Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Has Made Me A Better Sales Person

Sounds like a funky title but it's true. For more than a decade prior to taking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I worked to build a successful sales career. It's taken me many years to understand the true nature of sales and to embrace the challenge and game of sales fully.

In sales as in BJJ you win some and you lose some. Even the best in the world are humbled at times. If it were not so it would not be such a challenge to take top honors at world and national events. Likewise, the spirit of competition runs deep in the veins of sales professionals. Each has his/her vision of greatness and works diligently toward a single minded goal... To be the best! Whatever that may mean to them. So like BJJ competitors do sales people share this vision of greatness.



To be good at sales one must endeavor to create specific habits that move you toward an ultimate goal. You must refine your technique, look for advantages, execute flawlessly, and remember the rules, master your approach, you must identify and strengthen your weaknesses and you must be prepared to make sacrifices. And in BJJ like sales once and while you must be prepared to take a chance; "throw the dice" as my instructor John Kvenbo Munoz always says. Without great risk there can be no great reward.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as in sales at times you feel like you are top of the world, but today's home runs do not ensure tomorrow's victories as they say. You must continue tirelessly to hone your game and plan to sustain your victories and create consistency in your craft.

Dedicating my mind and body to a single minded goal such as winning gold at Pan Ams and Worlds in the same season focuses my mind, challenges my fortitude and strengthens my resolve. I seek greatness not for title and glory but for me, for self, I will be #1 for the day and walk off the field of battle victorious having competed well and done my best thankful and grateful for my competition for without them their is no game and no battles to be won.

In both BJJ and sales you must work with the end in mind. What will the next workout gain me, what gem of knowledge can I integrate into my game today. How do the next cold calls push me toward my earning target for the year. So different and yet so similar are the mindsets that create a willing student, dedicated competitor and truly successful professional.



I've learned through many years of competition in many disciplines of sport that half the battle is just showing up; showing up for often routine monotonous endless workouts, showing up for conference calls, cold calling blitzes and meeting upon meeting, showing up for competitions prepared and willing to lay it all on the line for five to six minutes, it's all or nothing, win or lose. But only one can win the day. Sales people like BJJ competitors have an uncanny nack to simply show up, day in and day out, through injury, pain, frustration, good days and bad, victories and defeats.

I have witnessed men and women face their fear, shrug off uncertainty and doubt to find true glory in a simple arm raising or signature on a contract. Sometimes the greatest victories take place in a quiet space deep within ones self, the moment you realize I have mastered this moment. I can win this match, I have the upper hand, this moment is mine. Even before the roar of team mates and the crowd fill your ears as your competition submits and taps your leg you have won. You have overcome self, you have shown up prepared and you have fought well.

An identical feeling can wash over you in a large conference room filled with executives as you open dialogue on a 2.5 million dollar contract, you have prepared well, you know your competition's strengths and weaknesses, you have a strong plan and have answers to every question a counter to ever parry a rebuttal for every objection. You know the second you've won, you note a delving question that signals the "BUY", the contract is yours the day is yours. But that quiet voice deep insides reminds, "in victory be humble". Be a good competitor and appreciate the suffering your competition faced to arrive at this place in this moment. Be gracious in victory as in defeat because you may taste sweetness one day and bitterness the next. And always remember those who gave, shared, coached and paved the way toward your moment in the lime light.

To some our endeavor is trite, quaint or a nice hobby. But to us, for the rare breed of competitors that we are, BJJ and/or sales is what we live, it's who we are and it's a sacred part of our life that we hold dear to ourselves. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to me is health, it's focus, it's balance, it's aspiration, it's challenge, it's exhilarating, it's a timeless struggle of man's search for meaning and victory over self and others in battle. It's building of immutable confidence and the sculpting of champion spirit.

Through BJJ training and competition I have found a better me. A more focused, resourceful professional with unbreakable confidence and unyielding persistence. And the best part of it all is I have found the more confident I become in my discipline the more humble I am as a man. Through confidence I have learned the hardest lesson in life, the truly talented sales professionals, fighters and champions are often the most humble not because they have to, but simply because they have the strength to be.

For your consideration. Happy training to all and happy selling!

Best Regards,

Kenneth Knapp
Pinnacle Jiu Jitsu
www.bjjtraining.com

Kung Fu San Soo Instructor
www.kungfusansooriverside.com

Attack, Test, Defend - How do you fight and train?

You fight like you train!

Within BJJ there are three states or modes to the fight game. These states are simply these: attack, test and defend. Each mode is distinctly different and each mode can and will impact way you fight in a tournament. Always remember you generally fight like you train. In some cases guys that fight great in the school freeze on the mat or simply change their focus and fold on the mat. It sounds strange but it happens. Some people enjoy the unknown challenge that awaits them tournament day and others simply don't enjoy the process and experience of a large tournament.

So back to my point. I have been taught a very aggressive style of BJJ, not aggressive like I'm gonna kill you in a street fight but rather aggressive in the sense that in a tournament our team takes the stance of winning by attrition. I simply attack, attack, attack until finally you become board, tired or frustrated and I catch you. It's an aggressive style that nets results.

When you train it's important to focus on the style of fighting you train and do. do you find most often you are sitting back defending, turtling or all together avoiding opening up and taking risks? Are you too passive or being timid in practice? If you think you are you are stuck in defense mode, always stopping an attack, always being cautious and waiting for something to happen.

Conversely do you find in practice you get caught a lot by team mates simply because your are opening up your guard and working sweeps and attacks to find ways to tap your partner? "In order to find victory at times you need to throw the dice" John Munoz my instructor has taught me overtime. Even the best have to open up and take risks. We learn to take risks by testing our game in practice.

If you find daily you are pressing your opponent, always seeking the quickest most effective and efficient finish in your training you are in attack mode. You like the push your matches and see what mistakes are made. You take risks but quickly counter when caught by a surprise counter attack. Your goal is to finish each match with an air tight choke, arm bar, triangle or leverage.

Each mode has it's place and every student trains through these various stages daily or at least through their growth in the art. I have found that I use each stage through out my training. There are times when I will defend in turtle or on my back to see how my opponent will assert their hooks or try to pass. Their attempts may open up opportunities for me to counter and then take a dominant position. Still other times I like to test, I try new escapes, sweeps, passes, submissions. I want to find out what works for me. And yet other times I will enter attack mode and pressure my opponent to find the quickest solution to their game.

I think it's important to realize when you are in a certain mode and learn to switch form mode to mode while training. You will need strong abilities in all three modes if you seek success in the studio or in competition.

enjoy the daily routine of practice and enjoy learning new techniques each day and week. Use your testing mode to work new moves into your game and use them often to master them for your attack mode.

Oh ya and really work on what I call "hitting the reset button" that is to say, sometimes you simply I have to hit the eject button on a failed attack and get back to neutral (closed guard) while controlling your opponents posture. You have to have techniques in place that will allow to get back a neutral position quickly and efficiently if you get stuck or caught in an attack.

Happy training,

KK

9 Year Old Stops Pit Bull Attack with BJJ!!!!!

You read it correctly, a nine year old from Bakersfield saved an eleven year old girl and her tiny dog form a Pit Bull attack.

A friend of mine just shared this story with me. It happened in Bakersfield, CA recently (today is 01/06/2009). Check it out. He apparently used a rear naked choke to hold the dog off of an 11 year old who had tried to save her smaller dog from an attack by the Pit Bull.

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/37069754.html

This application of martial arts knowledge is a perfect example of why I teach children martial arts. This little nine year old was quoted as saying something to the effect of; at first I thought to kick him but I stopped because he would get my leg. He thought about not giving the attacker anything. He then jumped on the dog and applied his choke which basically became a restraining hold for 20 minutes!

Glad to see everything worked out for this little guy and his friend. Let's hear it for BJJ and for kids in martial arts!

KK
www.kungfusansooriverside.com - where I teach children's classes in Kung Fu San Soo

www.sansookids.com - I'm editor and founder of this social network for instructors who teach kids Kung Fu San Soo.

www.bjjtraining.com - Where I train in BJJ - Norco School Under John Kvenbo Munoz, Black Belt 2nd Degree under Joe Moreira