In all honesty I have no idea if anyone reads this blog, and perhaps no one has even looked at it. But if anyone is keeping an eye on it, well I apologize for the late update. For those of you who attend college you all know how hard it is to deal with finals, and since I am transferring to a University it makes things even more Hectic.
In this update I’ve decided to talk about my background, as well as the experience I have when it comes to fighting. Some of it is bad, some of it is good, but it all comes down to your opinion. For me “fighting” really began to take over my life in Elementary School. We all know how cruel children can be, and when I was growing up I was picked on quite a bit. After more than a few school yard fights I asked my Uncle what I should do, this turned out to be my first mistake. Over the following weeks my Uncle taught me everything he had learned on the streets, from the basics of how to throw a punch to fighting multiple opponents. Probably the best piece of advice he gave me was: “Break the knee.” (Kind of like “sweep the leg”). Essentially these “lessons” led me to hurt a few kids pretty badly, which ended up mentally harming me as well.
A few years passed and I was fairly introverted, the other kids knew what I had done so I was left alone for the most part. During this time of “peace” I experienced something that haunts me to this day; a cousin of mine had lost control and ended up strangling me until I was unconscious, and held on well past that point. I was more than a little depressed after that incident, and the school councilor picked up on it. After my near death experience I changed, whenever someone hit me I’d black out and come to standing over someone. I didn’t tell anyone about it at that time, since I didn’t realize what was going on, but my Mother decided that it was time for me to learn martial arts, thus I started TMAs.
TKD was essentially the first step in my evolution. Growing up in the Bay Area there are number of gyms, fight clubs, and health centers and you really have your pick of what you want to do. The academy I ended up going too was merely close to home, but it ended up teaching me something. By doing TKD and Capereira (poor spelling is a failing of mine) I learned that I actually liked training. But it only took a year for me to become bored, mainly from the lack of progression at the gym, and I started to sample other things.
High School was a fairly boring period in my life; I was still dealing with being traumatized when I was younger, so I kept to myself. A friend of mine taught me some Aikido, but aside from that all I did was brawl when I had too. There was no certain style that I favored, there was really nothing to me other than taking shots and keep on going.
After High School I experienced a cooling off period, I really just hung out and lifted weights. My cardio was fairly poor, but it really didn’t matter to me at the time. It wasn’t until I was 20 that I discovered Mixed Martial Arts, and more specifically my love for boxing and Muay Thai. My first MMA class occurred at MODCOM, a great gym in Berkley near UCB. I was only there for a week, but I learned the basics and continued to hone them on my own. The reason I only stayed there for a week is simple, I had quit my job to explore other options and ended up moving up to Redding. It was essentially three years of drilling by myself, working on my stance and my striking while I lifted. When I turned 22 I decided to return to “normal training”, but ended up studying Shotokon Karate while I searched for the perfect gym. This actually had some good effects on me; it allowed me to be an overweight guy that had some decent cardio.
Once I found Axis Academy, I was sure I wanted to train there, and in the sport in general. I had come to the realization that MMA was something I needed, and I couldn’t be without it. I had six great months of training at Axis, ending with a seminar by Saulo Rebeiro which is one of the greatest moments of my life. Then, as it usually happens, I ended up getting injured. Within the span of a few months I was hit by a car, and also fell on my head which resulted in neurological issues. Essentially was screwed. It took me over a year and a half to get myself back in order, physical therapy and building enough confidence to come back took some time. I did learn something important though, I am not invincible, just close to being so. On a more serious note, I learned that I hate myself when I don’t train, and that’s not something I enjoy.
Now I am back, though I am only cleared to do BJJ, and I am training again.
Next post will cover something that happened last week, the seminar I attended that was taught by Matt LIndland and Dan Henderson.
Sorry for the long post, but yeah. I think it had to be done.
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