do FOLLOWING the feint to capitalize on the opening they leave or even more dangerous, come up with another feint and capitalize on their response to THAT one.
Bruce Lee taught feinting as a critical part of combat, so you can see that this is sound Chinese philosophy. Read Tao of Jeet Kune Do and you’ll be amazed at the depth of Lee’s knowledge of strategy. Here’s a page from it:
“Pretend that you are weak, that he may grow arrogant.”
Again, part of Sun Tzu’s philosophy of deception, but I think this one in particular is one to train because of the common mistake of going for the kill and exerting all your energy too early or when you feel you’ve got the opponent hurt.
Advanced Fighting Tip: If you’re confident in your defense and ability to tie your opponent up on the ground while they unleash a barrage of punches and hammerfists at your head, you can use this strategy to gas your opponent out then capitalize on it by either knocking them out because their hands are low or just fighting for a submission.
Take a look at how Edgar covered up vs. Maynard when he got rocked in the first round – the way he defended himself while he was half out of it was masterful and earned him the draw.
“There is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare.”
Seems so basic, but when it’s said out loud, it makes so much sense. Always do your best to finish the fight. Always look for offense and ways to end it early. Obviously in war, you’re going to have more deaths, more money being spent, more lonely wives back home, which are simply a drain on the soldiers and society. If you just let the enemy keep attacking you, sooner or later you’re going to lose your castle.
Here’s how this applies to MMA…
#1) You should never fight someone you don’t think you can beat. There’s no point in that. If you’re not confident in your ability to win, don’t take the fight. A good record and progressing the skill level of your opponents is vital to a long, lucrative career. It’s not worth a few hundred bucks to sacrifice these things.
#2) This allows the second point to happen, which is that when you are confident you may win, you can come up with strategies on what you want to do to win. So do it.
If you’re not confident, you’ll say to yourself “that’s not gonna work, he’s just gonna do this and this” to every strategy you come up with, and that mindset won’t help you win the fight.
Going in thinking that you’ll fight based on reaction and what’s going on in the moment ONLY, leaves out one of the most powerful weapons you have – STRATEGY.
#3) When you’re in the fight, you must be working towards doing the things that you think will win you the fight. If something presents itself then obviously capitalize on it, but if a sub or KO doesn’t just land in your lap, work your plan.
Don’t forget, if you let the enemy keep attacking you, you’re going to lose your castle.
CONCLUSION
These are just 3 examples of the wisdom in this book. I’ve got pages and pages of notes like this and stuff I’m going to be sharing with my top fighters.
If you’ve read it already, read it again, but this time, take your time and think about how this applies to MMA. Forget about any other applications for the moment, focus on MMA.
If you haven’t read it yet, do it now. It’ll have a positive impact on your career, I guarantee it… But only if you actually do what I said and spend time and brain power thinking about it.
Here’s a FREE download to it. Just right click the link or image and choose ‘Save As’:
Sun Tzu – Art of War [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Now, There Are 2 Things I’d Appreciate You Do…
1) Share one of the tenets of Sun Tzu’s philosophy and how you think you can use it for MMA below… Let’s start some intelligent discussion!
2) Hit ‘Like’ if you want me to keep posting shit like this. I pay attention to the # of Likes I get for each post and write more about stuff that more people like. Cast your vote and participate! That way YOU get the content YOU want. I please to aim… 🙂
– Eric
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