Early is on Time

I try to get to classes 15 min. early, I feel like I am interrupting if I walk in late, and I like to take some extra time warming up and stretching out (getting old is slowing me down).  On Saturdays, one of the head coaches does private lessons on the side of the mat.  There is also a judo class before BJJ, so between them, I can either watch throws, or learn some valuable little tips for BJJ.  I was hanging around near the private lesson, listening in, and as the head coach was speaking to the student, the coach motioned for me to come and site next to him on the mat.  I went over and sat down, the coach finished what he was saying to his student, and then the coach addressed me.  He told me he needed to help me out with my guard.  He had another student place me in guard, and went over moving away with a knee across the body, and re-establishing a better guard position.  We went over it a few times, and talked a bit about it.  The whole interaction was probably only 3 or 4 minutes, but I was very thankful for him to spend the time with me.

I thought about this after class.  I was fortunate to receive some additional training because I was there early, I put myself in a position to be successful.  I thought about situations in the past where I was the coach, where kids would arrive to practice early.  I usually take advantage of that time to provide them with some additional instruction, or work on things we wouldn’t cover in a normal practice.

Be early, you can never go wrong.  As they say, early is on time, on time is late.  Put yourself in a position to be successful.