Found this over at Submission Control. At that point, I then realized I'd seen a clip of this guy with his omoplata sweep posted over at sherdog. A sweep I had played with and gotten to work with the Gi a couple days later.
At any rate, I'm posting this b/c it's a Great interview in terms of commitment to the craft of grappling and life in general.
And, here's his website with a video of the above mentioned omoplata sweep among other things.
"The ego is a trickster and I believe our own ego’s control us heavily. This is why the typical American person is fulfilling a ridiculous quest to acquire trinkets. These trinkets, cars, houses, things, give them a shallow happiness and as they feed the ego it grows steadily. An additive cycle is formed and people become married to things like houses and cars. I saw this happening in my life and I became disgusted. I saw myself growing old while acquiring trinkets, only to die once I’ve acquired everything our society deems important."
"If you are reading this and work a job you hate, and you have a dream, then do the following: Quit your job immediately, isolate yourself and pursue your goal relentlessly. The more people who tell you you’re crazy the better. If your family does not support you then that is a sign you’re making the right decision! Lose your trinkets, and find the best environment in the world for you to achieve your goals and move there."
"Reach ten thousand hours of deliberate practice, and you’ll separate yourself from the mediocre and reach an elite group of individuals. Once you’re the elite, success comes from determination, will-power, teamwork and passion."
"My humble advice is don’t lie to yourself. Don’t say you want to be a Black Belt World Champion when you drink alcohol on the weekends and train once a day. Don’t claim you want to be the best when you don’t compete in every tournament, you don’t drill for hours a day and you don’t train through pain and injury. If you’re injured you train, if your mom dies you train, if you’re sick you train. I’m not perfect, but try to be. I train twice a day no matter what, I’m always early to class, I stay at home on weekends and I use that time to work on improving myself. I drill constantly; I train sick and never complain about injuries. Finally, as soon as I find myself in an environment that is not congruent with my goals I change my environment."
"Never show weakness, never look tired, never complain, never give up. Drill more than everyone."
Wow, what a powerful interview. Thank you for posting it. And also, thank you for posting on my blog, it made me discover yours and I'm an instant fan. See you on the judo mat!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part:
"Don’t claim you want to be the best when you don’t compete in every tournament, you don’t drill for hours a day and you don’t train through pain and injury. If you’re injured you train, if your mom dies you train, if you’re sick you train. I’m not perfect, but try to be. I train twice a day no matter what, I’m always early to class, I stay at home on weekends and I use that time to work on improving myself. I drill constantly; I train sick and never complain about injuries. Finally, as soon as I find myself in an environment that is not congruent with my goals I change my environment."
glad you liked it. it was one of those rare moments where i remember that you can't just go through the motions. excellence is something that must be pursued continually, perpetually.
ReplyDelete