Gordon Ryan

And then, like, fixing them, like, you know, coming up, I would be, like, super hot and cold. Like, I would beat a lot of guys, and then I'd have, like, one, like, disastrous match at, like, Purple Belt or something or Brown Belt.

And then I was, like, you know, and everyone was always, like, your Tom or, you know, friends were, like, how will you beat everyone up in the gym that you can't translate it to the mat? And I was, like, I don't know, man. I just... I feel like eventually I'm going to get like good and then, you know, I'll be good everywhere and no one will be able to beat me in any position.

And then I was, like, you know, and everyone was always, like, your Tom or, you know, friends were, like, how will you beat everyone up in the gym that you can't translate it to the mat? And I was, like, I don't know, man. I just... I feel like eventually I'm going to get like good and then, you know, I'll be good everywhere and no one will be able to beat me in any position.

And then I was, like, you know, and everyone was always, like, your Tom or, you know, friends were, like, how will you beat everyone up in the gym that you can't translate it to the mat? And I was, like, I don't know, man. I just... I feel like eventually I'm going to get like good and then, you know, I'll be good everywhere and no one will be able to beat me in any position.

And then kind of just like going through the reps in the gym and, you know, got to a point where I was beating everyone from every position.

And then kind of just like going through the reps in the gym and, you know, got to a point where I was beating everyone from every position.

And then kind of just like going through the reps in the gym and, you know, got to a point where I was beating everyone from every position.

Yeah, but there definitely is the it factor that you can't really put your finger on. Most guys, even at the highest levels, if you give them the reason to quit, they'll quit. You can be as technically sound as you want.

Yeah, but there definitely is the it factor that you can't really put your finger on. Most guys, even at the highest levels, if you give them the reason to quit, they'll quit. You can be as technically sound as you want.

Yeah, but there definitely is the it factor that you can't really put your finger on. Most guys, even at the highest levels, if you give them the reason to quit, they'll quit. You can be as technically sound as you want.

Even guys who are super good technically, and you see a lot of jiu-jitsu who are super good technically, if they just get pushed hard and they don't have success early on, they either crush a guy in the first five minutes or... Or they lose the match.

Even guys who are super good technically, and you see a lot of jiu-jitsu who are super good technically, if they just get pushed hard and they don't have success early on, they either crush a guy in the first five minutes or... Or they lose the match.

Even guys who are super good technically, and you see a lot of jiu-jitsu who are super good technically, if they just get pushed hard and they don't have success early on, they either crush a guy in the first five minutes or... Or they lose the match.

Yeah. I think I'm a lot stronger mentally than everyone I compete against. But also, there's a big physical factor because of the fact that when you have a 30-minute match, for example, the most important thing is the work rate. So it doesn't matter how good your cardio is, like how high your VO2 max is, if you're working twice as hard as I am, you're going to get tired faster than I am.

Yeah. I think I'm a lot stronger mentally than everyone I compete against. But also, there's a big physical factor because of the fact that when you have a 30-minute match, for example, the most important thing is the work rate. So it doesn't matter how good your cardio is, like how high your VO2 max is, if you're working twice as hard as I am, you're going to get tired faster than I am.

Yeah. I think I'm a lot stronger mentally than everyone I compete against. But also, there's a big physical factor because of the fact that when you have a 30-minute match, for example, the most important thing is the work rate. So it doesn't matter how good your cardio is, like how high your VO2 max is, if you're working twice as hard as I am, you're going to get tired faster than I am.

So because I'm so much more technical, because the gap in skill is so big between me and the next best guy, their work rate is always three, four, five times as high as mine.

So because I'm so much more technical, because the gap in skill is so big between me and the next best guy, their work rate is always three, four, five times as high as mine.

So because I'm so much more technical, because the gap in skill is so big between me and the next best guy, their work rate is always three, four, five times as high as mine.

So it doesn't matter how good your cardio is. Like, if I ran a mile, it wouldn't be impressive. But because I'm so much more efficient, the work rate is so much higher for my opponents that they just fatigue a lot faster.