About the Sport Principle Top athletes spend most of their time worrying about things they have no control over: the weather, the referee, the crowd’s reaction, etc. We must learn from this. There is now lots of scientific evidence to suggest that the old saying is true: Whether you believe that you can, or you […]
About the Sport Principle In any sport, it is important to control your breathing, but there is a very judo-specific dimension to this concept, which moves it beyond most sports. Patrick Roux, former GB coach explains: ‘As a young competitor, I heard this phrase from a renowned teacher who was watching, from the edge of […]
About the Sport Principle Like weightlifters, high-level rock climbers stand or fall, (often quite literally) on the strength of their grips. Grip strength is of crucial importance here, and Sports Science tests often focus on climbers’ forearms with the aim of discovering what makes good climbers uniquely effective with their grip. It’s similar with judo. […]
We men like to think we know the way to somewhere. Even if we don’t know, we like to pretend we do. And dare I suggest that many of us are reluctant to take advice on directions? Perhaps I’m generalising but, of course, there is a solution – a map! Wherever I go on holiday […]
Many of us have been there – turbulence in the stock markets, nervous clients, projects cancelled, news of lay-offs, rumours within the organisation; and then the all-staff meeting confirming the worst – there will have to be redundancies. I’ve lived long enough now to recognise it as a familiar pattern. Sleepless nights; panic about providing […]
On the day of writing this blog I woke up at 5am. To give you a bit of context, we are an early rising household but even for me 5am is early. I felt refreshed, I felt as though I had genuinely had enough sleep, but I also had a slightly unnerving thought running through […]
Sometimes we see something in others which inspires us and motivates us to be better in a particular area of our lives. They don’t necessarily know us and we don’t know them. They speak into our lives without any real depth of knowing. At other times we can be inspired by people who do know […]
Recently when I was out for a walk I saw a caterpillar (it’s a lime hawk moth if you are interested) inching its way along the road and quite oblivious to the fact it could get squashed by a passing vehicle at any moment. So I decided to do my bit for nature and put […]
My early career is given some credence by the books that occupy my bookcase. I recently took a book from the bookcase that had sat lodged in a row of books which mostly referenced social issues, the poor, poverty, underclass folks living with little hope and with no recognised exit strategy, those who are part […]
This week my brother Ben and I are trying to cycle from St David’s in Wales right across the widest point of the UK to Lowestoft. When I dreamed this Grand Challenge up in lockdown it seemed like a fantastic idea and made perfect sense, now as it begins today – none of it makes […]
If you like the Demolition Squad blogs, you'll love our new book:
'The Ultimate Survival Guide - How to talk about God, the Bible and stuff'.
