Disruptive

For better and for worse

Reflecting

Disruptive.  It came up more than once on my early report cards.  They didn’t mean it as a compliment.  I objected to my parents that “everyone is always saying that” to which my dad responded that if “everyone is always saying” something that it might bear consideration. 

But the word keeps coming back, often in more flattering lights.  While my kindergarten teacher won the first round, it became an almost clichéd part of Silicon Valley marketing pitches.  Disruptors innovate.  Sure, docile kids are easier for elementary teachers to manage, especially after a late night, but they don’t transform industries.

Up against a more skilled opponent?  It feels humble and respectful to play a passive, tight game.  But if you don’t want to assure your own defeat, sometimes you have to flip over the table.  In both poker and MMA, passive/tight is fine if you have the edge and want things to play out according to your superior skill and experience.

Underdogs should never let things play out or they will lose.  If you face an opponent that deserves a high probability of beating you, that’s when you go out like a Viking Berserker with maximal loose aggression.  Chaos and disorder are better than losing.  They could turn a 10% chance of victory into a 40% chance, even over more talent.

As my teachers asked, “do you think the rules shouldn’t apply to you?”  Well no (might have been meant rhetorically but I would have missed that).  Not unless they’re my rules.  Not if they’re designed by someone else so they win.  In boxing and Muay Thai, my standard for disruption is to strike again faster than an opponent had time to react to the last.     

The better they are, the more you attack.  Sure it might not work, but it might.  Each strike is a chance to get lucky.  Your settling down and following the rules of decorum serve the interests of teachers who were overserved rosé the previous night, business rivals with Roman numerals after their names, and more skilled opponents.

Elites want to hang onto what they have.  To stay on top, they interfere with potential rivals’ ability to compete.  They set the rules of the game to maximally reward… themselves.  Staying on top is different – in many cases opposite – of what it takes to get there.  Want to get there?  Flip the table.  Burn it down.  Reject rigged games.  Disrupt.

Training

Great trail run this AM then…

Whiteboard – (AMRAP - Rounds and Reps)

Partner WOD Every 3:00 x8:

Run 200m (together)

Then partners alternate rounds of

• 5 DB Deadlifts with 100 lbs.

• 5 Renegade Rows with 50s.

Congratulations to the winners and all the finishers of the just completed Iceland Volcano Marathon.  This brings back the happiest of memories.

Fueling

So many good choices at the New Canaan Butcher today.  All recommended:

Whatever the risks of aspartame, sugar is worse.  I don’t like the flavor of aspartame and am concerned by the possible link to cancer that have been recently raised, but the solution is to live with less sweetness not to return to sugar. 

Supplementing

Psyllium husk fiber is the best supplement for GI health but I’ve never found a form that I like mixed with liquid because it congeals into a gross consistency if you get the timing wrong.  So I’ve just been taking it in capsules instead.  Gets the job done in a more convenient way.

Measuring

Here’s where Vale Tudo readers come from around the world:

And in the US:

Still no one from my adopted home state of Maine or my favorite states of Wyoming or New Hampshire (but then again one thing I love about them is that they don’t have too many people).

Recovering

As someone who loves CrossFit, jiu jitsu, and trail running but doesn’t love rest days, I have tried every conceivable recovery gimmick – from pneumatic compression boots and cryotherapy to Graston scraping.  Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery is a good catalog of nearly all of them. 

TL; DR: Nothing works; just get some rest.

Closing

Jocko gets the last word: