Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
This Day in Terrible MMA Tattoo History
This is only the very tip of an unbelievably huge iceberg, but I couldn't resist. Devotion is a powerful thing. 
Friday, February 26, 2016
Shortlist of Picks for UFC Fight Pass: Bisping vs Silva (kinda worth watching)
I'll be out of town competing at a Jiu-Jitsu event so I'll miss it, but I've got Bisping beating Silva by U Decision. Silva hasn't officially won a fight in almost 3 years. The gray in his beard makes him look aging and I think Bisping can still put the kind of fight on Silva to pressure him and batter him. Silva's time has passed."A king has his reign, then he dies."
It is the natural order of things. Silva still wants to believe in the myth of himself but I think the leg break and the steroid/drug suspension shook the image of himself he saw in others.
I was unimpressed watching Bisping's training for this fight and to see no truly notable faces in his training camp. I find this deeply concerting but less concerting than a feeble Silva refusing to believe his time has ended. He's the Lance Armstrong of MMA and his "performance" in the Nick Diaz fight was a throwback to the terrible fights with Leites, Maia, and others that we had to suffer through as fans because Silva was in a strange mood or simply didn't show up mentally or whatever-the-&^%$-it-was.
The Battle Lines video I watched, his voice, the literally sound of his voice was not the same to me. This might sound silly, but it's the kind of thing I pay attention to when picking fights.
Mousasi has COMPLETELY underwhelmed since coming to the UFC and is a B league-er but a can opener when better than the competition but unfortunately for him, the UFC top tier is too many attributes for him. He has looked TERRIBLE at times, listless at others, but simply unimpressive the vast majority of the time. He either needs to get on the realness in terms of steroids or leave the UFC.
Nakamura I'm choosing based on experience level and more wins by submission over granted lesser competition. I think Pickett uses a diverse stand-up attack to find Rivera in a submission whose biggest claim to fame is a close fight with Faber before an eye poke hurt him then he got finished.
I'm a big Pickett fan, have been since before he came to the UFC, but he's gotta be running against the clock career-wise at this point. Always loved seeing him fight, be good to see him win here. He has the clearly more well-rounded skillset when he chooses to use it and I think with his back against the wall, he'll use it here.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
What I'm Reading/Training/Watching/Listening: Aggressively Patient on the Grind
What I'm Doing:
Mid-March I return to gainfully employed full-time work. I have left teaching (school) for the time being and am excited to move in a new direction. At roughly the ten year mark, in any field of full-time investment and expenditure, you're deep enough in to reflect back and decide which direction comes next.
This weekend I'm working Friday night, then riding out of town Saturday to compete at a Jiu-Jitsu invitational/death match/super fight/whatever-you-call-it event.
My match is 15 min's, Gi, purple belt, submission only. I've been training hard and added sprints and Olympic lifts back into my weekly training regimen.
March 12th I'll be reffing and competing at US Grappling's Submission Only event in Virginia Beach. They run a great event, and even their Sub Only events run more on time than a ton of other tournaments I've attended.
The following weekend I hope I can afford to do Copa Nova as I've never done one of their tournaments.
As for my new career path starting in March, long hours are to be expected as I'm starting at the ground floor in a new environment, but I've worked 2-3 jobs in addition to teaching to make ends meet for most of the time I was a teacher and long hours to me simply denotes that I have the opportunity to outwork and outpace the 97% who for various reasons don't embrace the grind of learning and persistence in any endeavor. 80% of success is showing up springs to mind, but showing up is more than simply being physically present. It's being there day after day, willing to keep trudging even when your heart really isn't in it but insisting on doing good work and improving over time.
It's training the day after the tournament, training the day after promotions, but most of all simply being consistent regarding a few primary and necessary tasks that are not always short-term rewarding that outpace everyone else who's just going through the motions.
The more you insist on finding time to do, the more hours you find in the week.
A typical weekend for me while working as teacher was: work monday-friday full-time, work downtown Friday night, get off at 2am, wake up, drive to wherever the tournament was 2-4 hours away, referee, compete, then drive 2-4 hours and be back in town by 10pm to then work until 4am.
When people complain about long hours or have their hand out asking others to help them with their journey in pursuing a dream I'm conflicted at times between altruism and skepticism.
Perhaps I've read too much Ayn Rand and her diatribe of trade as the ultimate medium of exchange and welfare or unwarranted support being vilified. Perhaps I just need some coffee.
You can work a full-time job, still train 1-2 times a day given sacrificing things like having kids, a large circle of friends/acquaintances and other less significant hobbies.
I've only been able to compete because of reffing for the awesome folks at US Grappling.
Through them I had the opportunity to compete and referee something like at least 30 times in the past few years. That being said, I also look forward to actually being able to afford attending Jiu-Jitsu seminars, IBJJF level tournaments and some training trips outside of my current area.
Reading:
- The River of Doubt by Candice Malard: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
- Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
- Various PDF's of research data and theory on :system justification, cognitive bias, outgroup bias, and ingroup preference,
Watching: Documentaries on Zimbardo's work (other than the Stanford Prison Experiment), social contract theory, bystander effect, and cult leaders.
Listening: The Last Podcast on the Left - each week recaps various horror-related topics such as true crime/serial killers/conspiracy theories et cetera.
Mid-March I return to gainfully employed full-time work. I have left teaching (school) for the time being and am excited to move in a new direction. At roughly the ten year mark, in any field of full-time investment and expenditure, you're deep enough in to reflect back and decide which direction comes next.
This weekend I'm working Friday night, then riding out of town Saturday to compete at a Jiu-Jitsu invitational/death match/super fight/whatever-you-call-it event.
My match is 15 min's, Gi, purple belt, submission only. I've been training hard and added sprints and Olympic lifts back into my weekly training regimen.
March 12th I'll be reffing and competing at US Grappling's Submission Only event in Virginia Beach. They run a great event, and even their Sub Only events run more on time than a ton of other tournaments I've attended.
The following weekend I hope I can afford to do Copa Nova as I've never done one of their tournaments.
As for my new career path starting in March, long hours are to be expected as I'm starting at the ground floor in a new environment, but I've worked 2-3 jobs in addition to teaching to make ends meet for most of the time I was a teacher and long hours to me simply denotes that I have the opportunity to outwork and outpace the 97% who for various reasons don't embrace the grind of learning and persistence in any endeavor. 80% of success is showing up springs to mind, but showing up is more than simply being physically present. It's being there day after day, willing to keep trudging even when your heart really isn't in it but insisting on doing good work and improving over time.
It's training the day after the tournament, training the day after promotions, but most of all simply being consistent regarding a few primary and necessary tasks that are not always short-term rewarding that outpace everyone else who's just going through the motions.
The more you insist on finding time to do, the more hours you find in the week.
A typical weekend for me while working as teacher was: work monday-friday full-time, work downtown Friday night, get off at 2am, wake up, drive to wherever the tournament was 2-4 hours away, referee, compete, then drive 2-4 hours and be back in town by 10pm to then work until 4am.
When people complain about long hours or have their hand out asking others to help them with their journey in pursuing a dream I'm conflicted at times between altruism and skepticism.
Perhaps I've read too much Ayn Rand and her diatribe of trade as the ultimate medium of exchange and welfare or unwarranted support being vilified. Perhaps I just need some coffee.
You can work a full-time job, still train 1-2 times a day given sacrificing things like having kids, a large circle of friends/acquaintances and other less significant hobbies.
I've only been able to compete because of reffing for the awesome folks at US Grappling.
Through them I had the opportunity to compete and referee something like at least 30 times in the past few years. That being said, I also look forward to actually being able to afford attending Jiu-Jitsu seminars, IBJJF level tournaments and some training trips outside of my current area.
Reading:
- The River of Doubt by Candice Malard: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
- Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
- Various PDF's of research data and theory on :system justification, cognitive bias, outgroup bias, and ingroup preference,
Watching: Documentaries on Zimbardo's work (other than the Stanford Prison Experiment), social contract theory, bystander effect, and cult leaders.
Listening: The Last Podcast on the Left - each week recaps various horror-related topics such as true crime/serial killers/conspiracy theories et cetera.
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