Training Reinforcement

CHAPTER 11Principle 5: Create Friction and Direction

When I was the Dutch Judo champion in 1991, I prepared hard for the tournaments that led up to the European championship, which was held in May. Winning that tournament would be the first step toward my Olympic dream. If I won a medal, I would be selected for the Dutch Olympic team for Barcelona in 1992. After I was selected, I could prepare myself and fully focus on the games—no more selection tournaments and no uncertainties. I could spend every day in preparation for my performance on July 30, 1992.

In Holland I was the man to beat in my weight category. I felt strong, and self-confident and was ready for each competition prior to the European championship. It felt like an easy ride. I thought, “Let’s do some tournaments in the spring, train hard like always, and focus on a medal in May.”

No one else in Holland could block my road. “Nobody,” I thought, “except my trainer.” Looking back on that period, my trainer probably noticed this attitude.

In spring 1991, the Dutch national team participated in a selection tournament in Russia. The national Dutch team in Judo wasn’t like a football team or an ice hockey team, where the players participate as a team. Judo athletes compete individually in different weight classes from bantam weight through heavyweight. (I competed in the light middleweight class.) We all traveled at the same time and wore the same outfit, orange, of course. The Dutch team met at Schiphol airport to ...