Pursuit

As a martial artist, the will to constantly pursue a sense of honest enlightenment through a physical art is one of the things I find most amazing. I truly believe it is a never ending pursuit with countless rewarding moments and constant challenges. Your true self is profoundly available to you. You don't have to go looking for it as it will undoubtedly find you. I've met countless people that started in martial arts when they were young and they've always thought about getting back in it. Once you do one of the arts in your lifetime, it sticks with you forever. The empowerment and humility experienced during training is something I that I can't possibly express in words.

Don't get stuck in one style, open your eyes to other arts. From one martial art to another the concepts may differ, the movements change, but the ideals the mentality remains the same. Treat people with respect and carry yourself with pride and dignity. If the moment in time arises become that you must use your art, then become the most ferocious warrior alive until the situation no longer requires it. The pursuit relates more to the first part of that philosophy. The arts should make you better as a person. More giving and compassionate toward your fellow man and woman. "Knowing is not enough, you must apply" -Bruce Lee

How do you know where you stand? How are your skills? You can surely get an idea in sparring in the gym, but I am a firm believer in competition. If your training feels stagnant or like there is something missing, this might be what you need. There is only so much theory, training, and knowledge you can fill your mind and body with before it is overflowing. You must allow it to be released to allow for more knowledge to be absorbed. Compete! Find a way to challenge yourself. You never know what might happen and you will be surprised at what you can find out about yourself. Pursue your art, then apply your art.

Heart, how do you know...

When I think about heart a few people come to mind, but today it's Felipe Puente. I believe heart is most times measured by how many times you are knocked down in life or competition and continue to get back up. I believe in Felipe's case it is the refusal to go down.

Felipe approached his first fight with no fear. Fighting at 135lbs is a tough for a fighter who some might consider small in the 125lb division. That is of no concern to Puente who throughout training camp never mentioned it nor responded to talks about it. He just didn't care and I think the idea that it doesn't matter who you put in front of me, i'm going to fight is exactly the attitude a fighter is suppose to have. Felipe embodies that. As we already knew going in Felipe's opponent was gonna be taller and longer, this one was going to be a difficult task. An extra tall 135lb fighter stood across from us as we awaited the bell. I told Felipe we needed to get right in his chest and not let him use his reach. Unfortunately he was able to get off first and in the first 30 seconds land a blow that bloodied Felipe's nose. His back was to me so I didn't see it until the ref stopped the fight momentarily to bring Felipe to get cleaned up. I was in shjock when he turned around, partially from the amount of blood coming out and partially because Felipe gave no indication that it even remotely bothered him. All cleaned up back into the fight he went. Like a captain of a ship steering into the storm. He fought his heart out taking punishment from the longer fighter but never giving an inch. He would not go down and i'm convinced if the fight went 10rds he would still be standing at the end saying "come on let's go!". That's heart that kept him fighting and that's why all 125lb fighters should be on notice because here comes the immovable object. Felipe "MF'n" Puente!!!

Training makes champions: Yoka D.

It's been a long couple of months but it was all worth it. I've been fully immersed in training my two fighters for their first fights and at the same time preparing for my own competition but more on that later. On October 13th, my fighter Yoka D. put all her hard work and dedication to the test and fought in the IKF PKB kickboxing tournament and won. Two fights and six rounds later she not only won the championship in her division but also fighter of the night. It was an amazing moment but it was even more gratifying because of how hard she worked. A Belgian import, Yoka has embraced Muay thai as a way of life and put in an enormous amount of time working on her skill set.

Throughout training there are always obstacles in the way as well as clashes between coach and fighter. We also endured some clashes and bumps along the way. The good thing about Yoka is that she is her own worst critic, so most of the time we bumped heads about how much she was training or how good she was doing. Even on her best day she would give the impression it was her worst. As far as her bad days went, well I wouldn't say it was a good time to be around. I pushed her to her limits in training and challenged her to be better every time. I yelled and she pushed at her and at times she let me know what she thought about it. She complained and I let her know what I thought about that.

Through all of that we kept our eyes on the prize. We met every week and we trained consistently. We worked hard on conditioning, technique, philosophy, and belief in what we were doing.

At the end of it all it was belief that carried her to the victory and the "fighter of the night" accolade. Belief in her coach, belief in the technique, belief in the hard work, but most importantly it was belief in herself. She deserved the championship, not because I say so, but because she genuinely earned it and it was an honor to watch it happen up close.

The Community

Hello all, I know the blogs have been pretty scarce lately but I have been working on building my brand and spreading Lucky's Muay Thai to a broader audience. There are some great things coming down the pipeline soon including more video blogs, an amateur team debut and a new website. That beinbg said, let's get down to it. I am currently trying to link to people around the world through the web, but the way I enjoy linking with people is face to face. It has been an honor to be a martial arts instructor as I am always able to meet new people from all over the world who live the same lifestyle and try to live by the same set of principles and disciplines as me. The styles vary fro place to place but the mindset for the most part is the same. I believe there is a connection in martial arts that brings people together. We learn from one another through our technique and theory and when one must return home to their country or me to mine we are connected forever. It is very different from meeting someone on a simple vacation there is a connection beyond late night cocktails and music. I had the pleasure of training in Thailand with a good group of guys at Kru Dam's gym. With the help of Patee Suwansomsri I left feeling like I got it, I understand better now. We all laughed and joked and became friends though there was an obvious language barrier. I will see them again for sure and I take what they taught me and pass it on to my students and it is a direct result of Muay Thai.

I had the pleasure of working with Gonzalo Fuenzalida from Chile. He was an mild mannered boxer and was willing to do the work in the classes that was asked of him with a huge amount of energy and respect. He worked hard here, returned to Chile and won his fight.

Then Rosa Lenz came to us from Germany and showed everyone what a high level Kick fighter is supposed to look like. She trained like a maniac and opened herself up to learning some Muay Thai techniques and was nice enough to teach a couple of my students her amazing kick fighting style. She was so inspirational to us all. She also fought a tournament here and won. Just a badass!!

Last but not least our most recent visitor Daniel-Jeffrey Madrigal from the UK. I finally had someone to help me with my 125lb fighter Felipe. Daniel made up for his size in attentive training coupled with an amazing sense of humor. He kept us in stitches. Even though he was on vacation with his buddies and they were painting the town red every night, he was at training every day. He really exemplified the spirit of Muay thai.

There are dozens of others internationally that I have been blessed to cross paths with and I am so grateful for the time that was spent. It proves to me that we are all connected as martial artists and as human beings. I love you all and I am honored to know you. Peace Luck

Just a thought

Hello all, this is just a thought. One thing is for sure about competing in a combat sport against another person, it exposes you in every way. Your feelings are amplified because it's against another human being. It is a test of will and there is no place to hide. Everyone will see how you react at times of great adversity as well as great success. Are you a gracious champion or an arrogant one, a respectful loser or a sore one. The strangest things can happen to men and women who put themselves in these situations. Wherever your mind and maybe your soul are at on that day it will be put on a pedestal for the masses and now replayed on Youtube for the entire world. I'm not sure why we do it, but I assume we ultimately long to be free and there is no more freedom than allowing everyone to view your faults and your greatness, your rise and fall with every punch delivered and received, and every choke and tap out. I did theater acting all through high school and college. I used to think that you exposed yourself while doing a play in front of an audience. And that is true, however nobody was trying to break my arm during The Crucible. That definitely would have made it more interesting to watch. Anyway, if you're looking for freedom, it is available to have. Just remember to be grateful and respectful to it because if you don't it will let you know. Also keep in mind that you're part of 1% of the world willing to offer themselves up.

Student and Teacher

I've enjoyed thoroughly this road that i've taken. I believe that I have been able surpass any expectations I might have had in the beginning as well as set new goals and deeper meaning in what I do. The thing that allows me to stay energized as a teacher is a first and foremost a love for what I and secondly the need to constantly learn. I have been teaching now for about 5 years. The one thing i've noticed is that as an instructor you go up and down. In a bag class setting sometimes training becomes monotonous. There are plenty of exercises to do, but after a while I start yearning to teach technique. Unfortunately, I teach more bag classes than hands on classes. I enjoy teaching in all formats so I have to counter that feeling, and I do that by becoming a student again. I have made my way back to the mat and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and with that, back to humility.

It is exactly what the doctor ordered. By tying that white belt around my waist twice a week and getting choked or arm locked, it helps push me to teach better. It gives me purpose when i'm feeling like I lost it. For whatever reason, when I want to get better I want to make my students better, and right now, I REALLY REALLY want to get better.

Motivation must be found! It can sometimes come from people, or born out of necessity. I get my motivation from the looks on the faces of my students and making myself a student as well. Whatever you have to do to evolve to the next level of life, you should do such things. As I progress further, my mentality changes. I get a spring in my step, my chest pokes out a little further and there is a strength in my voice. I love how humility makes you stronger.

Forever Ronin

Ronin- A samurai with no master.

   I've often felt that way throughout this journey. I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with some of the best fighters, but no real coaches. I don't mind that it happened that way but there is always that "what if" factor of course. Nonetheless it suits my personality to do it solo. There is no blame to spread out, the weight lies entirely on my own shoulders.
  This way of pursuing fighting as a career or martial arts competitively is not for everyone. Having a dedicated coach to guide you along the path to your final goal is invaluable. I've made ridiculous errors along the way including choosing the wrong fights, fighting injured and sick, negotiating poorly, and training improperly. This could have all been avoided. I don't regret it because it has left me with a wealth of knowledge to pass on to up and coming fighters.
   Martial arts competitively will teach you discipline, perseverance, humility, how to overcome any obstacle even if you must go through it and what you're really made of inside. It is constantly exposing your weaknesses to build your strengths. In other words it will give you what you want but your foundation is what will carry you through.
  Find somebody who cares about you. Chances are if their palm is out 5 mins into the conversation they don't care about you or your well-being. This is a problem because even in amateur competition you risk serious injury and sometimes worse. Don't set yourself up for a downfall.  Do some research, ask around about good instructors. Go train at some different places and check out the fighters there. If you're not happy with your training partners you won't excel plain and simple.
  Lastly, set yourself some goals. When you finally settle on a coach, make sure you're both on the same page. You can reach your goals with some quality preparation ans a good support system. Take it from me, I took the hard road and hopefully you won't have too.

Peace
Luck