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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In a Rut: Jiu Jitsu

Last night I was feeling terrible on the mats.  I was getting smashed by everyone I rolled with.  I was rolling with some pretty good guys, but usually they are people that I can keep up with.  I guess I was just having an off day.  But still, I'm back at it today.  Getting ready to leave the office and go train right now actually.  Jiu Jitsu is full of its ups and downs, trials and errors, triumphs and short comings.  I know, though, that if I keep training, I'll keep getting better. I hope none of you let your bad days keep you down.  Keep pushing and come out on top.


"I fail more than I succeed in life, its my ability to pick my self up and keep going that makes me successful."
- Matador.

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Thanks for reading,

Nick

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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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

Competition: Jiu Jitsu

Won gold in the blue belt division at the sub-fighter tournament.  Hard work pays off.  Each tournament  I compete in I have done better.  This may be an obvious statement, but there seems to be a direct correlation between training time and confidence in tournaments, also between confidence and success.  Every one seems to have these rituals when it comes to tournaments, few groups of people are more superstitious than athletes, whether they realize it or not.  But none of that matters when you know you have more hours on the mat than the guy on the other side of the ring.  With 5 hour days, 6 days a week, I feel that as long as I compete with in my division, no one can beet me.  I could be wrong, but I believe it was Buddha who said, "what you think you will become", and if I believe I can win, than I usually will win.

If you train harder than someone, and you believe in your self more than some one.  You will win.  Marcelo Garcia said in an interview that when he started competing he would always try to act and look tough; to show no fear.  However, as he started winning competitions he realized this had nothing to do with it his success, and that it came down to the simple fact he trained more than his opponents.  Perhaps I am wrong, with only 5 tournaments under my belt I am still a newbie to this sport, but it worked for Marcello and it seems to be working for me.

Gracie Nationals is this weekend, time to put my theory to the test on a slightly larger stage, trying to round up the money for this expensive tournament ASAP. ;)