Physical Attributes vs. Technique, Importance?

This topic for the most part is a no brainer, but seemingly comes up all the time. I wrote in an earlier post that if all technique were equal between two opponents, the one who has some sort of physical attribute advantage over the other will most likely be the victor. I made this topic a little bit more general since people always complain to me about "what do I do against somebody that weighs 100 lbs more than me," "what do I do against somebody that is stronger than me," or some sort of similar complaint. Really the bottom line is to get better. There is no magic, no secret technique that nullifies any opponent. If you are an individual not gifted with size, strength, speed, stamina, etc... there are ways to improve your body and make you excel in each. Some people focus so much on certain aspects believing there is so much importance to being more physically imposing that they end up hurting themselves in the long-run because of the lack of focus on technique.

Generally, I consider myself a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu addict. I want to train all the time, I enjoy everything about it, but I'm not obsessive to the point where I go lift tons of weights because I want to be stronger and have better technique. I believe there is SOOO much one can gain just by doing BJJ itself, not to discount the fact that doing other things above and beyond to improve your stamina, strength, etc... is awesome, but I feel that you can do so much of that simply by practicing alone. I won't use professionals as an example here because it is their JOB to be in peak physical form for when they have to perform. I'm talking about the every day joe. If you feel like your cardio is terrible, chances are 1 of 2 things is happening. Most of the time it's because you are simply out of shape, you haven't trained in a while, haven't done any physical activity, your body isn't used to using the muscles you use in BJJ, etc... Whatever the reason is, you can gain more stamina by simply doing more BJJ. Roll as long as you can. Take a few breathers, go back out there, if you're too tired to go hard, find a partner to drill moves. Without resistance, you're still getting a workout AND you're working on your technique, it's a win/win situation. The other reason people gas is because they are going too hard. Everybody knows somebody like this, they treat every roll like it's the black belt finals of the Mundials. Honestly, you need to have goals in mind when training with your partner and that goal shouldn't be "tap him out." I believe it's important to REALLY emphasize this with new students. New students usually come into the gym wanting to learn how to "KICK ASS." No matter what the reason they tell you is, their inner reason is to be a walking bad ass. They feel the need to go as hard as possible every single time, try to never lose. If they don't break that habit early on, they are going to have a very rough time excelling. Of course the scariest guys are the ones that go hard all the time and really learn how to use the techniques, but guys like that are 1/1000, chances are you aren't one of them.

So to wrap things up, train as much as you can, but be productive with it. Did you learn a cool technique in class? Try to use it when you roll, or work on your weak spots if you're training with people weaker than yourself. I'm in a situation where I have no peers, I have 2 AMAZING black belt instructors, a purple or two, and a bunch of blue belts to train with. I'm constantly putting myself in bad situations, trying out new techniques, tightening up little things, etc... It wouldn't benefit me to ONLY work on my strengths, to have a NEVER lose mentality, if I get tapped, just figure out why and fix it. It's kind of frustrating almost irritating when people get really upset in class to being tapped, especially when I see them do some really great things. It shouldn't bring you down, it should make you think in a different way, should open your eyes to your weaknesses. What you should focus on in training is just improving, who taps who doesn't matter nearly as much as how much you are improving.