BJJ Saarbrücken: Garry Tonon explains how having ADHD has influenced his style of grappling

 

Multiple-time BJJ World Champion Garry Tonon was born in a small town in New Jersey on the famed Jersey Shore. His mother was a recreation specialist at a non-profit organization for children with special needs, and she was able to identify the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Tonon early in his childhood.

Tonon started his grappling career in wrestling, competing extensively throughout grade school. When he was around 14 years old, a friend introduced him to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and he was instantly hooked. In addition, Tonon credits martial arts for helping him to deal with ADHD, improving his life immensely. Tonon then enrolled at Tom DeBlass’ Ocean County BJJ and became one of DeBlass’ most dedicated students, winning his first BJJ World Title in 2008 at the age of 16 in the juvenile blue belt division.

Throughout his sporting career, Tonon has been recognized as one of the top grapplers in the world. In 2013, Tonon was awarded with his black belt and continued to be active in grappling competitions, becoming an IBJJF BJJ World Champion, two-time IBJJF World No-Gi Champion, and five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational Champion along the way. Now, Tonon has set his sights on mixed martial arts glory, and he plans to utilize his devastating grappling to capture the ONE Featherweight World Title.

Just as Tonon never fails to excite on the mat, in a face-to-face interview, Tonon is just as unpredictable. “I have ADHD,” Tonon explains, “See this plant? If I were 10 years old, I would have probably taken it apart.” Tonon gestures to the plant on the table, looking as if he is fighting the urge to take it apart at that moment. ADHD, short for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a brain disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development. Today, only 10.2% of children 5 – 17 years of age with ADHD are diagnosed. It is a misunderstood condition that often goes undiagnosed through adulthood. In fact, studies show that 85% of nine million adults with ADHD will spend the rest of their lives going undiagnosed.

Luckily for Tonon, his mom was more than familiar with ADHD. As a recreation specialist at a non-profit organization for children with special needs, she was more than aware of what he needed for his ADHD. It was her job to ensure that the kids she worked with had the social skills they needed to function in normal social settings, and because of her experience, she did the same for Tonon. “I was always doing lots of sports growing up,” he shares. “I did track, wrestling, gymnastics, cross country, pole-vaulting – my mom encouraged me to do all these activities because she knew that was the best way to develop social skills.” Wrestling in particular, stuck. But after wrestling for four years, Tonon was looking for something different.

“I wanted to learn something,” Tonon said. “Wrestling just wasn’t the cognitive environment I was looking for.” One day, a wrestling teammate told Tonon about jiu-jitsu, and immediately, Tonon’s interest was piqued. “My friend told me that it was just like wrestling, except you get to strangle people,” Tonon laughed. “Naturally, I was curious so I watched him compete. And I knew right there and then that I wanted to try it out.” At 15, much to his mother’s dismay, Tonon started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. “It was great,” he said. “It allowed more of a learning process and really forced me to think.”

As a kid with ADHD, once he was interested in a technique, it was difficult for him to think about anything else. Thanks to hyperfocus, a confusing and common symptom of ADHD, Tonon was able to get into a state of intense focus while he was learning techniques. Unbeknownst to Tonon, his ADHD worked to his favor as a BJJ student, and even as a competitor. Today, he realizes how having ADHD has influenced his style of grappling.

My style is scattered, I’m always all over the place. I’m thinking about this, and that. I go from move to move, always transitioning,” says Tonon. There’s no doubt that Tonon’s dynamic style is what helped him rise to the pinnacle of the sport. His willingness to jump from position to position and act on impulse is also influenced by his ADHD. “Impulsivity works perfectly in jiu-jitsu because when you’re in a match, you don’t have time to think of options,” he explains. “If you act on instinct, you’re much more successful as opposed to sitting there and waiting (for your opponent). Although BJJ is a cognitive sport, sometimes you need to act on the instincts you’ve developed in training to be successful and act on snap decisions.”

Garry Tonon with ADHD makes a lot of sense, especially to those who are familiar with his style and persona. Suddenly, it is as if the reason behind all the quirks, lightning fast transitions and submissions becomes clear. Perhaps we could all take a page out of Tonon’s book and learn how we can turn our supposed weaknesses into strengths.

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Article Source: Garry Tonon: Grappling With ADHD - Evolve Daily (evolve-mma.com