Am I training with technique, or am I a lazy fat a**?

I pride myself on training with an emphasis on technique, and trying to minimize physical attributes as much as possible. Most people who do jiu-jitsu with me will say I roll like I weigh much less. Most of the lighter guys in class have no problem being willing to roll with me, because I will not crush them. I think this is the best way to train. Besides being fun, it gets to the heart of the "art", and will enable me to train for the rest of my life. The guys who tend to use their attributes (size, strength, speed, conditioning, etc...) seem to burn out eventually. I cannot count the guys who have come and gone, while I keep chugging away. The nice thing is, I can always add my attributes when I need to, but they are generally unable to add technique when they want to. So I prefer this way of training. However.........

Recently, I have come to the conclusion that my BJJ game is sort of stagnant. Thinking about how to bring my "slump", I have realized that at some point in the recent past, I made a virtue (training without attribute) into a vice. I have used the excuse of being "technical" to become somewhat lazy and complacent. I think it started last summer when I was bitten by a spider, went to the emergency room to have the venom treated, and I was apparently exposed to MRSA (staph infection). It ravaged my body for the next 6-7 weeks. Even after it was gone, my body was very weak and it was taking me a good amount of time to get back some decent level of conditioning. Just when I was getting my groove back, I had a serious knee injury. The resulting surgery and rehab took 3 more months out of my training time. Since then, I have noticed I am having some real difficulties getting back to where I was last May (when I was bitten). It is not the art, but the artist. I roll without intent or focus, and I have let go of the drive to do extra curricular conditioning workouts. I told myself that it was okay, because I was using "technique". But I wasn't, I was just being lazy and waiting for some magical opening to appear.

Well, that ends now. I have already started to revamp what I am doing. The conditioning work is back on, and now when I roll, I have a definite idea what I am looking to do, and I will be aggressive about doing it. That doesn't mean I will use excess attributes, but I will be working to accomplish a goal, as opposed to waiting for the goal to happen. I have also committed myself to drop 30lbs by the end of August to get down to 190, a weight I have not been at since college. Why August? Because that is when the BJJ world championships will be held in Los Angeles. Since there are no age divisions, I will be competing against guys who will probably be 10 - 20 years younger, so I figure the weight loss (and drop in weight categories) will help me minimize some of the disadvantages I have as an old fart going against athletes in their prime.

The funny thing is, this is only with BJJ. With my CM/striking, I am having almost constant improvements every time I glove up. The cardio part (the lack of) is having a negative impact on my stand up, but I am still feeling like things are working better than before. I am still concentrating on technique, but I have a constant focus and intent when I am hitting my partners. I just need to get that back for the ground, and that is the plan.

So, to sum up. Training with a de-emphasis on physical attributes is a good thing. Just make sure it is not an excuse to dog it. Don't be like me :)