"Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us."

- Sir Winston Churchill

"the cup is useful only when it is empty. With most of us, the mind is clouded, cluttered up with so many things - pleasant and unpleasant experiences, knowledge, patterns or formulas of behaviour, and so on. It is never empty. And creation can take place only in the mind that is totally empty. Creation is always new, and therefore the mind is made constantly fresh, young, innocent; it doesn't repeat, and therefore doesn't create habits."

-Krishnamurti

Nothing makes a man more aware of his capabilities and of his limitations than those moments when he must push aside all the familiar defenses of ego and vanity, and accept reality by staring, with the fear that is normal to a man in combat, into the face of Death.

-- Major Robert S. Johnson, USAAF.

It amazes me that so many people think that they are "special" or "unique". Usually they believe this because their mommy or daddy said they were during their childhood. News flash people.... no one is fucking special or unique. You are just you.... did that sound profound... I sure as hell hope not! I don't know how many "aspiring" fighters I talk to on a weekly basis... but I do know that at least every other one thinks that they have a "special" something that sets them a part from everyone else. Well that belief in that special something doesn't keep someone from knocking them the fuck out. Nothing in this world takes the place of purposeful, consistant training. And boxing and wrestling with your buddies in a garage does not count as training. Have enough respect for the sport of MMA to at least train at a real MMA gym that has an actual coach that has fought before and produces fighters that are successful in the cage. The fact that people actually believe that they can fight in this sport with little to no training is appalling to say the least. It shows complete lack of respect for the sport and to those who actually train and coach day in and day out for years.

If you meet people that fit the above description... tell them to grow a pair and train for real.

"What fun is it? Why all that hard, exhausting work? Where does it get you? Where's the good of it? It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest..."

Brutus Hamilton, Coach of Olympic Track Team, 1952 Helsinki Olympics

Your life deserves 100% effort. Everything you do is an "investment" to your self. You either progress each day or you don't. If you don't then that is an entire day of lost opportunity. But a wise individual knows when rest is the "means" to the end.

Frustration

I had some extreme frustration while watching many of the cage fights last night. It is very difficult for me to be just a spectator and not want to coach everyone. I get irritated at some of the most ridiculous mistakes that a fighter can make. I ge...t so fed up with watching 2 fat fucks swinging butterball size fists at each other and the crowd loving it. Makes me want to throw Twinkies instead of applauding.

There is no "E" for effort in combat sports. Purposeful TRAINING YIELDS PURPOSEFUL RESULTS. I do not understand in any capacity how people don't seriously train. I only know one way to train and one way to train people... and that's with everything that I am. I do not in anyway care about the entertainment factor of the sport. I never will. I care about the the performance of the fighters. Warriors displaying their Art in the most skillful capacity.