STWA Singapore retreat - Nov 2006

Hey everyone

Check out the promo clip for the annual STWA Sinapore retreat.

Promo clip download

Five days of coaching from Rodney King and other STWA coaches all set in beautiful Singapore. Supercharge your game in just 5 days.

Breaking News Australian BJJ legend, John Will has just confirmed to coach every day of the retreat.

Contact Phil for more details.

Return to Revolution Homepage

It's YOUR learning

Are you fully engaged in your learning?

Not your training, but your progression and growth.

We run a coaching-heavy environment and as such it is a two-way process. The athletes who get most from the training are the ones who roll their sleeves up and get stuck in on a mental as well as physical level.

This is full engagement.

Traditional martial arts have an instructor-centric approach, students learn when the instructor gives them answers. The main problem with this is that students rarely learn more than they are told, discovery is virtually zero. In a modern coaching environment the opposite happens, athletes explore their own game and the coach helps them to problem-solve and troubleshoot.

It is vital that you embrace the second method to ensure continued development. Discovery based learning linked with reflection and goal-setting are the key aspects of an athletes progression in this kind of coaching system. I can teach you tools but you have to find your game.

So how does this work?

• Experiment - remember, training revolves around being able to fail without consequence


• Reflect - look back at what you have done, did it work or not?


• Interrogate - ask questions of yourself and your partners


• Listen - take onboard the suggestions, advice and coaching given to you


• Adapt - grow your game based on what you have found out


• Experiment some more - begin the cycle again

While working this process you need to keep realistic goals in mind, if you have been training for a few months you won't be ready to tap BJ Penn or knockout Vanderlai Silva, so don't get frustrated if your game doesn't match up to someone else's. You should be concentrating on your game, not theirs, anyway.

Too many people come in and start to focus on results — kicking themselves if they haven't tapped out a more experienced player or berating themselves for getting submitted. Is this healthy? No. At the end of a session you find yourself frustrated because your results haven't matched your expectations then you are not concentrating on the process.

Throw away results-based thinking and embrace process-based development and you will continue to grow.

Your learning is in your own hands. The coachs can show you doors of opportunity but you have to step up and walk through them. Pick the right doors at the right time and your game will develop in a healthy way.

Return to Revolution Homepage

Taking the plunge - your first lesson

Starting training is hard!

Everyone who trains has been through that feeling of not knowing what the atmosphere of a club will be like. Will you get hurt? Will you hate it? Will people be nice to you? Will you love it from the first moment you walk through the door?

I know how that uncertainty feels. I still get it myself from time to time when I visit other clubs or go to teach a seminar. I've learnt to recognise that feeling as a precursor to development. If something makes me feel nervous I know it is outside of my comfort zone. If it is outside of my comfort zone I know it will challenge me and through challenge comes growth.

These opportunities are invaluable.

"OPPORTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE HARD WORK."
- Thomas A. Edison

Starting training is an opportunity to grow in so many ways.
Physically - The health benefits are massive, improved fitness, weight-loss, strength gain, improved flexibility, dexterity and co-ordination, reduction in the effects of stress and better sleep are all benefits of starting training.

Mentally - Training at Revolution takes concentration, it's not like going to the gym and zoning out on a treadmill. You have to engage in what you're doing. You work on improving your skills but you also reflect on this development and drive your own learning. The goal-setting, motivation and persistence required to achieve the most out of training make you mentally stronger and more confident at the gym and outside of it. You will develop problem-solving skills that make a huge difference in tackling previously stressful situations. You will rise to the challenge everytime.

Emotionally - A hugely important area of development is your emotional wellbeing. Revolution runs a supportive training environment where people push themselves rather than being pushed by others. Everyone deals with stress, conflict and difficulty differently, your training allows you to recognise, assess and, if needed, change your responses to pressure safely. Training is about being able to fail without consequence. You don't need to 'win' to improve so losing isn't seen as failure. Most importantly, at the end of the day everyone goes home having enjoyed themselves, knowing they have met a challenge of their own.

Spiritually - Your faith in yourself. Your belief in your abilities. Your integrity. Your trust. Your values. All of these exist at the core of your personality. Training hard, meeting challenges, improving yourself, will develop all of these. And this is the greatest opportunity, the chance to be who you want to be. With confidence and conviction.

Welcome to the Revolution!

Return to Revolution Homepage