{"id":9231,"date":"2021-02-16T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T07:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=9231"},"modified":"2021-02-05T18:42:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T18:42:29","slug":"sport-principle-1-gain-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-1-gain-territory\/","title":{"rendered":"Sport Principle 1: Gain Territory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3>About the Sport Principle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Rugby League is essentially a very simple (and brilliant) sport in its aims and objectives: gain territory. That\u2019s it. Everything is geared to winning ground and moving forward. This principle reminds me of a brilliant book called \u2018extreme ownership\u2019 about US Navy Seals in Iraq by Jocho Willink (all elite special forces officers seem to have great names). As the Americans attempted to gain ground in one of the most violent and dangerous battlefields in history, their policy was simple, and could be summarised in four words: seize, clear, hold, build.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Of course, this is very similar to a rugby league team, kicking from their own try line, in an attempt to seize, clear, hold and then build on new territory.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Application to Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This simple concept of gaining territory is similar to how we need to operate in life to be effective followers of Christ. You need to be ruthless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Seize:&nbsp;<\/strong>Life is a fight \u2013 until our dying day.&nbsp;Fight for that new thinking, that way of understanding yourself, or the world around you, or your relationship with God like your life depended on it. (It just might!) At the front end of this process, you may feel like you are in a war zone. That\u2019s ok, we\u2019re made for the fight!<\/li><li><strong>Clear:<\/strong>&nbsp;Part of the process may be eliminating old mindsets, or approaches to understanding the way the world works that are no longer relevant or needed. (The Bible refers to these as strongholds. There needs to be a clearing process.<\/li><li><strong>Hold:<\/strong>&nbsp;Once something of clarity starts to come into your thinking, you need to make sure you hold on to it at all costs and don\u2019t lose it. A swimming analogy might be helpful here: You sometimes have to \u2018tread water\u2019. Even if it is all you can do to keep your head above water, fine, do it. It won\u2019t be long until something of greater reasoning and clarity comes into your world, and you can build a walkway to the next level of life.<\/li><li><strong>Build:&nbsp;<\/strong>Once you have \u2018held\u2019 your new understanding, that part of the neighbourhood that used to be enemy territory in your thinking can be built upon with more Godly new concepts and ideas. But be warned, you may have to go through this four-step process over and over again.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Like a cross between a rugby-league warrior and a best of the best elite special forces officer, keep going, and you will eventually liberate the entire city of that problem area of your life from the insurgents of temptation and sin. There is little more satisfying than that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which areas of your life is God telling you are the enemy cities where you need to gain territory like a rugby league-playing US Navy Seal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cEnlarge the place of your tent,&nbsp;stretch your tent curtains wide,&nbsp;do not hold back;&nbsp;lengthen your cords,&nbsp;strengthen your stakes.\u201d <\/p><cite>Isaiah 54:2&nbsp;<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>Seize, clear, hold, build<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>ABOUT THE AUTHOUR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:left\"><em>Christian Pountain lives in East Lancashire with his wife, Hannah, and two sons: Samuel, 18, and Daniel, 15. He is a passionate supporter of Accrington Stanley FC &amp; Rochdale Hornets RLFC, and so is well equipped to deal with failure! He loves all things sport-related, especially judo. He is current veterans (a polite term for old men!) Commonwealth silver medallist in his weight category, and holds a competitive 5th Dan, the highest judo fighting grade in the world! Christian is an RE teacher at a local church secondary school with well over 2 decades&#8217; experience. Converted to Christ as a school pupil himself by the witness of an RE teacher many years ago, his Christian faith underpins everything he does. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian will be sharing<em> series of sport-themed blogs to bring sport and faith together in a way that is helpful to men from all walks of life.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-1-gain-territory\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About the Sport Principle Rugby League is essentially a very simple (and brilliant) sport in its aims and objectives: gain territory. That\u2019s it. Everything is geared to winning ground and moving forward. This principle reminds me of a brilliant book called \u2018extreme ownership\u2019 about US Navy Seals in Iraq by Jocho Willink (all elite special [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":9235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1661,1857],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/uncharted-territory.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-2oT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9627,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-22-hearts-minds\/","url_meta":{"origin":9231,"position":0},"title":"Sport Principle 22: Hearts &#038; Minds","date":"26 October 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"About the Sport Principle I love rugby league. But this hasn\u2019t always been the case. It took my youngest son joining a local club, and then his coach to organise a trip to watch his club, Wigan Warriors, followed by an international at Anfield, for us to be hooked! We\u2019re\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mind-BLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9309,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-6-with-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":9231,"position":1},"title":"Sport Principle 6: With Him","date":"13 April 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"About the Sport Principle There is a power in team sports that those of us who primarily engage in individual sports routinely miss out on. I loved my few-and-far-between chances to play rugby union at secondary school. That\u2019s perhaps partly due to the kamikaze element in my character, honed even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/valentin-salja-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C868&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9631,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-25-see-life-as-an-opponent-to-beat\/","url_meta":{"origin":9231,"position":2},"title":"Sport Principle 25: See life as an opponent to beat","date":"16 November 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"About the Sport Principle Combat is a popular metaphor for describing any kind of conflict in life, whether physical or not. So, we may\u00a0wrestle\u00a0with our consciences as we\u00a0get to grips\u00a0with a problem. We often don\u2019t realise we are borrowing grappling imagery as we try to gain the\u00a0upper hand, and get\u00a0on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/boxing-BLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9724,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-30-get-the-crowd-on-your-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":9231,"position":3},"title":"Sport Principle 30: Get the crowd on your side","date":"18 January 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"About the Sport Principle Social inhibition in sport is a huge area of academic study in PE and Sports Science. Put simply, the term means that some people\u2019s performance is improved by the presence of an audience (social facilitation), but some people feel the pressure and the presence of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/crowdBLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9419,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-12-find-your-inches\/","url_meta":{"origin":9231,"position":4},"title":"Sport Principle 12: Find your \u2018inches\u2019","date":"13 July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"About the Sport Principle At the London 2012 Olympics, six of Team GB\u2019s record gold medal haul were won by less than an inch. In high-level sport, the margins for error, and, therefore, the difference between a gold and a silver, are tiny. This principle can also be seen clearly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/inches-BLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9727,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/sport-principle-31-get-a-grip\/","url_meta":{"origin":9231,"position":5},"title":"Sport Principle 31: Get a grip","date":"25 January 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2019 forearms with the aim of discovering what makes good climbers uniquely effective with their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/weightsBLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9231"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9240,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231\/revisions\/9240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}