Professional

sam·u·rai  (sm-r)

n. pl. samurai or sam·u·rais

1. The Japanese feudal military aristocracy.

2. A professional warrior belonging to this class.

Went and saw some fights this past weekend. Buddies of mine won. It was a good night for our fighters, team, coaches, and training partners all around.

Was talking with a buddy who said he "respected anyone who had the balls to fight." I agree to a certain extent. Having fought 5 times, I've come to see amateur fights a bit differently. You see guys compete that clearly have not put in the time, energy, sparring, and training to be a mixed martial artist.

They lose via exhaustion. They do not even know how to stand and base. If they do, they haven't drilled it enough times under duress that it's become automatic. They don't do a mount escape. They give up the back b/c they literally have no idea how to escape from mount and a torrent of punches raining down.

Sure, mistakes happen in the hurricane speed that a MMA fight feels like. There is no shame in losing nor defeat.
There is shame in not having properly prepared.

It's easy to get in the cage and fight. The door locks. The referee signals the timekeeper. You have to fight.

6-8 weeks of intense training, striking, sparring, drilling off the cage, takedowns, Jiu-Jitsu, diet, and strength and conditioning, however? That is where you see who trains like a professional and who doesn't.

I've lost before. I've taken considerable punishment in some of my fights. I was never so beat up that I couldn't head back into the gym and train on Monday.

Why? Because I prepared for the bad scenarios.

Happy Trainingz!