1. Train hard, train regularly, but don’t over-train. Your training, as in all exercise, is supposed to build strength, give you a positive outlook, allow you to sleep deeply, and basically “give you an edge.” Too much training, however, can reverse all of the above. If you feel unnaturally tired, moody, depressed, constantly sore, or you see an increase in injuries, you might need to pay more attention to your rest and recoup time. Harder doesn’t always mean “better.” Rest is as important as training.

2. Drink more liquids before, during, and after training. Dehydration decreases sports performance, it can muddle your thinking, and slow your reflexes. Not good!

3. Ditch the alcohol, skip the cheap thrills, and never, ever, ever get involved with performance-enhancing drugs. Win because you worked for it, not because you injected it.

4. Eat to win. You’ve got to know that the food you eat has everything to do with how you perform on the mat—and in your life. Garbage in, garbage out. Cut the junk food from your diet, not only when you’re training, but about 95 percent of your overall time. Now that other five percent? Well, go wild! Every so often you’ve got to let yourself go.

5. Attitude is everything. Your attitude about your training, your diet, your training partners, your coaches, your family, and your community, all these make a difference when you’re a champion. If you allow yourself to carry negative feelings and beliefs around, you only hurt yourself. If you’re going to be a champion, you have to have a good head on your shoulders and you have to know what’s worth your energy and what’s not.

6. Fall down seven, get up eight. When you’re down, you have to believe you’re only going to be there temporarily. You’ve got to hold onto the idea that you’re there to learn something (and chances are, you’ll keep going there until the lesson’s absorbed, so pay attention).

7. Expect the best, prepare for the worst. When you’re training, even if you might think your opponent isn’t up to speed, don’t underestimate him. You can expect to do well, but don’t, for a minute, prepare yourself for anything less than the battle of your life. It took my awhile to learn this, but I live by it now.

8. Treat your teacher and/or coaches the same way you want them to treat you. Be respectful and courteous to everyone in your “sphere of influence.”

9. Take your training out of the ring and put it to work in the world. It doesn’t matter where you learned to fight. You could have come up in a traditional karate school or in a boxing gym, but when it comes to your training don’t forget that all that self-discipline, the respect among your team, the ability to push yourself to new levels, all those things you use in the ring are all supposed to help you in the world too. You’d be a dummy if you were a champ in the gym and less-than-a-champion everywhere else. The whole purpose of the training is to discipline yourself to pay attention and perform at your peak; that applies to what’s happening on the mat and in your life.

10. Have fun and help other around you have fun too. Some athletes I’ve met look like they’re always angry or in a bad mood. That’s no way to train! You should be enjoying the process—and even more importantly, you should be helping others to have fun, too.

11. Visit BJPENN.COM at least once a week.