How Bad Do You Want It?

There's a story I heard by a guy named Eric Thomas, to paraphrase the story he told:


There was a young man that wanted to be success, and one day the man went to see a guru.  The young man said, "Guru, I want to be as successful as you are.  I want to accomplish what you have done." 


The Guru said, "okay, if you want to be successful meet me at the beach tomorrow at 6:00 A.M."


The man said, "The beach?  I want to make money.  Not go for a swim."


The Guru said, "If you want to make money, meet me at the beach."


So the young man gets to the beach the next day at 5:45, wearing a suit, and he sees the Guru out in the water.  The Guru calls for him to go out to meet him.  The young man walks out into the water and walks until the water is waist high.  and he says, "okay I'm here, now what?" The Guru tells him to come further.  So the young man walks until he is chest high and says, "okay I'm here, now what?"  The Guru tells him to come further.  So the young man walks until he is up to his mouth in the water.


The Guru grabs the young man by the neck and holds him under the water.  The young man kicks and scratches and fights but the Guru holds him under.  Not until the young man is on the edge of unconsciousness does the Guru lift him from the water.  He asked the young man, "when you were under the water, what did you want to do?" 

The young man said, "breath."

The Guru told him, "When you want to succeed, as bad as you want to breath, then you will be successful."

Make a list of things that would take priority over breathing in your life.  It's pretty short.

For more on Eric Thomas, check out his site.  www.etthehiphoppreacher.com/

Thanks for reading,

Nick

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GOOOOAAALLL!!

I'm pretty stoked tonight because I was able to put a check next to one of my goals.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, last week I wrote a post about setting goals to improve your Jiu Jitsu game.  My first goal that I set was to survive 5 minutes in a leg war roll with a guy that is one the best leg lock guys at my gym.  I was actually able to "one up" that.

I rolled with this guy and not only was I able to survive and not get leg locked, I actually ended up coming out of it with a full mount on him.  I didn't counter or submit him, but my goal was to survive and I actually did more than that.  Now,  he tapped me 3 consecutive times right before that, but like I said, I learn how to defend submissions by getting tapped, analyzing, getting tapped, analyzing, getting tapped, and then analyzing. 

Also, tonight I rolled with another one of our resident leg snatchers, who is a brown belt.  He did catch me in a toe hold once buuuut.... tap, analyze, tap, analyze.... the second time around he went for a quick succession of heal hook variations and I was able to fend them all off and secure the superior position.  I'm pretty exited that I reached one of my goals.  Ze Mario was right, achieving goals does give you a confidence boost in your game. Again, if you don't understand the reference go the post that I linked above.

Another thing that I was able to prove to myself tonight was that when you suck at something, just keep doing it.  Keep showing up every day and eventually you quit sucking. 

Okay well thanks for reading everyone,

Nick

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Sick Days

Well, I'm sick.  I guess it was just meant for me to be off of the mats for a little while.  I had been grappling with my injured arm a little bit, this looks like God's way of telling  me, "hey slow your sh** down, before I bust your elbow up again."  Sucks not being able to train.  I stopped by the gym today and watched every one else roll.  I can't help but think about how all the guys that I will compete against next month are training right now and getting better while I stay stagnant.

This is why I don't ever take days off for any other reason but illness or injury.  I get sick relatively often, for whatever reason.  In the long run though, everyone will get sick or get injured, but not everyone can say they trained on every holiday, every birth day, and every time there was a big party that they had to miss out on.  That's how I get ahead.  If you train every day that you can train, the days that you can't train will be canceled out. 

I hope this doesn't set me back on reaching my goals that I set a couple posts back.  I think they are still reachable though. I'll just pick up the pace when I get back in a few days. 

Well!  Time to say goodbye to this little shot of NyQuil and pass the out!  I want to include this video that relates to the point I made above.  I've watched it a bunch of times; I used to play this in the beginning of my work outs when I felt super tired.  Take some truth strait from the mouth of Al Pacino!

Thanks for readin' guys,

Please, help this blog grow by sharing it on Facebook or Twitter!

Nick

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Setting Goals for Jiu Jitsu

I read an article in Grapple Arts that talked about how it's important to set goals. Ze Mario Sperry, former three time world champ and former time ADCC champ, was talking about how he used to set goals, write them down, then post them all over his house so that he saw them every where he went. The article talked about making them reachable yet challenging. This way you can evaluate the quality and progress of your training. Also, achieving a goal of any kind will help you feel confident in your ability to accomplish things.

So, these are the goals that I'm setting for my self...


1. Survive 5 minutes in a leg-war roll with a particular guy in my gym that has an excellent leg lock game by the end of February. (Leg-wars is when you start in 50/50 guard and go only for leg leg locks)

2. submit or sweep 10 fellow blue belts using Rubber Guard by March 20th. (I can't start working on this until I'm fully heeled from my injury so hopefully that will be March 1st).

3. Get my purple belt by my 22nd birthday. My birthday is December 18th.

I think all of these are pretty reachable.  At the moment the first one is probably the most important thing to me.  Since leg locks are the weaker part of my game, achieving that would show significant improvement for me.  I challenge all of you guys to set goals of your own!  Don't take it from me, take it from Ze Mario. 


Here's the article I was reading.  It actually has a lot of other good stuff in it.

Thanks for reading guys,

Please, help this site grow and "like" the Facebook page or share this article on Facebook or Twitter.

Nick

A blessing in disguise: Leg Locks

I think that there are always good times and bad times in everything that you do, but I believe that there is a positive side to every negative event. It takes practice, but if you cant find a way to turn set backs into opportunities, your going to be a hard force to stop when you set your mind to something.

As I shared earlier that I got hurt last week; partial tendon tear in my elbow.  Its improving at a surprisingly fast rate, thanks to acupuncture and God! But the doc says that I need to stay off of it for another three weeks even if it doesn't hurt any more. When I first got hurt, I can't lie, I was super frustrated. I didn't want to take time off. So I decided that I wouldn't let my injury stop me from improving my game.  I realized that my elbow getting blown out of commission could possibly be exactly what I needed to take my game to the next level.

I've noticed lately that the biggest weakness in my game is my leg lock defense.  I've been getting tapped with ankle locks, heal hooks, and toe holds more than any thing else.  Now normally, I don't enjoy practicing leg locks or leg lock defense.  I think its boring.  However, with my arms in a useless state, I got nothing but time to hone in my leg lock defense.  I'll be doing nothing but that for the next three weeks.  When I can finally get back to my real rolls, I'll be unleglockable! Not really, but I'll have made a serious improvement.

This is perfect timing too because NAGA is coming up in Las Vegas and all leg locks are allowed in this tournament.  Its funny how things always tend to work out.  These things always assure me that God has a plan for me.  Even the worst things in life can turn out to help you with something that you never saw coming in the future.  I'm telling you, there is a positive inside of every negative, you just gotta find it.

So I'll be doing more leg locks in the next few weeks than I ever have before.  I'll try to get some videos up here and share the moves that I learn.  There's even a leg lock seminar coming up that is being put on by a Gene Le Bell black belt.




Thanks for reading guys,

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Nick

Why Do I Fight

When you truly dedicate your life to something, and you put that something above all of the other things that happen in your life, people think your crazy.  You get asked a lot, "Why do you do it so much?" or "Do you really enjoy doing it that often?"  To me, those people are missing out.  They're missing out on having something that they're so passionate about that the question "what do I want to do with my life?" doesn't come into their reasoning.  Maybe I am an extremist, but name any great man or women in history that wasn't?  So when someone asks me why I do it, I tell them some of the few things that I know for sure.  I know that I want my life to have an impact on others.  I know that I don't want to settle for an average career.  I know I want to die knowing that I accomplished something, and I know that I want to live a life that is worth living.

Its always been important to me to reach others with my life.  I think, ultimately, the the thought of eternity scares me.  I want to know that when I die I will have done something that lasts longer than I do.  If I can share my passion with someone maybe I can put some passion in their life. When you have passion in your life you have happiness.  I feel that if I can share passion and happiness with people then I'll be leaving the world a slightly better place.  I hope that maybe I can do well enough that I will reach a platform high enough to truly reach a lot of people.  Most importantly, growing up I've always been in the average group when it came to athletics, I've never been terrible at them, but I have never been exceptionally good at them.  If I reach the goals that I have set by myself, then it will be from nothing but hard work and God's blessing.  I hope that in doing this I can inspire so many more people to really work hard for their goals.  Imagine what kind of world we would live in if every one strove to do something great?

Photo by: Elisa Alves

I have never been someone who could handle any mundane activities.  I feel like so many people underestimate their abilities and settle for a middle of the road job.  Now, let me make this clear, there's nothing wrong with working hard at a blue collar job to take care of your family.  There is, I think, something wrong with working a job that you never wanted to do, because you don't think you have what it takes to do what you really want to do.  I have never been able to accept being average, or to accept the statistics that people recited to me about how many people actually grow up to live their childhood dreams.  I have a need to do something that stands out.  I have a need to do something special.

When I am ready to die.  I want to sit there and think back on my life, and think, "damn, that was cool.  I really did it."  I want to know that I left my mark on the world with the things I did and the people I inspired.  Will fighting really do this for me?  I think so.  In the end, it isn't really about the fighting, its about overcoming extremely tough obstacles and getting past everything in my way to get where I want to be, and showing other people that they can do what they want to do.  All you have to do is try; really try.


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Thanks for reading,  :)

Nick

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competition week: 10th planet in house tournament

So, I didn't get to compete in Gracie Nationals.  I had a bit of an issue with the money, but its okay, there are always more tournaments.  This weekend is the invitational 10th planet tournament that we are hosting at 10th Planet Riverside.  All of the other 10th planet gyms are invited, along with a few of our surrounding local gyms, such as Gracie Barra Corona and Sequence Jiu Jitsu.

I saw my bracket a few days ago, and I have some guys that I have met before in it.  They are good guys, I am looking forward to the challenge this time.  Still though, I feel that as long as I keep up with the long hours of mat time, and go out there and enjoy myself, I will win.

I think for some people tournaments can be an event of extreme pressure.  For me I always remember that as long as I am well prepared, I may not finish first in every tournament that I do, but I will always do well and at least metal.  I always want first place, but if not, I will still respect myself for the tremendous amount of work that I have put in to this.  I go into tournaments and try to have fun, because if I am not having fun, what's the point of even doing it?  I want Jiu Jitsu to be my career because I love it and I want to share it with others, not because I have a need to dominate others in competitions.

I am relaxed and ready for this tournament, I feel confidant that who ever I face is not as dedicated as I am.  If they are, I feel confident that I have a mental edge on them.  My relaxed state of mind, my confidence in myself, and most importantly my confidence in God gives me a one up on my fellow competitors.  I go into tournaments knowing that I will win, and I will win simply because I know this.

This should be a good tournament so I should have pics and videos up soon.



Thanks for reading guys and girls,

Nick

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be humble or get humbled

This post is about my weaknesses, and what I need to work on as a grappler.  The list is longer than I care to mention.  However, there are two that really stick out in my mind and need to improve on.  One is posture.  I have learned that posture is everything one of the most important aspects of jiu jitsu, no matter what the position you are in, you will always have more power if you posture is good.  My posture is okay when I am in a closed guard and simply avoiding submission, but I make the same mistake I say many of my peers do, and that is loose my posture wants I begin to maneuver around and put pressure on my opponents legs.  Guard passing will be something I will try to drill a lot this week.  To establish the posture in my muscle memory. 

The second is my hesitation.  I read a great article on the grapple arts website, they collected tips from all of the top grapplers and compiled them into one article.  In the article they quote Wallid Ismail saying, "To make the move work, you’ve got to believe it will work."  This is something that I think will develop in time.  Confidence, after all, is bred from success.  This probably goes back to drilling, if I have drilled a move 1,000 times, I will not even think about it in the roll, it will just happen with no hesitation.  I will just know the move. 

It looks like both of my problems, like most problems in jiu jitsu, can be solved by drilling.  Drills, drills, drills.  I have my work cut out for me.

Thanks for reading guys and girls

Nick

Winning is a State of Mind. Not a Score on the Scoreboard

First off, let me say that in any of my posts, if i share an opinion or a claim, I am not in any way trying to pretend to be some Jiu Jitsu guru with this huge store of boundless information.  I am student of this game, absolutely nothing more.  This blog is simply a sharing of lessons that I learn, as I learn them.  That being said, I would like to share what I learned today.

I arrived early to class today, so I thought I would watch the kids wrestling class.  I heard the wrestling coach tell the kids something that was interesting.  He said, "Winning is a state of mind. Not a score on the scoreboard."  At first it didn't make sense to me.  I thought, winning a match in its definition is scoring more points than the other guy. 

But the phrase resonated in me, and I began to think bigger.  I don't think he was referring to one single match.  I believe he was referring to true winning; winning the title or the championship; consistent winning.  I think he was right, because sure scoring more points will win you a match, but to truly win, to be a champion, you need the state of mind.  It reminds of me of a quote I once read.  The quote was, "success comes from a state of mind knowing that you did everything that you possibly could to prepare."  This was my mantra for many of my tournaments when I thought I might face people who were more experienced than myself.

What I concluded from this lesson was that in order to succeed, you must have the right state of mind, and in order to get that state of mind, you must do everything in your power to make sure you are the best you can possibly be.  Work hard for your goals and you will reach them.

I hope this post will help some of you.  Thanks for reading.

Nick

Go for it

I had a discussion with a friend of mine from work about how so many kids grow up being told that they need to be more realistic with their dreams and about how the odds of them being a rock star or an astronaut are very slim.  It got me thinking about how so many people give up on their dreams.  Almost every single person that I know is in a job that the settled for or stumbled into.  Growing up we are told, to a certain extent, that the odds of us achieving our dreams were slim, and that hundreds of thousands of people try for that goal but very few make it.  Well I think very few make it, because very few try.

So many people give up on what they want and settle for something that will just get them by.  They may say that they tried, but they didn't put their heart and soul into achieving their goal, for hours, days, and years, ignoring everything in their way.  The just bought into the statistics and gave in.  I want to share my belief that if you want something bad enough, and if you work hard enough, there is nothing that can stop you from what you want.  I want more than anything to be a world champion, and I will get there.

Forget what you were told by society, don't believe in them, believe in your self.  Find something that you want to do and go for it, and never let go.  If you put in the work, and you never give up, than you can't fail.  One of the biggest things that Jiu Jitsu taught me is that the person who trained more, almost always wins.  And I'm not just talking about who trained more for that particular match, I mean in their entire life.  If I put more hours on the mat than the guy across from me, I'll beat him. 

I want to challenge anyone reading this to go for something big.  If you a Jiu Jitsu player, then I challenge you to put in the work and win the next World Championships.  You can do it.  You can win.  Dream big, think big, win big.

Thanks for reading guys,

Nick

Feelin Burnt Out

Jiu Jitsu and I have a love hate relationship.  Mostly love, but every once in a while I get burnt out.  I feel lazy in my rolls.  I get frustrated easier when I cant escape something or when I'm in uncomfortable positions.  Guys that I usually tear up give me a hard time.  I can't think that I'm alone in having this feeling from time to time.  It always passes though, I have one more training sesh this week then I'll take the rest of the weekend of feeling fresh.

I look at training the same way I look at competing, and almost everything in life for that matter.  If I"m not enjoying it, then whats the point?  Of course, you can't just go home every time you're not having the roll of your life.  It's like a relationship though, sometimes you need time away to realize how much you appreciate something.  I usually take Saturday night and Sunday off any ways so this will be a good time to get relax with my friends and get away from the gym.


I spend almost all of my time in the gym and sometimes I think maybe I train to much, but I can't imagine that guys like the Mendes bros are training only 2-3 times a week.  If this is what it takes to be champ, and I'm having fun, then why would I not do it?

natural ability: Jiu Jitsu

The thing i love about Jiu Jitsu is that everyone can do it.  Of course, there are those with severe situations, but no one will be held back in this sport by lack of natural talent, physical strength, speed, or any thing of the sort. Natural ability itself, is a western idea.  In Thailand, the Muay Thai gyms raise fighters from a young age, these kids eat, sleep, train at the gyms.  There is no physical ability test they have to pass, they just have to have to be young enough to be able to put a sufficient amount of time in.  In Jiu Jitsu, even the age hardly comes in to affect.  Thai fighters usually retire by the time they are in their late 20s, due to the physical toll it takes on your body.  In Jui Jitsu this is not the case, at my old gym, there was a brown belt that didn't have a single colored hair left on his head, and he was one of the best guys there.

The point is, all jiu jitsu requires is time.  If you can put the time in, you get the skills.  In a book called Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell, it talks about the 10,000 hour rule.  If you put 10,000 hours in to something, no matter what you natural ability level was, you will be a master.  There was a study done in Asia where they looked at the famous musicians playing in the big orchestras.  There was a connection made that showed if the kids growing up practiced 30 hours a week, they would become successful musicians.  There was not a single person who put in 30 hours per week, and just couldn't cut it.  On the other side of that, the study was full of musicians who were brimming with natural talent, and there for practiced less than 30 hours per week, these students grew up to be high school music teachers and other things of the sort.

When Marcelo Garcia started Jiu Jitsu, he lived far from the gym, so he could only train three times per week.  Eventually, he moved in to the gym, and reportedly trained for 4 sessions each day, with the sessions being upwards of an hour.  Marcelo Garcia is now widely considered the best pound-for-pound grappler in the world.  In fact, it was Marcelo Garcia's story that inspired me to commit to Jiu Jitsu and begin living at the gym that I train at.

Never get discouraged when you train.  Do not worry if you have what it takes.  If you have the time to commit, you have what it takes.  Just keep training and keep motivated, and you will reach your goals.  Take it from 78 y/o Gene Pace.  Check out this link to read about how he got his black belt at such an advanced age.