Do hard things, including love more.

    

Where I thought the gym was going to be.

 It's been a little while since I've written anything but plenty of things have been on my mind. First is an update on the gym. We have reached the two year mark and it is by far one of the hardest things i've done and it was made exponentially harder due to the circumstances. As the recently deceased Nipsey Hussle expressed, this is a marathon not a sprint. So for everything that has transpired throughout this journey I am happy with where we are. So very grateful for everyone and every opportunity. Thank you all.

      It's easy for people to tell you what and how you should go about your life but the truth is there are plenty of examples to draw upon. The majority of the most successful of us didn't get gifted anything. The difference between making personal dreams and accomplishments become reality lies in choice. We all have a choice to honestly pursue our own successes even in the face of seemingly  insurmountable obstacles. Quit or keep going is your choice and your challenge I commend those that continue forward and I understand and encourage those that need a rest and regroup. Just don't quit.

     Let the obstacles in front of you testing your resolve become benchmarks in your growth and vision of your goals. Even if you have to switch lanes to get back on track do so with ferocity and acceptance that even though it is out of the way your are on the right path and your choice has already been made.

     Over this last couple of years I have run into mountains. I doubted myself to my soul but I made the choice to just keep going. I've had to sacrifice some friendships and relationships not based on anything that happened but simply for my own mental health. I had to isolate from the negative vibes and love from a distance. I was and still am in search of...but I also have found so much in myself. Much like fighting an opponent in the ring, fighting through adversity gives you a different view of yourself as a human being and each conquest gives you a further vision as to what could be.

     One of the hardest things to do in this life seems like it should be the easiest and that is to Love. Not the love you give to your mate though it should be measured accordingly. To love those around you even if you disagree with their ideas even if they aren't down for you. It's easiest to put them in the “they can fuck off” category but can you still have love for those that don't believe in you? The answer is a resounding YES!

     I know this is a hard concept and I struggle with this as well but I believe in it. Just because I don't rock with you like that or you don't have good things to bring to my personal universe doesn't mean I can't have love for you, even if it's from afar. I personally can't grow and become what I want and at the same time have hate in my heart for another person. It's a work in progress…

    Lost a few friends over the last couple of years and I just want to take this moment to say love more those around you. Your paths may cross for years or for a brief moment in time but we gotta do better about appreciating those moments as a culture.

    When the artist, entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle was murdered last week it really hit me hard because I was truly inspired by him. I had some people message me about it because they knew how much I looked up to him. I would listen to his mixtapes and get hyped about making something bigger than myself happen. Though I am not there yet I know I'm on the right path. I know that you are too.

   Keep doing hard things to make you a better human and keep loving more to prove you are an evolving human.

Peace and Blessings.

L

R.I.P. Bigg Rodd

R.I.P. Nipsey Hussle

     

The Purge: Making room for gratitude

Well well well... Its been a long time since we were here together. When I used to write this blog it was a way for me to get out my feelings, good or bad. A way to tell stories of my life's journey. It was a way to connect to my friends and to be honest about who I am and how I perceive not only Muay Thai but the Martial arts world as a whole. It was my outlet. Since the last time I wrote this blog my life has changed drastically as well as my relationship with Muay thai and martial arts in general. I finally achieved a huge goal in opening the first Lucky's Muay Thai gym. It was bitter sweet because at the same time I went through a devastating break up which split up my family. Everything I was working towards was still in place but the reasons I did them changed tremendously. I honestly wasn't sure if I would make it. I spent a lot of nights after everyone left the gym sitting at my desk pouring tears. If it wasn't for my amazing friends, family and students I'm not sure I would have gotten through it. For that kind of love I am forever grateful. However, between the stresses of the gym opening and Miami getting a CAT 4 hurricane which killed business for months, and fighting off depression and panic attacks daily, I was drowning. I was completely aware that it wasn't going well and I was doing my best to keep it moving. Fortunately, I did. Now I have to do my best every day to leave those feelings where they belong, in the past.
   It wasn't until now that I finally feel like Lucky's
Muay Thai will be here as a staple of the combat sport community for a long time to come. It isn't because of me, it is because of all of you. It was without a shadow of a doubt that my self belief got me to this point but it is your belief in me that kept me going when all was lost(believe me, it was lost). People coming up to me to tell me about the video they saw on the Internet or someone telling me that I had helped them change their life because of something I said or because the gym was there for them, how can I not be grateful. I have been more than fortunate to have two people that I met that believed in this vision enough that they were willing to jump on this boat with me and help me keep it afloat. Shout out to Benjamin London and Jacob Israel for having good hearts. That brings me to this. Now that the dark cloud is dissipating and the sun is peeping through, its time to work. I want to give you what you all give me, encouragement, support, direction, and above all else, LOVE. I'd like to personally welcome back everyone that rocked with the LMT family into the new space and we would like to welcome all the new members that have been hitting us up non-stop for information. We are for sure a family and we are as dysfunctional as any good family always is. I love you guys and 2019 is our year to make memories and accomplish goals together. I can't wait to build this gym up to reach it's full potential. I am so proud of everything we did and how you all played such an integral part of it all.

I am grateful for you all

Lucky

P.S. LET'S GO!!

There is _____ here.

Many people that become fighters also become obsessive about it. It could be the training they enjoy or the camradery with their training partners, perhaps it's the release of the stresses of everyday life. I've often heard fighters and people that train regularly say things like, "if it wasn't for this I would be in jail for beating someone up", or, "this saved my life". Yes I can totally relate to those of us that just need to have an outlet to get away from all of the internal and external factors that keep us from just being free and happy.
However that is not the end all be all of what is felt in the gym, or on the mats or in the ring or the cage. There is something else their that the average fan won't ever see or get to experience and therefore understand. You can call it passion or energy or for that matter call it what it really is and that is love. There is love here even when it doesn't exist anywhere else. The moment one foot steps in everything else begins to evaporate. There is no question in my mind why fighters stick around past their prime or why people become lifelong martial artists. What is inside of those squared circles or Octagons or on those mats can't be found anywhere else. It's also evident by the amount of ex-fighters that become drug addicts, because they are searching for that out of body unconscious connection that they no longer have. Regardless of outcomes of fights or wins and losses, no matter the amount of sweat or blood lost in sparring or in actual competition there is a feeling in the hearts of those that compete that cannot be duplicated in any other sport. That is not to diminish other peoples chosen athletic activities and I understand that some sports are considered just as violent as fighting but that isn't what separates us. The differences lie in the unification between the physical, mental, and emotional connections and what can only be compared to an, at times, out of body experience. You hear basketball players and other athletes having a good game or day as being described as being "in the zone". A fighter is in constant expression of that zone and it is most evident when that energy is exchanged back and forth from one martial artist to another. There is truth to the phrase styles make fights but the real truth is that fighters make fights and those fights are built on the foundations of the  energy boiling and erupting in the places that fighters are made. I can

distinctly remember the places I have fought and trained or grappled and competed however like most fighters it is very difficult to remember what exactly happened during those times. Ask a fighter what happened after a fight and most of them will say I don't remember or they can remember only bits and pieces and they'll have to watch it later. In the moments that a the bell rings to start the fight or the competition all things outside of that moment often become blurry and almost non-existent. It's not that we don't realize that other people are there but we are in our "zone" and we are not alone, that zone is both our own and a shared space with the other competitor. There is nothing like it. Other than some adrenaline junkies you can ask fighters to do crazy things like sky diving or swim with sharks etc and most might shrug their shoulders at such things mostly because after you face mortality every single day a person facing mortality for one single day just doesn't seem very appealing.

For those of us that have been blessed enough to take part in what most consider an insane lifestyle we know about the energy that exists in these places and it is real. You can call it passion or energy or for that matter call it what it really is and that is love, there is love here.