The three main components to training for competition, especially in regard to specifics, is to train for singular motions, reactions, and timing. Training is not merely doing hard conditioning or calisthenics. To train means to teach yourself to perform action(s) in a timely and appropiate manner. To react.

It is hard for me to over-state this. The underlying belief that many hold is to enter training and concentrate solely on being "in shape." While that is extremely important, it is more important to train to be able to do something. Boxers typically enlist sparring partners who fit a certain mold or style congruent with their potential opposition. Wrestlers for a long time concentrated on conditioning and merely drilling moves over and over. Wrestlers nowadays have adapted to wrestling in and out of positions, a natural evolution. MMA fighters, often stuck between trying to perfect different styles at once, often skimp on their strengths or weaknesses to concentrate on one or the other, which in my mind is what makes it such a tough sport. Its not the physicality-wrestling is more physically demanding. Rather, it is the conundrum of juggling which parts of the game to "train" at a specific time.

To train and practice certain movements and motions is to prepare for the chance or opportunity to be able to perform them in actual competition. I love sprints, I do them religiously. I won't be sprinting in competition, therefore, I tend to mold my training around the competition and simulate it as best as I can. The lift and twist of a rever-lift, for instance. If I am not lifting up a teammate of mine over and over, I do certain exercises that accentuate this movement to further embed it to my muscle memory. That way, when the time to lock the position arrives, I will react on instinct and not have to think about the lift, but rather just concentrate on my feet and where I am in relation to my opponent's size.

I try to take everything in account when training. I know that in actual competition, the intensity will be fierce and unforgiving. My chest will be heaving, my legs will be burning, and my arms and shoulders will be grinding away. If I am not just straight wrestling live, one of my favorite things to do is to perform sprints or jumps in between periods to better prepare myself for the dehabillitating nature associate with real-time matches. Because there is a "chance" I will need to have that extra in reserve to keep pushing.

I find that many athletes often feel the way I do. You just wish there were 36 more hours in a day to train more. There is no worse feeling than entering a competition feeling ill-prepared. But if you concentrate your training around the actual movements and reactions necessary for confidence and success, then success you shall receive.

Timmy Hands

ICWA