Naazim Richardson Explains How To Train Smarter As You Age (Patreon)

When considering training and fighting styles that are nonlimiting based on athletic ability, speed, and age, what are you left with?

Boxing trainer Naazim Richardson—who's worked with the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, and Badr Hari—has made a career of taking legends past their prime and still making them world champions.

Though Naazim Richardson has passed away, his insights on longevity and athleticism remain. When athleticism fades, we must fall back on our techniques, fundamentals, and experience. When abilities fade, we have to fall back on what we've learned.

"Athleticism is a beast. When you're a young athlete, you're faster than everyone. Roy Jones faster than everyone. But when you slow down, we're going to find out -- did you learn how to fight. Did you learn how to fight?"

In football, the Combines can be a poor indicator of who'll be the star players. Though it's a good reading of who the best athletes are, it's not a good indicator of who the best football players are.

"Did you learn the fundamentals of how to cover up, block, and catch shots? Did you learn the fundamentals of when a guy rocks you, headbutts you, or hits you to the back of the head to tie him up?"

Randy Couture spent nearly his whole career beating younger men and had two championship runs in two different weight classes, all in his 40s. As his blast doubles faded, he relied on tying up his opponents and wearing them down with punches before he took them down. Instead of creativity, he relied on carefully planned strategies that he followed to the letter. Against faster opponents, he relied on his endurance and strength. He didn't take unnecessary risks, maintained his fighting fundamentals, and instead of relying on one-punch knockouts, he chipped away at his opponents round by round until they wilted. Never having more physical abilities than his opponents, Randy was always learning, adding to his repertoire and bringing in new elements into each fight, throwing his opponents off. His younger opponents had to draw from the same old playbook of abilities as Randy kept developing as a fighter. Abilities or fighting skills, these things are related but are not the same.

"If you rely on your abilities, your abilities slows down. Then you have to rely on your learning."

Under times of duress or chaos, all you can rely on is your training. When everything goes out the window, a library of knowledge is what you fall back on. This is experience, and it can save your life or win you a match.

In my own martial arts training, I have modified not only my training but my fighting style:

• Don't overtrain.
• Spend more time on technical practice than physical conditioning.
• Take mandatory recovery.
• Rather than relying on things I like to do or want to do, relying on the techniques I CAN do.
• Eliminate speed reliant moves.
• However, I can be smooth. Smoothness becomes efficiency, which can be better than speed.
• Forget training goals other than consistent training. Just do something.

When I think of beating an opponent, I don't need to beat them by a landslide. I'd be happy to edge my opponent out, as long as I can keep doing it for the rest of my life. The size of one victory isn't as important as the number of victories.

There are plus athletes who can maul me right now, but can they apply that same style when we're both in our 40s, 50s, 60s, and so on? Or will they have to retire because they couldn't stay consistent? Isn't it better to train early in a system that will allow you to win consistently through the long haul?

"See a man who learns how to fight can keep that. At 60 years old there'll still be people he can beat." – Naazim Richardson