Measuring and motivation

    What is really good people??!! This was on my mind and I couldn't quite hash it out in my manic brain so I decided to try to do it here. The question is how do you measure success and if you do so by comparison to others, at what point does that become detrimental. When it comes to fighting we are often compared to or making comparisons to other fighters. We as a combat community often take cues from those that innovate with a spectacular knockout or technique in competition.

Soon after Anderson Silva used a front kick/teep to the jaw of Vitor Belfort the front kick to the face became a regular staple of mma fighters much the way people are using Saenchai's cartwheel kick regularly now. These moments how we grow in skill and community as well as evolve our independent artforms on an international scale. As fans we compare fighters and accomplishments to determine who is the best. As fighters we see others in positions either better or worse than our own. With the right training, mindstate, diet, recovery, coaches, training partners, will, promoters, and a dash of luck you can be one of the few fighters that reach the pinnacle of your sport. Clearly it won't happen for everyone. So when we look at this on a more personal level, how can you compare yourself to someone else that has everything you believe you are missing? The simple answer is that you cannot. The better answer is to try and have a different perspective. The phrase quality over quantity comes to mind first. I will forever believe that you must be great at the tools available to you. It means to buy in on the things you are good at and double down on them while adding other skills to compliment that base. If all you have is a jab, then work extensively on that while learning the technique of the cross. Step by step increase your base tools and expand. Your contemporary could have been blessed with athleticism that you do not have. Either you live in mediocrity or you work hard on your personal gifts to find your greatness. As fighters and martial artists the fastest way to get to place of non-growth is not using what we lack as motivation. As fighters we are sort of bound by the idea that we can beat whomever is in front of us. It is often said that if you don't believe that, you should not be competing. I believe this as well. The very idea that someone is considered better than you, can do more, or accomplishing more should be a clear motivation to get focused on your craft. As a human being you can toil at a job for years and never get that promotion, even worse you can watch the new guy get it in a year. Life is not fair. It is irrelevant, do not get stuck on fairness but do get stuck on forward momentum. Don't just stay in your lane, if you want a clearer path then you must build more lanes. If you do this, nothing can get in your way.

Peace, 

L

Clawing at the throne

Hola people! Let's talk about yesteryear when a fighter in their respective sport would work their way through the ranks and fight their way up to the coveted title shot. The fighters of the past would have to not only win to get a shot at the title, but win impressively against top notch opponents that were also working their way up the ranks! If you asked them what their ultimate goal was they would say it is to be the champion, then they would say something smart like they are taking it one fight at a time and looking to fight the best fights, or they might even say that they are leaving it up to their manager. It has been the new practice in MMA to call out whomever has the belt, although I haven't seen it much in Muay Thai that could just be because there just isn't a ton of money to be made even at the highest levels. Working your way up through the competition is still somewhat commonplace in boxing though the lottery ticket that is Floyd Mayweather has brought swarms of boxers to the microphone that is social media to call out the pound for pound king. This begs to question, is it greatness they want or money? Which then leads to another question, is greatness measured by simply putting on a championship belt? I personally don't think so. I think greatness is measured by the body of work over the entire period of competition. Not everybody can be champ and not everyone that calls out the champion can be that good. 

Chael Sonnen calling out Jon Jones

We are living in a world of instant gratification as well as poorly paid fighters. The new way to make money isn't about learning your craft and beating people in such dominating fashion that people are falling all over themselves to get to you, now it's about learning your craft to a decent level and then learning how to talk smack once you get an opportunity to get close to a microphone. Lets see if this sounds familiar, "he's never fought anyone like me", "he's holding my belt for me", "he's scared to fight me", "I'm ready to go, anytime anyplace", nothing is wrong with those phrases except now you hear them coming from guys or girls not ranked in the top ten and with no quality wins on their resume. I get it, the only way to make the big bucks, get famous, and get a following in the social media age is to be loud and beat the big names, but at what cost? Where is the line? Did Chael cross the line with his semi-racist rant about the Brazilians being "pygmies", or does it have to involve talking about someone's family negatively for it to be past the point of no return? At what point is the cutoff, can you still do all of that and consider yourself a "martial artist"? I'm not sure that insulting someone's family or culture is worth putting asses in seats. Once certain words are said, they can't be unsaid. There is a debate about comedians that basically is do comedians get a pass to say what they want just because they are a comedian? In the same respect can a fighter get a pass after the fight just because they were trying to sell the fight? I can't judge, I can only say that for me I couldn't in good faith bring someone's family into the mix while trying to bid for a title shot or even just to move up the ladder. Let's not forget it wasn't until recently that fighters started really calling out the champs, it used to be the next guy up the ladder. At the most fighters would do that hand gesture after they won a fight to symbolize them wrapping the belt around their waist. Now, it's an immediate call out of the reigning champ and it is becoming more popular to do because it is being rewarded. Even fighters that have earned the next title shot are being passed over for the better talker. I mean after completely demolishing Cub Swanson a very high level guy Frankie Edgar is passed over for a the slick toungued Connor McGregor.

Connor Mcgregor yelling at Jose Aldo after defeating Poirer

It's not that Connor hasn't beaten a bunch of opponents, but high level opponents not so much. He has yet to even face a high level wrestler but damn can he talk and at times walk the line between respect and what some may consider disrespect on a regular basis
. So it's established that it is possible to move up the ladder by being a good orator but now we have to figure out who get's a pass to do so. Lower level guys should by no means start running their mouths. The upside is great, a shot at some dough, recognition, a bit of fame. The downside is that if they lose it could leave a psychological imprint that there is no recovery from. On the other hand if it's a champion from another top level organization or an Olympian in the case of Ronda Rousey, lest we forget that she talked her way into a title shot with Miesha Tate in Strikeforce and never looked back. These are the only passes I can say are legitimate. If you've beaten the breaks off some top level opponents the trash talk should just be ancillary to sell some tickets. Otherwise my only advice is don't sell your soul, work your ass off in training beat the guys or girls in your way and learn how to make some sense on a microphone. Your time will come and when it does maybe being equipped with a speech or broadcasting class might get you to your destination a little faster. Not so sure about mentioning someone's family or cultural background as those are more than "fighting words" where I come from.

The night we introduced LMT, again.

The team after an amazing night

What's up family? Hope you guys are having blessed days and amazing nights! It has been a great start for the LMT team this year so far. We started our first competition with four fights and four wins. The fights were competitive and exciting which made the victories even more fulfilling. Watching the fighters train so hard and then apply the knowledge they learned and techniques they worked tirelessly was absolutely mind blowing. They deserved the glory and we made a huge statement fighting some of the biggest Muay Thai gyms in Florida.

Felipe throwing a hard overhand 

     As for me, it was my greatest accomplishment as a coach to have all of my fighters win on the same night and I am stoked. I have been working at this for some time and I pride myself on studying. I might not be the most experienced, but I study as hard if not harder than a large majority of coaches. I study everything all the way down to the smallest detail of every technique. From fights to padwork etc. but I also study the minds of the masters. Genghis Khan, Sun Tzu, and Miyamoto Musashi. These three to me are the foundation to having the proper mentality to combat, sports and real world. I could sit here and spout of a bunch of cliche quotes that I might have just googled but that is not how I perceive what I have read. To be successful at combat on any level you must first accept your fate. I relate this to my students first and foremost. From that point forward we can't believe that there is only one road to victory but that the road forks several times and each fork offers a new opportunity to display a new set of skills. You must also be prepared to do so.

Jennifer with a nasty uppercut

    Being aware of my fighters abilities, gifts and mentalities

Sarah throwing her jab over the top 

has allowed me to choose in what fashion we can attack our opponents. The thing I am most proud of for myself in these fights is that I had laid out separate and unique strategies for each of the fighters and they went out and believed and applied. I spent time meditating and visualizing on what we would do and when. I had come up with a new way to get my point across in the corner in between rounds and it was more effective than the previous way I had done things. It allowed me to make adjustments without messing up the flow the fighters had. Making adjustments must be done by fighters and coaches and in this case it was happening fluidly. We had worked extremely hard and put ourselves through the ringer during the training camp for these fights and it showed.

Romeo dropping bombs on his larger opponent

This was the most organized I had ever been, I have taken different aspects of strategies for training and fighting from the masters of the past and the coaches of now ie. Greg Jackson, Faras Zahabi, and Duke Roufus. I am finally feeling like I am becoming the coach I really want to be and the fighters are starting to come into their own. I will continue to out study the opposition and give my fighters the best chance of winning. We won't win them all but they will remember us without a doubt. I Love this team. I am so proud of where we are and we are going.

Fighting at all speeds

Hey guys, hope all is well in your neck of the woods.  Perfect time for a blog. Heading into the last week of camp for the fighters, two of which are competing for a state title and one that is having her debut on August 8th in Tampa. All of this brings back memories. When I first started it was like a tornado, just chaos for 3 rounds, but it seemed like it took forever. Now it's still chaos but very controlled. I always feel like regardless of the pace of the fight it moves in slow motion for me. Now that doesn't mean that I see everything and am able to pull a Matrix move everytime I get swung at or kicked. However because of the ability to finally settle my mind I can hear the voice inside my head as it attempts to figure out my opponents defense in order to open up my offense. It's a mental and physical chess game bolstered by the skill level of each player. There's almost a formula for it. Number of techniques known multiplied by conditioning divided by defensive ability and strength of chin and mind. Either way it's like two military commanders executing attacks and counter attacks as mapped out in a war room. Now more so than ever, I get it. A person preparing for a fight must be able prepare not only the body but also the mind. Well, we know that, you might say. Yes, but there is a factor that isn't touched on as much. The speeds at which your body and mind must be ready to perform. The knowledge of when to attack verbally, or when to listen to your opponent blow hot air and you sit back and smile. When to blitz your opposition and when to frustrate them with your movement and counterattacking. All of this is done at different speeds and all of it requires training. The ability to subtly get your opponent to fight your fight against their will is an art in itself. At, 50 years of age Bernard Hopkins won another title by forcing his younger opponent to fight at his speed. A young Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali) convinced a much larger more experienced Sonny Liston that he would beat him during a press conference that had Liston thinking that Ali was crazy. There are moments in MMA that a ground specialist will beat a world class striker simply based on the ability to get them to fight at their speed and make them believe they are the better striker. This happened in the Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne fight. The lesson here is to be well rounded, believe in your skill, and impose the beauty of your style on all opponents mentally and physically in life and in competition. Sometimes that is done by moving forward, and sometimes by hanging back, sometimes by talking and other times by listening but to achieve this it takes practice and commitment to your art and yourself. You must get to know who you are to know what you are capable of. Fight and train at all speeds. Peace and Love from all of us at Lucky's Muay Thai!

Where's your head at?

You often hear the phrase in most sports that "this game is 90% mental". Doesn't really matter what sport you throw in there most will agree that without great mental focus and concentration it's almost impossible to compete at a high level in any sport. Very few people are so extraordinary that they just have this built in, most of us have to learn different techniques and really work on keeping our concentration sharp. I myself have on occasion used mantras, not sure why I did but I would look in the mirror and repeat the same thing over and over again. I stared at myself said over and over again that I was going to knock out my opponent before I did it. I believed it after I said it so many times I never thought about losing. Now mantras aren't for everybody, again still not sure why I use them but they work for me so i'm not stopping.
Maybe for you it's meditation. Sitting legs crossed concentrating only on your breathing and allowing the thoughts to come and go. I feel like this is a great way to center yourself and I know of a lot of successful fighters that meditate daily. It's also a good way to learn to control emotions which can get away from even the best fighter during combat.Prior to fights you can always see fighters sitting quietly listening to music. Some are pumping themselves up and others are calming themselves down but all are trying to find the best place in their head for the upcoming battle.
Some seek out a sports psychologist to help weave through the muck when training for a fight or even after a loss to help recover mentally and emotionally. Sometimes a set of unbiased ears to listen to thoughts about an upcoming event or past one can shed new light on those thoughts and keep you a little more centered.
Getting centered is very important. You'll often hear me tell people i'm training to, "find it...find it" especially in between rounds where its necessary to slow down your breathing and heart rate in order to refocus your brain and make adjustments for the next round. You must find what keeps you grounded because when you lose control you lose technique, power, balance, you start to leave yourself open to take unnecessary punishment and an almost positively a loss on your record.
Its the same in life as it is in combat, keep a cool head because "cool heads prevail"!