He was an average athlete by all accounts…
a natural 215 lber with some belly (could’ve alpha’ed down at least two weight classes) - and feeling frustrated and beaten down.
This junior was running out of time.
He and his dad made a decision: We’re going to commit to Attack System training.
He trained here every chance he had…personal training, small group training, spring training, summer camps, fall camps, fall club. Every time I opened my doors, he was here.
There was a lot of work to do.
- He wasn’t skilled at hand fighting.
- He only had one attack (a slideby that only worked when people he hadn't wrestled before, hung on his head)
- He didn’t have a shot.
- He didn’t have a system of scoring (or even an offensive attack) on top
- He wasn’t particularly skilled at bottom either.
However, he possessed something most lack: a determination to commit to a systematic wrestling lifestyle.
When he made his decision to come here, he also made the decision to shun every other training center in existence.
His dedication to F.O.C.U.S (follow one course until successful) was richly rewarded.
He improved fast…developing a system for hardcore, top level handfighting…leg attacks hit exactly and precisely…a system of escapes and counter attacks…and a top system that turned him into an instant threat on top.
the day he shocked even me
Right after sectionals his senior year, his dad called me and dropped this bombshell: “We won Sectionals and we’re going to the districts…for the very first time.”
Wha?
Until that moment, this fact had escaped me…he’d never made it out of sectionals before.
Now as a senior, it was finally coming together. He had dominated 3 top ranked wrestlers en route to his sectional championship.
District Stunner
Several top 5 ranked wrestlers awaited him at districts.
Again, ignoring rankings and all the other chatter that don’t matter, he handled every opponent on his way to the District Championship….stunning the (so called but often wrong) pundits and prognosticators.
State tournament time
If he’d have paid any attention at all to rankings, he’d have had plenty of reason to worry when he showed up at state. EVERYONE he faced was ranked. He wasn’t even mentioned in the top 25 (not even on the ‘also-ran’ list).
He won his first two matches, earning his spot in the state semifinals and wound up 5th in State.
Far cry from falling short every year in sectionals.
“My son Brock was a decent wrestler but he was lacking the skills to attack. We decided to pursue private training and what a difference this made in only 9 months. I wish we could have started years ago with Randy, because he’s not only an excellent coach, but he is also an excellent human being. My son couldn’t even get out of the Sectionals, and now he’s a State Semifinalist!" -Rod and Debbie Rickert]
If only he’d have “gone everywhere” instead…
a prevailing myth in wrestling is regarding your quickest path to success.
Brock’s quickest path was training one place and learning one system.
That’s how he was able to accelerate his learning curve quickly. If he’d have fallen for the ‘go everywhere’ myth, he’d have never made it. Instead of knowing exactly how to react in every situation, he’d have done what many do – try to pull something out of their ‘bag o’ tricks on the fly.
Mathematical fact: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
Proven fact: your quickest path to success is always following one path.
This is the path he took in the spring
I’ve seen others – even in my own room – reject the path and suffer the consequences. Its agonizing to watch but I can only show you the path to excel at your highest level. The decision to follow it is yours.
