Before YouTube, online membership sites, and instant downloads there were books. And while a book can be more difficult to consume than a 10-minute video, the information in books can often be more valuable.
Don’t get me wrong, I love videos they can be a wonderful resource to have, but books often have a longer-lasting impact on me.
The great thing about a video is they’re easy and cheap to make. All you really need to create a video is a phone, a training partner, and an Internet connection.
This can be a double-edged sword as anyone can easily upload anything, and if it’s rubbish they can always re-film it tomorrow.
On the other hand, books are hard to create.
For example, the Performance Drilling eBook took 2 hours to plan, about 40 hours to write, and another 10 to edit. That’s only a 50 page eBook! A physical book of 200 – 300 pages would take far longer.
And because the author is paying for every page they write to printed and distributed, the content has to be well thought out, well-edited, and no space wasted.
When students ask me if there are any resources that could help their training I usually recommend two books.
The first book I recommend is Saulo Ribeiro’s Jiu Jitsu University. This is a fantastic book for anyone studying Jiu Jitsu.
The content is broken down clearly with numerous pictures and the descriptions are precise and concise.
The book also has a great structure starting with the most basic concepts of staying safe and ending with attacks sequences.
Here’s the Amazon link:
The second book I recommend is not so obvious. It has nothing to do with Jiu Jitsu technique but everything to do with mindset and how to be an effective coach.
The book is John Wooden’s Wooden On Leadership.
In case you don’t know who John Wooden is, he’s one of the greatest Basketball coaches ever!
He guided the UCLA Bruins from a failing team to ten NCAA basketball championships over a 12-year period. That including four perfect seasons and an 88-game winning streak.
I believe his coaching strategies and the way he approaches competition can be used by anyone that want’s to succeed.
Here’s the link on Amazon and if you don’t own it I’d highly recommend getting it.
Wooden on Leadership
I’d highly recommend getting both these books, the information in them is gold.
Until next time,
– Tom
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