Being humble! Kindness or Weakness?

Wow guys, what a year. I want to thank all of my readers for following the blog and also sending me emails and comments. Now let's get down to business. Anyone that knows me also knows that I have a hard time accepting compliments. I just don't think of myself as better than someone else as a person because I was blessed in one way or another. I'm grateful to just be able to do things I love everyday, to see my family, or even just crack a joke. That being said, I only ask to be respected. Don't blow smoke up my butt or push me too far out of ignorance or rudeness. I am not weak and I don't take well to a%#holes. I am a regular guy so I can imagine how this can be amplified for those professional athletes in the public eye. I've had the pleasure of meeting quite a few pros from all different sports and I can only say that some are very humble and laid back and some are egotistical and rude. These meetings prompted a 2 part blog on humility and ego, so first lets talk being humble.<br> <br/> Because of who I am I never mistaken kindness for weakness. Case and point Kenny Florian. I had the pleasure of meeting him recently and he was very cool. I work also as a doorman at an upscale nightclub in Miami and "Ken Flo" happened to stop by. He at no point demanded any special treatment and at the end of the night went out of his way to stop by and take a pic. He is a big name in the fight world and he acted as if he was just another Joe on the street. Just so you know for those not familiar with him. Kenny Florian is a beast in the octogan and he will smash you if you happen to be on the other side of the cage from him. It was really cool to meet a big name with a humble attitude. I don't expect everyone to be or act the same but I will express on the ground level that people don't appreciate conceit. If you're blessed enough to live your dream and earn money and a living from that, you should feel honored to be recognized. People work their fingers to the bone and save money to order these expensive pay per views or go to see the fights live. Fighters should be humble when they meet fans because without them there is no big money, house, or car to brag about. Ego is next so stay tuned. </p> <br/> <div style='clear: both; text-align: center; font-size: xx-small;'>Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2</div>

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"If you ain't tappin', you ain't learnin'"

In view of last weeks brutal submissions of Machida and Noguiera, I think we should discuss tapping. I know competition is different than training, however, I don't know if not tapping is an expression of ego, determination, pride, strength or stupidity. It may be a little of them all and possibly some other attributes. All I know is that I would rather tap in a couple fights, learn from it and improve for my next fight, than not tap and risk a possible career ending injury or not be able to make money for months while recovering. I might even have to agree with "Rampage" Jackson when he says, "man I don't trust anybody", in reference to tapping during a fight. It's true, Rousimar Palhares, Bas Rutten, and now Jon Jones, who let Machida fall like a sack of potatoes as he walked away never looking back to see if his opponent was even alive or Frank Mir, who snapped Tim Silvia's and Nogueira's arms respectively, don't care if you don't tap. There are guys in this sport that will put you to sleep and break you in half or worse if given the chance. The risk is all up to you!

Now, that being said there are a couple guys out there that bend like rubber. Ben Henderson and Dan Hardy have defied the odds when defending submissions or at least hanging on until released from the grip of their respective opponents. When you see arms rotate in positions they shouldn't be in and then seconds later those same arms are throwing punches, it leaves you shaking your head.

All I can say are the words that were repeated to me over and over again. Train hard, learn how to be comfortable in awkward positions, and last but not least, "if you ain't tappin', you ain't learnin'".

The following are some videos from the Nitro tourney a couple years back. Enjoy!

She doesn't have to get it, she's your mom!

Hello all, hope you guys are well and enjoying the holidays. I myself am working like a dog. So lets get right down to it. Your mom may enjoy watching violent sports, such as football or hockey, but she will never be completely ok with you getting punched in the face or kicked in the ribs. I believe my mothers words went something like this after finding out about me fighting, "why the hell are you doing that?", followed by a "you're gonna end up like Ali". Now I know that sounds a little rough, however, that's simply how deep a mother loves her kid, even if he's grown. I place the blame entirely on her for putting me in Taekwondo at a young age, even though that was completely my idea. I never got it out of my system. Martial arts is strange like that, once you do it for any length of time, it stays with you forever.
Anyway, mom has since lightened up and become super supportive of me fighting and just generally being involved in something I love and am passionate about. So no, I don't know if she'll ever fully understand why I do what I do but she respects it and me for sticking to it. Don't expect for people to "get it", especially your mom. As long as you are real about honing your skills in and out of the cage/ring/mat it will shine through and you'll receive plenty of support. All that being said, I'm happy to introduce my mom in Bruce Buffers voice as my new editor: And in this corner writing out of St. Louis, Missouri, carrying a record of 40 and 0, the marauder of the midwest, my moooooom Kathy "The Letter Killer" Jooooooooohnsoooooon.!!!!

Just a little footwork

The Plateau

Plateau-The level reached in training at which one levels out. The "I don't feel like I'm getting any better" stage. This is usually accompanied by boredom and lack of motivation.

For those that have reached this place in their training, I understand your frustration. I too have felt the woes of leveling out. I don't know of any easy way to get out of this phase. I don't know if it's like in basketball, when you hit a dry spell, you just keep shooting til you make one or like in baseball, you swing yourself out of your rut. Of course, in both of those sports like many others, you sometimes need to make changes in order to step up to the next level or at least start performing well again.

Plateaus need to be treated like living in a city way too long. At some point you (the human body) needs a change of scenery. A change in training or at least training habits can force the body to have to adapt in order to keep up with the new training. This should bring some noticeable results in a hurry. Your level of skill depends entirely on your evolution in training. Don't get stuck doing the same training with the same people if nothing new has been introduced. Once you've reached a certain point you must change, adapt, and just plain evolve.

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Pads with my buddy Max

It's a Dirty Game

Ok, so let's touch on the dirty business. From loaded gloves to underhanded promoters, the fight business can be a difficult thing to navigate. Let's take recent events into view first. After the fight with Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito was busted in his next fight with Shane Moseley. Every excuse in the book was made by he and his training staff to discount the matter. The fact is that he could have seriously injured and or killed his opponent by having loaded wraps. When Cotto caught wind of this, he and just about everyone else were convinced that those same loaded wraps had been used on him in the fight prior and I would be inclined to agree. I mean the punches he hit Cotto with in the first fight seemed to do more damage then any regular punch i've seen, and i've seen thousands. It left him battered beyond belief. Let's fast forward to the rematch last weekend. The punches Margarito hit Cotto with this time hardly phased the champ and he ended up stopping Margarito in the 8th by TKO. I don't know for sure if Margarito did the unthinkable in the first fight but this is surely the payback that was required regardless.
Next, let's get into the promoters, from Don King to Bob Arum, the unsavory taste is in the air and hard to deny. He admitted to bribing the International Boxing Federation president to receive a more favorable ranking for one of his fighters. He was also fined by the Nevada State Atheletic Comission for a bribe to get one of his fighters sanctioned. One word to describe these actions...hmmmm... DIRTY! In connection to the Margarito incident, oh yeah, he's promoted by Arums company. It's all "racially motivated". The suspension given to your Mexican fighter for getting caught trying to use loaded handwraps in California(of all places) where he was set to fight a black guy was somehow racially motivated. This statement shows a serious lack of ethical and logical thinking. There's just no telling who's on the up and up these days. So if you got good friends that are close to you, keep it that way cause new ones may not be friends at all. Beware of the dirt, once it gets on your hands, its hard to get clean again. I know of people in the industry that won't even shake hands with promoters. I would say something about Don King but I wouldn't want to end up like 2 other people that crossed paths with him. Wikipedia it...

Fighter Mills?

I recently had a fighter come to me and ask about doing some training. I honestly always get a little nervous when they mention the gym they come from, if its considered one of the "best". I'm always concerned about the name and reputation it carries. I don't doubt my skills as a trainer but my reputation isn't as grandiose as some of the trainers from these gyms. More and more however i'm noticing a trend in the fighters, they lack simple fundamentals. The fighters lack proper stance, balance, don't keep their hands high, not throwing punches properly...etc, etc, the list goes on and on. Within 30 minutes of training this fighter I pointed out at least 5 major flaws. The response from him was "damn I've been at ______ for months and they never mentioned those things". At least one of the things I pointed out was a direct cause of him taking damage in his last fight. Why didn't the big name gym and trainers notice it, you ask? The answer is very simple. The saturation of combat sports in the recent future has made way to greed and "fighter mills". When MMA was still considered "human cockfighting", the trainers and fighters had to work very hard to even get fights, let alone win. Now you can find a fight anywhere. Because of this, gyms are no longer making fighters work their way up skill wise before fighting. Now, if you know how to throw a 1-2, they're willing to let you get on a card to fight. Guys aren't sharpening their tools the way they should be in exchange for the possibility of stardom and fast money. It sort of reminds me of when Hip-Hop was just starting and guys were signing deals for cars and gear but no real investment in future income. I'm not knocking the hustle, but instead the quality of the product. If you, as a trainer, aren't making corrections in your fighters skill set, then you're not a very good coach. Also, if you're a fighter and you aren't being corrected on your stance, defense, or offense, then you're being taken for a ride. Keep an eye out for the snakes they'll throw you to the wolves. If you know he's a snake and you get a beat down after they've been feeding you the "you're unbeatable" line, well you knew he was a snake. Money from the promoter, the sponsors, the fighters, and the fans is blinding the gyms and coaches. Beware of the fighter mills and make sure you share a connection with your trainers. They should care about everything you do. I would.

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