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Why I quit MMA

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Whenever a newer student comes into the gym they’ve often done a good deal of homework. They’ve checked out our website, read our blogs and watched our videos on Youtube. With that, these new students have often watched several of my MMA fights. Once they make it to the gym they often ask whether or not I still fight. When I tell them no, they’re always surprised since I experienced a fair amount of success with a combined record of 13-0-1.

It’s funny how we will often coast through aspects of our life the same as we have been with no real change. That is, until something happens, something that wakes us up and forces us to make changes. For me that aspect of life was fighting. I would fight once or twice a year but didn’t put much stock into the whole thing. It’s funny, when I first got into BJJ it was because I wanted to fight. But the longer I practiced BJJ the more I just wanted to do BJJ. I loved grappling and the overall atmosphere and brotherhood-like nature of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. MMA and fighting is cool but I didn’t enjoy the community as much. I also hated a lot of the douche-bagery that accompanies MMA. Too much macho-tough-guy stuff for me, keep in mind I make nerdy historical comparisons to BJJ. It just wasn’t me. I enjoy competition and testing myself.But I’m not nor was I ever fighting or competing to prove myself to others.

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That “something” that I talked about earlier came after my last fight. The picture above was right after the fight. If you look at it, you’ll notice I’m not even staring at the camera. This was because I couldn’t see where the camera was. My student next to me laughed when I asked, “Who are you?” after he asked to get a picture taken. The reason I asked was because, again, I couldn’t see very well. During the fight I had taken a fairly hard shot to the side of the head. One of those shots that wobbled the legs and made you wake up 3 steps back from the last place you remembered. It’s a weird feeling. If you’ve ever been choked out then you have an idea. When I watch the video of the fight and see the overhand right connect to the side of my head followed by my body stumbling back. I can still clearly remember the flash of unconsciousness that came followed by my inner voice going,”Woah that’s not good.” Followed by a desire to hit the guy back and my inner voice saying, “That mother %^@#%!.“ After being hit in the fight I kept myself together and eventually won the fight by north south choke in the 2nd round.

After the fight was over I was left with a big blueish spot right in the center of my vision that persisted for an hour or so. To get an idea of the lack of vision I experienced, make a fist. Now place the fist against your face so that your wrist presses against your nose. Now move the fist about 2 inches from your face. That fist represents that big blue spot. If you’re following along then you’ll realize how much of my vision was impaired.

The excitement and relief of winning was flowing through my veins after the fight and I laughed off the blue spot. At the time I thought it was funny. I took a sort of pride that I had gotten hit hard enough to be concussed and still won the fight. But after the thrill of the fight had worn off that blue spot created doubt in my mind. Doubt about why I was fighting. I didn’t necessarily love it. Not like I loved Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Also, in order to fight I had to spread my resources amongst multiple disciplines which meant I couldn’t be the best that I could be in BJJ as long as I fought. Lastly, if I was going to sustain possible life altering injuries, why would I do it for something I didn’t love? I would ,and have, racked up numerous injuries as a result of BJJ. But I love Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and would gladly do it again. Back then if you asked why I continued to fight I wouldn’t have been able to give you a good reason. Possibly to perform for my students and to test myself, but that’s it. However, if you asked why I continued to compete in and practice BJJ, I could have talked your ear off for hours.

So if you’re one of the new guys in the gym looking up information on me or you just stumbled across this blog. The reason I stopped fighting MMA was because I loved BJJ more and wanted to be the best I could be at that one thing. I love the training, brotherhood, community and art form of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. There’s nothing quite like it.

MMA Clothing Spoof

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This spoof pretty much sums up why I, when I was involved in MMA, never wore the loud MMA clothing. I think it was a combination of not really being all that into skulls and gothic tribal whatever, and the fact that every new person that comes to the gym who is into MMA clothing is usually a turd. There are exceptions to this rule, but for some reason guys seem to get a weird sense of self confidence from wearing an Affliction shirt. Anyways, I got a good laugh from this video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLit4RNksV0&w=560&h=315]

Anaconda Choke

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Anaconda choke video I did for the gym. The hand grips I use are a little different than the way I was originally shown when learning this move years ago.

Self Defense against Lawyers, Business Professionals and Hobos.

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Last night was our 2nd annual suit rolling session. Once a year around Halloween we don suits that we bought at a Goodwill or any thrift store and . . . we roll. During this style of rolling it is important to submit your partner, but just as important is to rip their clothing. This is just a silly thing to do together and we had a blast. It is a lot of fun to see hard core competitors laughing till it hurt during a “rolling” session. If you ever want something stupid to do with your gym mates, try suit rolling, and if you do, please send me pictures! Enjoy the photos from the students and myself here at Derby City MMA in Louisville, KY!  😀

 

 

 Before rolling

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After rolling

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I’ll leave you with a mustachioed version of myself. Enjoy

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Mount Escape To X Guard

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When I first started competing as a black belt I had this funny problem. I would go into the match flat, and it wasn’t till being swept to mount that I would “wake” up. In fact, my first 3 wins as a black belt in competition started with me 6 points in the hole after a sweep to the mount. Here’s a mount escape that I, unfortunately, got pretty good with.

Competition, visualization and a look into my day

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Today was a bruiser. I didn’t have any interviews for the podcast or private lessons and I am waiting for the hosting issues to get resolved before I can finish the work on the actual website. This freed up my day so I decided to take advantage of it and work hard!

When I weighed in this morning I was 207lbs which is good considering I had a pretty relaxed diet this weekend. I went on a camping trip this weekend and ate food that I normally don’t consume in great quantities like breads so honestly I expected my weight to be up a bit. This means I need to lose about 5lbs so that I will be 207lbs or under in the kimono. Whenever I am getting ready for an IBJJF style tournament, which has you weigh in right before your match, I aim to be a couple of pounds lighter than I need to be. This lets me enjoy a good breakfast on the day of competition. I am kind of a fat kid at heart and going without a sizable breakfast isn’t an option and when the day of competitions comes I want to focus on the match not having to lose a few extra pounds.

Here is what my day looked like. . .

11am-12:15pm: BJJ Takedowns. 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling starting from the knees

12:30pm-1:30pm: Heavy deadlifts. Did work with 80% of my one rep max. Then some stretching.

 

7pm-8:10pm: More gi takedowns. Again 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling from the knees.

8:15pm-8:50pm: Did the “Filthy Fifty” workout.  If you’ve never done the workout before it’s a lot of fun. Here’s what it is . . .

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

This work out is considered a chipper workout. Meaning it’s long and tough, and you have to simply chip away at it.

8:55pm-9:20pm: Live wrestling for takedowns. Going to wrestling straight after that workout was rough, but I did well and was happy I pushed through my fatigue.

 

I felt great today. The camping trip this weekend helped me clear my head a bit and I felt really refreshed on the mats today.  That being said, it was still rough and required a lot of focus.

Whenever I have rough days like this when I am leading up to a tournament I try to use visualization as a motivation.  When I am drilling my takedowns I am not taking down my partner, I am taking down an unnamed opponent in the competition. When my grip starts to fade during a heavy set of deadlifts I think about my opponent finishing their rep and clinch the bar tighter. When I am exhausted after a hard workout I think about my opponents training past discomfort and head back to the mats for wrestling.

This may sound silly but visualization is such a powerful technique that comes in handy when I am training for a competition and need an extra boost of motivation during hard sessions. Even if I am not preparing for a competition, if I have a goal I want to achieve, then visualization is something I use. During the hard work that is necessary to achieve any worthwhile goal (BJJ or otherwise) if I find my motivation waning, I start to visualize. Visualize overcoming the obstacles that stand in my way. Visualize how my hard work will aid in my road to attainment, and visualize the satisfaction of achieving my goal. No matter how tired I might be. When I think about these three things I get fired up to get after whatever it is I need to do.

I am tired so if this post came across as poorly thrown together I do apologize. I am a bit wipe so I am going to head to bed and get ready for another tough day tomorrow!

As always, thanks for reading.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send an email to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Balancing work and hard training leading up for competition.

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(That’s me on the right at my first tournament in 2003!)

 

 

It’s Monday and that means it’s a post about leading up to the competitions. I figured I would share what a typical Monday looks like for me and then talk about planning your days to get the most out of them.

Since starting the podcast, Monday, has become my lightest day of training and probably my busiest actual day of the week.  I’ll give an idea of what it looks like.

7-8:30AM: Wake up. I know this is going to sound silly but I’ve actually found that a side benefit of drinking lots of water is that I wake up to use the restroom earlier than the time my alarm clock is set. The benefit of this is that I don’t wake up to a nasty alarm clock sound and feel much better when I open my eyes.  During this time period I eat breakfast, goof around on the computer for a bit, maybe watch BJJ videos or something. If the weather is pleasant, which is has been, I’ll sit out on the deck and drink my morning cup of coffee and relax. This is my “holy hour”, a little chunk of time to just be alive without having to worry about anything and do whatever I want. If you currently don’t have a holy hour, you should find a little bit of time in your day to schedule one. Doing this does wonders for me personally.

8:30-9:40AM: Answer emails and social media messages I have, glance over my to-do list, review over the techniques I’m showing that day, and then work on any projects I might have going. I will usually head to the gym around 9:40am and get there at 10am.

10:00-10:45AM: Lifting or Metcon

10:45-12:30PM: Stretching followed by my morning class. Mondays are always takedown days. After class I will chat with everyone, get a couple extra rolls in or help students with questions they might have.

12:30-3:00PM: Protein shake with a snack followed by working on my podcast website. Then around 1:30 I start interviews for the show.

3:00-4:00PM: Lunch with a coffee/tea break then I pick up one of my students and bring him to the gym.

4:00-6:45PM: Blog and website stuff, customer service work for the gym.

6:45-9:30PM: A light warm up then BJJ class from 7-8 with wrestling starting at 8. Wrestling is always fun and I love the analogy of calling it “fighting without punches” because it is such a rough sport. If you’re gym offers wrestling you should definitely take advantage of that opportunity!

9:30-12:00ishAM: Head home to relax, eat a light dinner and finish any small work I might have. Then I try to always read for an hour before I head to bed. More often than not it’s something history or non fiction. I just finished a book called Mastery and another called The Last Lion.

 

Now I am not sharing the schedule because I am gloating about being busy or because I am trying to show you how much I train. Rather the reason is because everything I did today was scheduled. I’ve found that for me personally when I am well rested and relaxed I am in a much better state of mind about planning out what I should do with my time. However, if I am run down by a long day or consumed by work I need to get done. Having to make the conscious decision to train becomes more difficult and I tend to slack a little.

Routine and accountability to the rescue

Sitting down on a Sunday night and making out a schedule helps me get the things I need to get done. . . DONE! Now most people aren’t as fortunate as me to teach and train for a living, but mapping out a schedule still applies. I remember working 60 hours a week in IT and being exhausted after work. After leaving work following a 10+ hour day, training didn’t seem quite as attractive as normal. I’m sure you’ve felt this way before, right?

This is where the schedule comes into play! You must take the choice away from your weary self and place it into the hands of your well rested self. With a written schedule you don’t have to weigh the options of either exerting yourself in training or just taking it easy for the night after work. Instead you can look down and see what you planned for yourself and follow the guide.  Now there is something to be said about listening to your body, and if you are feeling absolutely terrible then maybe you should take a night off. But, have you ever skipped a work out only to get home and regret the choice, or have you ever went to the gym a little groggy only to leave pumped up about your training? I know I’ve personally done both.

 

The reason I put this “schedule talk” into this competition post is because getting ready for a competition can sometimes be tough, and it’s easy to get side tracked by life and skip a workout. The problem with this is, each day you skip a workout a day of preparation is lost, and when you’re getting yourself ready for a competition you have a fix amount of time to get ready. A wasted day of training is simply something you cannot afford.  By giving yourself a schedule to follow you make sure that you’re getting your training, work, and other responsibilities and obligations taken care of, as well as finding time for yourself. Plus, there is a bit of accountability.  It’s a little more difficult to skip out on things when you look down and see the goals you set for yourself staring back at you.

 

You may not experience the same problems I have and this may not be necessary for you. But if you are having issues training on some days, or find yourself slacking sometimes because of laziness. Then try giving yourself a schedule so that you make sure you get done, what it is, you want done. Make the schedule realistic and focused around the goals you have. If the goal is competition then it better consist of lots of hard training and drilling!

 

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments feel free to send them to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Finding my reason, finding your reason to compete

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Competition is one of the most exciting experiences I think a person can have in BJJ. You test yourself against another human in a “full out” setting. You truly find out what you’re made of and sometimes push yourself to new limits that you didn’t realize you could reach.

Getting ready for a big competition can be tough though. The hard work that is involved with getting ready for a competition (if done right) can be exhausting both mentally and physically. There are days when you’re sore and tired. You still feel whooped from the night before and you just want to take a night off, but you find the motivation to train and continue to prepare.

Whenever I get ready for a big competition I have to find a “reason” for competing. Some reason that will help my focus and drive even on the rough days. Everyone’s reasons are different and you may have different goals for different tournaments. Don’t get me wrong I love training and train everyday regardless of a tournament, but left to my own devices, I would slack much more. I would roll relaxed and not develop the aggressive movements that are needed for tournaments. I wouldn’t drill quite as much, and in general I would just lack that desire that is needed to win matches against hungry competitors.

 

This is where that “reason” comes into play. Before I get ready for a competition (and when I used to fight in MMA) I ask myself, “why am I competing?” This seems simple right? I am competing to win, and win medals, right?

Wrong!

When I was younger I was only fixated on the medals. Now the medals are typically an auxiliary goal. Yes, I want to be the one wearing the gold medal and standing on the top of the podium, no doubt about it. But there are other things that push me in training during the weeks of tough training and dieting.

 

My reason for continuing to train hard and compete

I love movies where faced against tough odds, supported by everyone else around them, the hero overcomes and saves the day. When I was walking out of a movie this weekend I got hit by this light bulb moment. I realized that my most memorable wins in BJJ and MMA were always memorable, in large part, because of my students. Winnings matches at the Pans and seeing my students take screen caps of the match and knowing they were watching me have my hand raised, having  500+ Derby City (my gym) shirts staring back at me and cheering after an MMA fight, hearing a student convince me to compete even though I was jet lagged and sleep deprived.

The biggest motivator for me now, besides my own drive to test myself . . . is my students.

I am not sure if everyone in my position feels this way, but I feel obligated to step out there and compete for my students. I ask them to do it, so I feel that I should lead by example. Also, why would I stop competing now that I am a black belt? I feel like now is the true time to test myself.

 

One of the most amazing moments in my BJJ career was during a recent local tournament. The tournament had a round robin black belt division and there were around 100+ people from our gym. Either to compete themselves or to watch their friends and family compete.  When I was on the mat my students would cheer loudly and each time I landed a move or had my hand raised more cheers and slaps to the mat came from them.  I’m not going to lie; it felt like being a superhero for a moment. Superhero might seem like a silly comparison because I’m not flying around or fending off an alien assault to earth. However, I am setting the tone for many of my students and proving myself to be a worthy role model by putting myself through the same rigors that I ask of them. They’re cheering because I’m their instructor and they are proud of me and my wins, and this means everything to me. Now when I prepare for tournaments, the motivator is easy. When I am tired and have to push myself a little more, I just think about how great it feels to represent my gym colors victoriously for myself and also for my students.

Find your motivation!

I know that not all of you are in the position I am in, but my advice to you is to find something that motivates you. Remember, it doesn’t have to be just medals or titles. You sometimes have to dig a little deeper and find the motivation somewhere else. Before your next tournament prep begins, try and find something that motivates you. Having that deep motivator within you will help you slide your kimono on a little easier on those days when your body still aches from the night before, and this drive will make it easier to get yourself on to the top of the podium.

 

Thanks for reading guys!

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to send them to chewjitsu@gmail.com

Training with a purpose

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Just finished another interview for the podcast project I have coming up. I’m having so much fun and learning so much about these awesome people. I hope everyone has as much fun listening to these podcast episodes as I’m having making them. The launch date for the podcast is September 1st, 2013 in case you’re interested. Even though the podcast is still a little over a month out, I figured I would take a minute and share 1 little chunk of advice that seems to keep coming up during these interviews, and its something I’ve blogged about before. The reoccurring tip that these black belts talk about when it comes to improving at BJJ is . . .

“to train with a purpose”

I know sometimes its fun to roll and not focus on anything, but If you feel like you’re not growing on the mat or that you are hitting a plateau. Then take some advice from some high level guys and train with a purpose! Give yourself a goal to achieve during your training session, try to hit a new move you’re working on or try and improve the weak areas of your game. If you’re a good bottom guy, try and work your top game. If you’re a good sweeper, try and submit from the bottom. You get the idea. Hitting those goals will build some positive momentum mentally and improve your game by focusing on improving in a particular area.

Hope everyone’s training goes well and I hope you hit whatever goals you set for yourself!

Ask a black belt a question, ANY question!

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Hey guys, I need your help!

I am getting ready to start a very cool project that will be launched in the near future. The project will involve asking many different black belts a group of questions in hopes that they can share their journey in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as well as provide insight, inspiration and motivation for our own paths in the art.

What I would like from you is to take a second and think of some questions. The questions should be related to BJJ in some way. Each time I interview one of the black belts I will pick one of the questions I received from you guys. I’ll also give a shout out to the person who sent the question. 

 

With that said, please send your questions to  chewjitsu@gmail.com with the subject of the email as “Blackbelt Questions”.  Also, please include some basic info about yourself (Name, Location, belt level, gym that you train in) so that I can give a shout out to you.

 

Thanks for your help guys!