"170 lbs.: Lyman Good (14-2) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (12-0)
Lyman Good is one of Bellator's brightest homegrown talents. He was the first Bellator champion, winning three straight bouts in season one to claim the welterweight title. After losing his belt to Ben Askren, he's methodically worked his way back to another opportunity at the strap. In this season, he's battered Jimmy Wallhead on the feet and pounded away at Michail Tsarev on the ground to advance to the tournament finals.
Andrey Koreshkov has long been considered one of the best prospects in any weight class in MMA. He debuted in Bellator with two straight knockout victories and then had to gut through a tough quarterfinal against Jordan Smith in his tournament debut. If there were any questions about his skills, Koreshkov answered them with a vicious first round knockout of former Dream champion Marius Zaromskis in the semifinals.
On the feet, this fight should be close. Koreshkov has better hand speed, kicks and explosion, but Good's pure boxing technique and power should even that out. What will really be a factor in this fight is the ground. Koreshkov had difficulty dealing with Jordan Smith in the quarterfinals and if Good sticks to a similar gameplan as his last fight where he took Tsarev down and batters him, he could at least have a good shot of taking home a decision. Final Prediction: Lyman Good via decision"
Galvao is confirmed. Some of the other notables include:
"Under-64 kg division: Koji Shibamoto, Laércio Fernandes, Daniel Beleza, Caio Terra, Rafael Barata Under-76 kg division: Augusto Tanquinho, Jonathan Torres, Leandro Lo, Samir Chantre, Lucas Lepri, Rubens Cobrinha Under-88.3 kg division: Bruno Antunes, Rômulo Barral, Otavio Sousa, Vitor Oliveira, André Galvão Over-88.3 kg division: Gustavo Pires, Bruno Bastos"
In non-IBJJF Tournament Action, we have the Copa Podio Heavyweight installment coming soon. It's filled with the likes of Rodolfo, Galvao, Baston, Braga Neto, Xande and others. Not bad, not bad at all.
From over at Graciemag: "In the opening stage, all the competitors in each group will face off against each other–four points will be awarded for each submission, three for a points win, and one point for a draw. At the end of the opening phase, the two top-scoring athletes from each group will go through to the semifinals–the criteria for tie-breaks are, in the following order: match result, number of submission wins, sum of points scored in all matches (points for–points against)."
The best thing that ever happened to me was blowing out my knee.
Think about what I just said.
The best thing that has happened to me since I began training martial arts when I first started college, and across boxing, wing chun, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, fighting in MMA, submission grappling....the best thing that has happened to me in all that time was that I blew out my knee.
I was full of limiting beliefs.
Beliefs that I was not athletic. That at best I could train, compete, but that I was the middle of the pack. That I did not have the X factor, the mental edge, the confidence, the whatever it took to excell and compete in the top percentage of the elite.
I was still relatively successful in competition b/c I trained long and hard.
But I realized after losing 3 MMA fights in a row and blowing out my knee that there was something wrong with my environment both externally and internally.
For all my training, I was not seeing the results that I perceived others were getting despite their training less.
I had let other people around me affect my personal belief about my ability.
I had listened to the limiting beliefs and the negative input of others. I had let what I believed was a rational acceptance of limitations truly limit myself and my ability to perform at my utmost potential.
Teenagers call them haters. You can call them whatever you like.
But there will always be those people prepared to tell you what you cannot do. This is largely if not entirely based on their own inadequacies, shortcomings, and acceptance of what they have not done and continue to choose not to do while they rationalize that passive acceptance on their part.
Have you ever noticed that many of the successful people will often say that anyone can be successful?
And yet, the people who will most often tell you that you cannot be successful say it with such malice and bitterness that its clear they are clearly unhappy with themselves and likely their life as well.
A self-made (again, out of context term) millionaire will tell you that you can make a million dollars.
A homeless man will point to the myriad of factors that keep anyone from making a million dollars....b/c he perceives that he has been kept from making a million dollars.
I do not discount the struggles of others, but I would argue the homeless in America have a largesse of opportunity and support that the VAST majority of the world's homeless do not.
I've never had a truly happy, successful person tell me that I could not be successful.
I have had, however, lots of moderately successful (relative assessment, I know) but largely unhappy people tell me I could not or would not achieve things.
In particular when you voice your objective or desire for something they have not, will not, or due to age, life choices, responsibility to family/work et cetera and thus truly cannot do.
What they really mean is that "I have not done that" so I believe that you cannot do it either.
So what's the point?
Eventually, at the end of your life, all those excuses, all those naysayers, all the whatever you used to rationalize your failures and undone wishes and desires will not matter.
You and you alone are holding the bag as your last breath expires, your synapses fire one last time and you are no longer alive.
Personally, I would prefer to spend the waking days and hours I do have remaining chasing those goals and pursuing those passions as far as my will, desire, heart, and determination will carry me.
INFO HERE - Richmond Virginia this weekend!
Come out to one of the best run tournaments I've been to since I started competing in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. US Grappling does a phenomenal job keeping things on time (yes, even with the Submission Only matches).
I'll be there to help out and even referee some novice/white belt matches.
I spent 9 months training with no ACL in my left leg. In that time I learned a lot about not using my leg and/or using it barely to do many things. One of the moves I found recently that I can do despite the relative care with which I have to roll regarding my post-op ACL leg is the following sweep. Even without a strong (in the case below) left DLR hook, I still hit this sweep pretty regularly when rolling.
I agree there needs to be statistical data to avoid confirmation bias, and the file drawer effect regarding the debate of referee bias in the IBJJF and in any large scale governing body. If there can be the kind of corruption in amateur boxing (listening to the commentators have to discuss and accept the likelihood that certain athletes might not get the nod due to where the judges were from was nauseating. I stopped watching boxing in the Olympics this summer as a result) then there can easily be bias in a group that virtually all has ties to some of the major competing teams in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
This reminds me of whenever they discuss corruption in USA Judo. The coaches who want to retain their perks or want a shot at being head coach of Team USA at some point all keep their mouth shut and say "oh, no, those are rarities, the athletes and blah blah blah" and then the disgruntled are shushed away as being outliers and the exception meanwhile USAJudo flies more administrators and paper pushers than it does referees to international events and the IJF and others penalize athletes for not staying at more expensive accomodations when traveling abroad.
From ze one and only Lloyd Irvin: "Must Be Nice! It's time for a change, there is a "good ole' boy" network within the ranks of the ibjjf refs and this network needs to be broken up, the playing field needs to be even. I would like to see an American 'head ref' and at least one American side ref during finals and semi-final matches when an American is fighting in the match. I recommend HIllary Williams for the Job!...There are many refs tired of this, but they won't speak up, I completely understand. So I'll be Rosa Park and stand up and refuse to sit in the back of this bus. Something has to change! Does anyone know who appoints the refs that will be responsible for reffing the finals of the World Championships?"
Romero "Jacare" Cavalcante of Alliance rebutalled:
"I am not here to advocate for the IBJJF Federation but I do not think there is corruption or anything like that with the referees. They make mistakes and need to get better of course, but to accuse them of corruption is a little bit too much....
....Just a few weeks back at the Atlanta Open we had a match for the final of the open division black belt between Lucas Lepri (Alliance) and DJ Jackson (LIrvin) so one American and one Brazilian the score was even on points and in my opinion Lucas pushed the pace and DJ waited to counter attack or whatever at the end the refs decided to give the win to DJ Jackson which I totally disagreed and I saw in many occasions the decisions going both ways."
To which Lloyd re-rebuttaled: (after Romero said that Lloyd's guys were not gentlemanly for opting out of going to the podium to accept their medals) "What about you teaching your fighters not to taunt former teammates, make threats, etc. I watched you and the entire Alliance Team taunt Jordan when he lost to Sinistro at the Pans, I saw you personally taunt Alec verbally when he lost "creontes never win!", and the list goes on, when Keenan beat Sinistro you didn't see anyone on our team taunt Sinistro, I teach my guy/gals better than that, I don't do that, you should teach them to behave like gentleman and not taunt or threaten former students and accept the fact that students switching teams is part of any sport as you put it."
Hillary Williams responds with the type of non-committal/deferential regard you'd expect someone who does not want to anger the IBJJF:
"Regardless of the extent and timeline, favoritism behavior is a reflection on the individual integrity of the referee and not the fault of the organization. Now, heads exploding again--"If IBJJF employs them, the blame of corruption falls on them!" To some extent, yes, I agree with hypothetical forum member. However, nothing can be taken out of context. We must be aware of the issues of ref availability and the inability to play big brother."
Back in the first week of July, I had my knee reconstructed.
Initially, according to the MRI I had a complete ACL tear, Meniscus tear, and fracted my leg as well. By the time I had surgery 9 months later (having competed and won in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the meantime), the fracture and Meniscus tear had healed.
I had surgery on a Tuesday, and the following Saturday was the first time I left the house: to see Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen II.
That being said, I've been remiss about posting my post-op recovery timeline.
In short, at 3 months I was back working my escapes from knee mount, side control, basic movement, defending with my back taken et cetera.
At 4 months I was beginning to work passing the guard partners with about 50% resistance or more. I can only pass to my left side and I would have to occasionally reset if my weaker leg gets put in half-guard, but did not feel comfortable taking the back nor mount.
At nearly 5 months, I can step into mount and take the back, but my weaker leg is just in position, applying no pressure and I'm often swept back to guard.
At 5 months, I still cannot lock my guard nor do I feel comfortable doing so, but with smart and same sized training partners I've done a surprising amount of Jiu-Jitsu over the past 2 months.
When I read online about all the horror stories regarding coming back from ACL reconstruction, I envisioned 6 months of no Jiu-Jitsu which was truly difficult to accept.
The truth, for me, was that at 3 months I began getting back on the mats in a very, very limited fashion. Now, at 5 months, by training smart, I'm getting about 20-30 min's of rolling in a day and working on positions I heretofore had not often address: namely Spiral or Reverse De La Riva guard.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Interestingly enough, my knee that had the surgery, overall feels better than my other knee.
If you've had a bad knee injury, or a nagging injury, you owe it to yourself and your long-term Jiu-Jitsu to get it looked at and diagnosed.
I went to several surgeons to find the one with the right experience, type of surgery, and bedside manner that best suited me.
I will be officially cleared for sport at the start of January. Based on how I'm feeling and my general recovery of strength and muscle in my leg, I think I will be back competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at about the 9 month mark. It will likely be a full year before I feel comfortable competing in Judo again.
Having read about other high level grapplers who came back to soon and had problems for years following, I am in no rush to compete again and take each day on the mats as a gift for which I am thankful.
"Before I accepted to help I talked with Cesar, at first he wasn’t very nice about it and did not want me to go. After I talked with him about it more he said he was joking around and it was OK I wasn’t quite sure what changed his mind. As for his public reaction it came months after he knew and the day before the event, unfortunately, especially for my students at CSA, he does not want me to help with Gracie Fighter or be affiliated in any way."
Having had 2 of the pairs of pants (Fuji and Vulkan) tear or wear out considerably sooner than the jacket convinced me to try the pants with rip stop material.
Fit: wears like a Vulkan in terms of fit. Not super slim, but not the MC Hammer fitting loose parachute pants you sometimes get when you order solo Gi pants from various brands.
Material: Very soft. Even softer than my Vulkan Gi pants which are pretty comfortable.
Quality: The stitching looks tight and consistent. I've had pants come in the past that before I even washed them, a few of the stitches looked loose or were hanging loose and I figured they would eventually come undone.
Drying Time: Comparable to my Vulkan single weave Gi pants. If I wash them and hang them dry before bed, they are dry by class the next night.
Price: On sale for $23.50 right now. 10 or 12 bucks cheaper than what you'd pay for a comparable pair of Fuji Gi pants, but the quality for the Cageside is much higher as is the material and stitching.
one side note: If you go "free form" underneath your Gi pants, you might want to get some vale tudo shorts or something to wear underneath. The rip stop material plus someone's shin plus your crotch is not entirely comfortable (not that it ever is).
Here are some of my posts on the topic. HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Myself, and 3 buddies sought him out at his school to try and get a picture with the elusive myth that is James Paredes.
Part of me refuses to believe this is over:
I guess coaching and working with a guy that fought a semi-teammate awhile ago is a no no for Cesar Gracie. This is the guy who expected Renzo not to corner GSP in the event he fought Nick Diaz.
The list of Cesar beef is so long it warrants its own thread to be honest.
We've got UFC and Bellator Monday morning goodness for you.
In other news, out of the 13 picks I made for Bellator and the UFC, I got exactly 6 right.
Sigh.
Events like this weekend remind me why I'm not a professional gambler.
Long weekend of MMA. Oddly enough, GSP pleasantly surprised me and it was the other match-ups on the card that seemingly left me a bit unenthused.
First up, Hendricks caught Kampmann cold and pounced on him:
What you really care about other than the above could be and maybe possibly but never definite number one conteder match-up b/c the UFC brass will never actually agree to make a fight for a shot at the belt, hell, the Interim champs don't even defend their belts all the time after winning them is whether or not GSP could handle the combat sports again, the pressure of returning to MMA, a 5 round fight, in front of a sold out Canadian (eh?) crowd, and no tune-up fight:
On that tip, we continue on with some usual Bellator awesomeness with surprise endings and well-matched fights in the tournament brackets:
Unfortunately ladies and gentlemen....we should be sprinting to maximize our training. Sigh. Yes. The terrible truth is out there.
If you're human, like me, you probably hate sprints. In fact you probably come up with all kinds of reasons to avoid them.
However, if you read the following and still find a reason excuse to think you don't need to sprint, you're sticking your head in the sand and just rationalizing your own weakness of commitment to maximixing your potential.
However, the truth is pretty incontrovertible:
"A group of scientists late last year decided to apply a similar protocol to trained wrestlers. The Sprint Interval Training (SIT) consisted of 6 35-m sprints at maximum effort with a 10-second recovery between each sprint. The SIT protocol was performed in 2 sessions per week, for the 4 weeks. The SIT subjects did everything else the same as the control group, their training consisted of learning and drilling technique, live wrestling and weight training for 4 weeks. The subjects experienced an increase in VO2 max (5.4%) and a increase in testosterone and decrease in cortisol."
"In another study on elite level Korean Judo athletes undertook sprint interval training with 30 second sprints and 4 minutes rest. The results were compelling “anaerobic peak power and mean power in SIT group was significantly increased by 16% and 17% at 4 weeks and by 17% and 22% at 8 weeks compared to baseline values.” Additionally the blood lactate was lower and ability to clear metabolites was higher in those who did SIT."
" In 2005 and 2006 Burgomaster et al performed studies looking at the effect of sprint training on endurance. They concluded that short sprint interval training (approximately 15 min of intense exercise over 2 wk period) increased muscle oxidative potential and doubled endurance capacity during intense aerobic cycling in recreationally active individuals.
"In 2005 Gibala reported that 30 second bursts working at 250% of VO2 max had significant improvements on endurance."
Untruth:
"Immediately following corrective surgery, had less athleticism than 'a 60-year-old man'....Physical limitations forced St-Pierre to begin training on the mat exclusively from the bottom position to save his knees....any combat sport for one year," Danaher said. "Nothing other than physical rehabilitation" - the above is patently untrue. GSP was likely back shadowboxing at 6 months, and still working range of motion, likely drilling and such even before then. Anyone who thinks he literally sat around doing rehab for one whole year is daft or does not know anything about ACL reconstruction.
"You're talking about an elite combat athlete that hasn't done any combat sport for one year," Danaher said. "Nothing other than physical rehabilitation, which, of course, doesn't count as combat training. So he started fight camp at the lowest point he's ever really been at in his career." - again patently untrue. GSP was likely back to less than full steam sparring and padwork by 9 months if not before. no full contact, full bore shootfighting/takedowns, wrestling practice, but to think he did nothing for one whole year then had some months to get prepped is ludicrous.
"He's not some crazy uber-athlete that people think (he is). He's fast, but not extraordinarily fast. He's strong, but not extraordinarily strong. He's flexible in some ways, and shockingly inflexible in others. He's a good athlete, but he's not stunningly good. The basis of his success is technical prowess gained over time with a combination of determination and hard work."
Truth:
"I think we're starting to go toward the idea of peaking Georges later in the fight camp so that we don't bring him to a peak, and hold him for extended periods of time, where there's a danger of burnout," Danaher said."
"The first four weeks, Danaher said, were "a rough patch." But at the end of the eight-week camp, he was performing like the welterweight champion who's dominated his division for five years."
"He knows Georges is a rhythm-based fighter, and he fights with a broken rhythm," Danaher said. "He'll be stronger if the fight is a messy, scrappy, hard-nosed fight, which tests the physical resilience and conditioning of both athletes. He's a guy who's never been out-conditioned in a fight. He's coming up against an athlete that hasn't been in a fight for over a year. So I believe his thing will be to create chaos, create exhaustion, and then his intent will be to either knock or submit an exhausted Georges St-Pierre."
""In most sports, they draw someone back from an injury," Danaher said. "In this sport, it's straight to the dogs. Of course, I would love to have two tune-up fights. But in this sport, it's not happening. Unfortunately, the fight camp sparring is the only tune-up he's going to get.
In the Minor leagues we have Bellator 81 with the following match-ups:
Rich Clementi vs. Marcin Held - crafty veteran with underrated wrestling gets it done, perhaps with a submission
Dave Jansen vs. Ricardo Tirloni - Jansen has looked impressive and better each consecutive fight. His wrestling base and solid striking will have him battering Tirloni who gets hit a bit too much to win a decision against Jansen
Dustin Neace vs. Marlon Sandro - The KO specialist will pick apart and finish the tough guy Neace
In the Majors we have the UFC 154, eh? With ze Canadien GSP vs Carlos "normally I'm aggressive and try to finish fights" Condit:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. interim champ Carlos Condit (welterweight-title unification)
I think GSP pulls it together after a tentative stalking affair in the first round with some shoulder love/pressing Condit against the cage. My biggest concern is a fluke scenario like when he came out flat against Serra.
Johny Hendricks vs. Martin Kampmann
I see Hendricks blowing his load if when he hurts Kampmann. Granted Hendricks is a finisher, but Kampmann showed against Ellenberger he can weather the storm and get the tap later on with just one mistake in a transition.
Tom Lawlor vs. Francis Carmont
Lawlor has blown each one of his big stage opportunities in recent memory that I can recall. He'll do the same thing here, get overzealous, blow his load, and then get caught.
Constantinos Philippou vs. Nick Ring
Ring wins by his awkward plodding, pick you apart style
Mark Hominick vs. Pablo Garza
Hominick picks apart the less damage withstanding Pablo Garza
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)
Patrick Cote vs. Alessio Sakara
Cote by tougher chin and more well-rounded game
Cyrille Diabate vs. Chad Griggs
Gravedigger by tougher chin and more grinding pressure style
John Makdessi vs. Sam Stout
Stout by better stand-up and sharper striking via Decision
Mark Bocek vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Anjos by more varies stand-up attack, decent wrestling and busier in the clinch.
You probably don't, but this is the kind of triva you need to have in your back pocket when some TUF fan and armchair UFC Unleashed viewer shows up at your Christmas party. Monson most recently got DQ'd at the ADCC for greasing. Emelianenko has been plagued by accusations and rumos he has the Hepatitis and still fights in a sport where sometimes there is blood and sweat and the like.
I've posted this on here before, and you may have ignored it or let Lloyd Irvin's internet marketing distract you from what is by and large still a quite useful interview.
In large part, essentially what Harbison talks about when he refers to the "concrete" in our brains that fills up and gets piled on and hardens while closing our minds to opportunities and other possible positive changes in our life is Plato's Allegory of the cave:
I'll elaborate. Many of us grew up thinking kung-fu and ninjas were the deadliest of the deadly. We saw board breaking demonstrations and guys magically defeating dozens of assailants and we wanted to believe in that capability.
We believed in Dim Mak and the death touch and a lot of other largely unproven claims.
Hope, and the desire to believe in something which will empower remain very powerful lures promises.
Then came the UFC and we saw behind the curtain in Oz. We saw the wizard for what he was: part-time snake oil salesman and fraud.
The cult-like brainwashed continue to believe they can become deadly and defend themselves without full-contact training and 12 year olds grow up thinking their spinning back scorpion axe kick will defeat anyone who stands in front of them.
My point is that if you've tuned out everything Lloyd has and downplay his students' accomplishments to rationalize your prejudice based on his internet marketing, you are missing out.
The cave up above is your own mind. You eventually had to see the efficacy of Jiu-Jitsu over other styles of martial arts. Hopefully, you will see the efficacy of adapting some other grappling styles in part to benefit your Jiu-Jitsu as well. Believing Jiu-Jitsu is the silver bullet is also living in the cave and staring at shadows. Believing that wrestling is boring or that Judo doesn't have its place in Jiu-Jitsu competition is living in the cave. Judo players who avoid mat work or cross training by telling themselves Jiu-Jitsu is too complicated to be effective, or wrestlers who think "I can just punch my way out of the guard" are living in the cave. They are deep in the bee hive. The Queen or whoever has programmed them to believe in only one solution. In only one way. Rather than seeking the way that best suits them.
If you think learning a couple takedowns will not improve your game you are rationalizing your own deficiency. If you think your mat work will not benefit from spending time with ground work specialists, you are rationalizing your own deficiency. If you want wrestling practice and complain that it is too physical, too reliant on athleticism, you are rationalizing your own laziness and lack of knowledge.
When you watch black belts in Jiu-Jitsu win by takedown points but tell yourself Judo causes injury or that you are not a high level player, you are finding an easy way to say you just don't want to do something you're not comfortable doing. The same goes for the guy who tries Jiu-Jitsu, gets tapped out and says it was the Gi that made that happen. Without the Gi, or in the street, he would have smashed the guy with elbows. Go back and watch the UFC. Royce took many of those guys down himself, then proceeded to finish them. Watch the Gracies in Action tapes...watch Rickson.....clinch, takedown, finish.
Empty your tea cup. Break up the concrete and *&^% that has been filling your brain. Stop rationalizing the things you want to avoid to protect your pride, ego, and vanity.
Partway through the interview, Keenan Cornelius talks about his positive/self affirmations he began utilizing to change his mindset. Namely, he would tell himself "I am the best purple belt inthe world, I just have to go out and prove it."
He anecdotally mentions that Lloyd would have him saying and yelling this in front of the entire training group.
There is an old saying from, I believe, Goebbels, the chief architect of the German propaganda machine during WWII, that "if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth."
If you speak to many high level athletes, competitors, Olympians, many of them espouse the use of visualization (literally picturing a positive affirmation like winning, executing a precision performance et cetera) if not self affirmations like statements made first thing in the morning or last thing before bed.
What you will not ever hear them discuss are "limiting beliefs". A limiting belief is any self-imposed restriction on your ability or success. Examples might be: I will never be a world champion in Jiu-Jitsu. I don't think I can win the absolute division because of my size. I am too old to learn Jiu-Jitsu.
This is not a post about "the secret" that book that tells you if you imagine it, you can form it into being within the fabric of the universe.
I would, however, argue that without positive affirmation and belief you will never maximize your own personal performance and ability.
Success becomes a positive feedback loop. I realized months ago that my mentality on the mat in a Judo tournament versus in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament were very different.
I tell myself I will do well at X tournament. I do well. I believe I will do well at Y tournament. I do well. I expect that I will do well at Z tournament.
At some point, I surpass the point where negative feedback will attack my self-confidence. I have created a positive feedback loop that is stronger than self doubt. This is a CONTINUAL AND PERPETUAL PROCESS. There will always be those around you ready to try and drag you down: otherwise known as haters. There is never a shortage of doubting Thomas' in the world. The key is to not be your own doubting Thomas.
On the Judo mat, I view it as my mat. I expect to win my division and likely the next weight class up. I see first place as the only logical outcome to the day of competition. I have gained much positive feedback in Judo tournaments which affirms this thinking which then strengthens my belief in this reality that I hold to be self-evident.
Early on in my Judo competitions I began competing in the advanced division. As I beat brown belts I lost my fear and indecision, and began to believe and feel as though I was every bit as skilled as they were. Now, in reality, of course I was not. However, my at times irrational self-confidence allowed me to play in a manner that bypassed much of the indecision or self-doubt that would have surely led to my losing. But my belief and affirmation of that allowed me to beat players I otherwise would not have bested in a tournament format.
I competed and won matches and tournaments with no ACL in my leg. I genuinely believed in my heart and mind that even without much use of one of my legs, I was still better than many other competitors. Narcissistic and egotistical? Sure. Did I win more than had I not competed and sat at home bemoaning my injury? Yes.
You see this in fighters as well. A fighter gets knocked out for the first time. Some fighters are never the same after this happens. They become "gun shy". The self doubt grows into a crippling force which breaks their will and their prior positive feedback cycle and then as they feel doubt they peform more poorly which enforces and strengthens the self doubt making it all the more crippling. As someone who has seen the ups and downs of winning and losing in MMA, and having great days and terrible days in Jiu-Jitsu competition, I realized this lack of positive affirmation and crippling self doubt was a major impediment to my ability to maximize my performance despite whatever intensive training and preparation I had undergone.
The mental aspect is by far the most difficult yet powerful tool in any fighter's tool box.
If you are a NoGi competitor, you should be attending a wrestling class.
If your interior monologue is already inventing excuses reasons for why you can't go, then you will likely never be a high level competitor. Not b/c of the factors beyond your control but b/c you would rather rationalize deficiencies in your game than address them.
Even worse are those who will watch Torres vs Tanquinho (below) and use the amount of time on the feet "wasted" as a rationale for why their current training and gameplan paradigm is superior. Your rationalization to avoid where you are uncomfortable (on your feet and/or wrestling) is deeply-ingrained and it will take a major shift for you to come out of the cave and walk into the light.
There is no greater failure than than choosing not to succeed.
Even for those who do not regularly compete, you are missing out on a whole host of new problems, situations, and positions to learn and adapt to your grappling.
Regardless your focus, it will improve your game. The choice is yours.
.jpg)
