Owen Livesey was on the Raspberry Ape podcast. Here, he and Daniel Strauss had a conversation about hobbyists and long-term training.

Daniel Strauss:

You said, um, people who, the majority of people who do jujitsu in the same way that the majority of people who listen to this podcast are not gonna be full-time athletes and not gonna be world beaters. And I think that’s really where the most valuable advice comes, both from a coaching perspective.

Most, you know, out of a hundred guys in the gym, you might have a couple of guys who want to be world champions, legitimately may have a chance of doing something big in the sport, but it’s always gonna be in the minority. The majority of people, I think they see, they look up to these world beaters and they try and take a similar mentality to them.

You know, it’s like uh, you want to get big and Jack, so you look at Muscle and Fitness and you do the workout that Ronnie Coleman’s doing, you go, well, that isn’t gonna work. Right? Yeah. You’ve gotta look at it from a broader perspective, and I think there’s a lot of gems in what you’ve been saying about losses, about experience, about, you know, those slim margins that will help a lot of people potentially.

Owen Livesey:

Yeah, I think, um, yeah, like we’ve just gone back to like a hobbyist I think is just treat it like that. Just make sure you’re still on the mat in 10 years. And for me that’s what it’s about. Like if it, if you’re not looking for it as a lifestyle or as a job, just make sure you enjoy the sport.

You know what I mean? If that means you train twice a week instead of five times a week, if you still learn 10 years, you’ll be better than you would’ve been doing. Like we get lads in the gym who come, they absolutely blast three weeks, five nights a week, and like you’re here again?

You’re training full time. They hit a wall in three weeks. They have four weeks off. Their progression’s so much slower than someone that’s just on the mats twice a week for five years.

Strauss:

Hundred percent. I was having this conversation with the guys a couple of nights ago and said, I’ve seen it so often. How long have you been coaching for?

We’ll talk about that. How long have you had the gym open for?

Livesey:

Oh, the gym we’ve got now about three and a half years.

Strauss:

Uh, I’ve been, I’ve been teaching for 16 years. Yeah. A really long time doing jiu-jitsu. And, uh, I’ve seen so many guys and the number of, prodigies, you know, guys training twice a day, six days a week.

They want to be, they legitimately dream of being world champion and all of them quit.

It’s that sort of, that candle that burns brightest is extinguished fastest. And you’ve gotta look at jiu-jitsu as the long game. You’ve gotta think it’s that old saying, uh, people overestimate what they can do in six months and underestimate what they can do in 10 years. And you’ve gotta have that kind of, uh, long-term view of jiu-jitsu or any, anything that you’re trying to get better at.

The full episode is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2l4UXwde0I