Epi 31 Developing Talent with Daniel Coyle

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

Daniel Coyle is a New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code and The Little Book of Talent.  He is one of the leading authorities on developing talent.  He may not be a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but his ideas about how to practice can help you understand how you learn.  The methods he has found could help catapult your game to the next level and beyond.

We start off with these basic definitions:

Talent Hotbed- A place that has an unusual amount of extraordinary performers.  These places can be studied and we can learn about their different training techniques.

Muscle Memory- This is a not a real thing, all your muscle is controlled from your brain.  Muscle has no memory.

Myelin- When you build new skills they are insulated by a myelin sheath.  This sheath gets thicker as you practice and push yourself.  The thicker it becomes the faster and easier your connections become.

Deep Practice- This is the sweet spot when you are putting a lot of myelin between your connections.  People who continually put their selves in a deep practice learn quickly.  An example of this would be sparring with someone who is a little better than you.

We talk about:

The class structure of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
The difficulty of learning in a group setting
The learning environment that is created by leaving your ego at the door
Having the high intensity of a BJJ workout with a safe environment is a great place to grow
The best way to give feedback is to ask questions
Why it is important to design a training environment that forces people to ask questions
The large benefits to all of the students of having colored belts help teach techniques
Why you should be careful about the 10,000 hours rule
Quality of training is far more important than quantity
Why in some of the talent hotbeds they don’t spend all day practicing
The Bruce Lee quote “I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times.”
How YouTube has effected learning BJJ for good and bad
The better you get the more important the fundamentals become
Building fundamentals is like building a tree in your brain.  Make the trunk of the tree strong, so you can add things on to the tree.  With a strong trunk you can add things quickly and easily.
The survival zone, and why no learning happens in this zone
Some advice for a student who is competing for the first time
What is going on the mind of a top competitor?  Turns out that it is not much
The science of group success is a project he is currently working on keep your eyes open for this my friends

Quote of the week- “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle.  This quote was presented by Ryan Hall.  If you missed Ryan’s interview with us it can be found here. Episode 30.  In an amazing coincidence this quote is in the first few pages of Daniel Coyle’s book The Little Book of Talent.

Article of the week- “Starting BJJ: What to Expect on your First Class”.  From Grapplearts.com

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Links

Daniel Coyle’s website

The Talent Code

The Little Book of Talent